DeepSqueak Tool Identifies Marine Mammal Calls

DeepSqueak Tool Identifies Marine Mammal Calls

User-friendly deep learning model analyzes bioacoustics signals from whales, dolphins

Media Contact:
Larry Frum
AIP Media
301-209-3090
media@aip.org

DENVER, May 23, 2022 – Lurking beneath the ocean’s surface, marine mammals use sound for navigation, prey detection, and a wide range of natural behaviors. Passive acoustic data from underwater environments can provide valuable information on these animals, such as their presence or absence within an area, their density and abundance, and their vocal response to anthropogenic noise sources.

As the size and number of acoustic datasets increase, accurately and quickly matching the bioacoustics signals to their corresponding sources becomes more challenging and important. This is especially difficult in noisy, natural acoustic environments.

Elizabeth Ferguson, from Ocean Science Analytics, will describe how DeepSqueak, a deep learning tool, can classify underwater acoustic signals at the 182nd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America during her presentation, “Development of deep neural networks for marine mammal call detection using an open-source, user friendly tool.” The session will take place May 23 at 11:25 a.m. Eastern U.S. as part of the conference at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

Spectrograms show how acoustic signals of different frequencies vary with time. They look like heat maps, with brighter regions indicating higher sound intensity at that frequency and time. DeepSqueak uses deep neural network image recognition and classification methods to determine the important features within spectrograms, then match those features to specific sources.

“Although we used DeepSqueak to detect underwater sounds, this user-friendly, open source tool would be useful for a variety of terrestrial species,” said Ferguson. “The capabilities of call detection extend to frequencies below the ultrasonic sounds it was originally intended for. Due to this and the capability of DeepSqueak to detect variable call types, development of neural networks is possible for many species of interest.”

DeepSqueak was originally developed to classify ultrasound signals from rodents, but its neural network framework allows the technique to adapt to detect sounds at other frequencies. Ferguson and her team used the method and data from hydrophones on the Ocean Observatories Initiative’s Coastal Endurance Array to detect humpback whales, delphinids, and fin whales, which have highly variable calls with a wide range of frequencies.

———————– MORE MEETING INFORMATION ———————–
USEFUL LINKS
Main meeting website: https://acousticalsociety.org/asa-meetings/
Technical program: https://eventpilotadmin.com/web/planner.php?id=ASASPRING22
Press Room: https://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/

WORLDWIDE PRESS ROOM
In the coming weeks, ASA’s Worldwide Press Room will be updated with additional tips on dozens of newsworthy stories and with lay language papers, which are 300 to 500 word summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience and accompanied by photos, audio and video. You can visit the site during the meeting at https://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/.

PRESS REGISTRATION
We will grant free registration to credentialed journalists and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, contact AIP Media Services at media@aip.org. For urgent requests, staff at media@aip.org can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips, or background information.

ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world’s leading journal on acoustics), JASA Express Letters, Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. See https://acousticalsociety.org/.

LEGO Down! Focused Vibrations Knock Over Minifigures

LEGO Down! Focused Vibrations Knock Over Minifigures

Time reversal technique focuses wave energy to knock over minifigure targets in museum demonstration

Media Contact:
Larry Frum
AIP Media
301-209-3090
media@aip.org

SEATTLE, December 2, 2021 — A tabletop covered in miniature LEGO minifigures. There is a whooshing sound, a pause, and then a single minifigure in the center of the table topples over, leaving the remaining minifigures standing.

Brian Anderson, of Brigham Young University, will discuss how this is achieved in his presentation at the 181st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, “Knocking over LEGO minifigures with time reversal focused vibrations: Understanding the physics and developing a museum demonstration.” The session will take place on Dec. 2 at 5:15 p.m. Eastern U.S. in the Elwha B Room, as part of the conference running from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3 at the Hyatt Regency Seattle.

Anderson and his team use speaker shakers to generate vibrations in a plate. They place LEGO minifigures on the plate, choose a target, and measure the impulse response between each shaker and the target location. Playing that very response from the shakers, but reversed in time, creates sound waves that constructively interfere at the target minifigure. The focused energy knocks over the single LEGO minifig without disrupting the surrounding minifigs.

This demonstration was transformed into a two-player game for a museum exhibit in a wave propagation museum hosted by ETH Zurich in Switzerland. Two visitors take turns focusing vibrations and attempting to knock over the LEGO minifigures on the other team.

The technique also has numerous applications beyond LEGO, and Anderson said it shows the power of focused vibrations.

“Time reversal has been used to focus sound in the body that is intense enough to destroy kidney stones or brain tumors without requiring surgery,” Anderson said. “I have used time reversal to locate cracks or defects with ultrasound in metal structures, such as storage canisters for spent nuclear fuel. Time reversal can also be used to locate and characterize earthquakes or locate gun shots within an urban city environment.”

———————– MORE MEETING INFORMATION ———————–
USEFUL LINKS
Main meeting website: https://acousticalsociety.org/asa-meetings/
Technical program: https://eventpilotadmin.com/web/planner.php?id=ASAFALL21
Press Room: https://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/

WORLDWIDE PRESS ROOM
In the coming weeks, ASA’s Worldwide Press Room will be updated with additional tips on dozens of newsworthy stories and with lay language papers, which are 300 to 500 word summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience and accompanied by photos, audio and video. You can visit the site during the meeting at https://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/.

PRESS REGISTRATION
We will grant free registration to credentialed journalists and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, contact AIP Media Services at media@aip.org. For urgent requests, staff at media@aip.org can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips, or background information.

ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world’s leading journal on acoustics), JASA Express Letters, Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. See https://acousticalsociety.org/.

Making Racetrack Noise Bearable with Acoustics

Making Racetrack Noise Bearable with Acoustics

Best strategy for neighborhood harmony is diplomatic with mathematical modeling

Media Contact:
Larry Frum
AIP Media
301-209-3090
media@aip.org

DENVER, May 23, 2022 – Although racetracks can be fun for communities, they usually come with very high levels of noise that can sour nearby neighborhoods to the experience.

During the 182nd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, Bonnie Schnitta, from SoundSense LLC, will discuss her efforts to reduce the noise in a Michigan neighborhood from a nearby raceway. The session, “Actions and mathematical modeling that will bring noise levels from a racetrack or raceway to a level the community will accept,” will take place May 23 at 11:05 a.m. Eastern U.S. at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

Raceways can produce noise from many kinds of vehicles, such as race cars, street race cars, racing motorcycles, go-karts, monster trucks, and cheering spectators. Schnitta and her team examined several different types of barriers, including berms, acoustic barriers, or dense foliage, to block that noise from reaching surrounding houses and businesses.

“We have found that using a berm at a safe distance from the raceway track is the most economical method, although an acoustic collapsible barrier works well too,” said Schnitta. “It typically takes a 200-foot depth of foliage to equal one acoustic fence or berm.”

The team mathematically modeled a Michigan raceway, paying special attention to sections of the track where vehicles typically accelerate, producing the most noise. From there, the sound was mitigated with strategically placed berms. The goal was to reduce the sound heard in the surrounding neighborhood to at most 5 decibels above background levels.

Schnitta said the most effective solution to raceway noise might even be social in nature. The raceway made an agreement with a nearby church to suspend operations during the services in combination with acoustic treatment and said the best strategy is diplomatic with the mathematical-driven solution set used in the discussion.

“I have found that no matter what the noise problem is, if there is a civil conversation between the source of the noise and the receiver, an agreeable outcome comes more quickly,” said Schnitta. “Sometimes, a simple offer of free admission to see what all the ‘noise’ is about can make a difference.”

———————– MORE MEETING INFORMATION ———————–
USEFUL LINKS
Main meeting website: https://acousticalsociety.org/asa-meetings/
Technical program: https://eventpilotadmin.com/web/planner.php?id=ASASPRING22
Press Room: https://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/

WORLDWIDE PRESS ROOM
In the coming weeks, ASA’s Worldwide Press Room will be updated with additional tips on dozens of newsworthy stories and with lay language papers, which are 300 to 500 word summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience and accompanied by photos, audio and video. You can visit the site during the meeting at https://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/.

PRESS REGISTRATION
We will grant free registration to credentialed journalists and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, contact AIP Media Services at media@aip.org. For urgent requests, staff at media@aip.org can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips, or background information.

ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world’s leading journal on acoustics), JASA Express Letters, Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. See https://acousticalsociety.org/.

ASA Press Conferences Livestreamed from Denver, May 24 #ASA182

Media invited to register and attend in person or online — topics include raceway noise impacts on neighborhoods, getting rid of unwanted sounds during events, coral reef health

DENVER, May 13, 2022 – Press conferences at the 182nd Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America will be held Tuesday, May 24, at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel in Plaza Court 2. Media availabilities will focus on wide range of newsworthy sessions at the upcoming meeting from how racialized identities impact speech perception to the first sounds recorded from the Perseverance rover on Mars.

To register for in-person attendance, email media@aip.org. To watch the livestream virtually, please visit our registration page. Video recordings of the press conference sessions will be available by May 25 upon request.

ASA Press Conference Schedule – Tuesday, May 24 (topics/times subject to change)

11:30 a.m. ET / 9:30 a.m. MT

  • Acoustic Sensors Pinpoint Shooters in Urban Setting – Luisa Still, Fraunhofer FKIE Session 1aPAa6 – Prediction of shooter localization accuracy in an urban environment, Monday, May 23 at 10:45 a.m. MT
  • Ultrasound-Assisted Laser Technique Vaporizes Artery Plaque – Rohit Singh, Kansas University Session 2pBAa7 – A novel ultrasound-assisted laser technique to remove atherosclerotic plaques, Tuesday, May 24 at 3:05 p.m. MT
  • Snap, Crackle, Pop: Healthy Coral Reefs Brimming with Noise – Lauren A. Freeman, Naval Undersea Warfare Center Newport Session 3aAO4 – Coral reef & temperate coastal soundscape features evident in directional and omnidirectional passive acoustic time series, Wednesday, May 25 at 9:35 a.m. MT

1 p.m. ET / 11 a.m. MT

  • Making Racetrack Noise Bearable with Physics – Bonnie Schnitta, SoundSense, LLC Session 1aAA1 – Actions and mathematical modeling that will bring noise levels from a racetrack or raceway to a level the community will accept, Monday, May 23 at 9:05 a.m. MT
  • Explosions Help Probe Elusive Atmospheric Waves – Stephen Arrowsmith, Southern Methodist University Session 3aPA4 – The use of infrasound from repeating explosion sequences in Oklahoma to probe the atmosphere, Wednesday, May 25 at 8:55 a.m. MT
  • On Mars, NASA’s Perseverance Rover’s Playlist Like No Other – Baptiste Chide, Los Alamos National Lab Session 3pPA4 – Mars soundscape: Review of the first sounds recorded by the Perseverance microphones, Wednesday, May 25 at 1:45 p.m. MT
  • Offshore Wind Farms Could Disturb Marine Mammal Behavior – Frank Thomsen, DHI Group Session 4pAB5 – Operational underwater sound from future offshore wind turbines can affect the behavior of marine mammals, Thursday, May 26 at 2:25 p.m. MT

3 p.m. ET / 1 p.m. MT

  • Sidekick Microbubbles Carry Anti-Cancer Drugs, Damage Tumor Vessels – Naomi Matsuura, University of Toronto Session 2aBAb2 – Ultrasound-stimulated, drug-loaded bubbles for cancer therapy, Tuesday, May 24 at 9:30 a.m. MT
  • Diverse Social Networks Reduce Accent Judgments – Ethan Kutlu, University of Iowa Session 2aSC4 – Perception in context: How racialized identities impact speech perception, Tuesday, May 24 at 10:15 a.m. MT
  • Listening Can Be Exhausting for Older Cochlear Implant Users – Kristina DeRoy Milvae, University of Maryland Session 2aPP5 – Aging effects on listening effort in cochlear-implant users, Tuesday, May 24 at 10:50 a.m. MT
  • Turning Hearing Aids into Noise-Canceling Devices – Ryan M. Corey, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Session 3aPPb8 – Turn the music down! Repurposing assistive listening broadcast systems to remove nuisance sounds, Wednesday, May 25 at 11:45 a.m. MT

———————– MORE MEETING INFORMATION ———————–

USEFUL LINKS
Main meeting website: https://acousticalsociety.org/asa-meetings/
Technical program: https://eventpilotadmin.com/web/planner.php?id=ASASPRING22
Press Room: https://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/
Follow conference highlights with social media hashtag #ASA182

WORLDWIDE PRESS ROOM
In the coming weeks, ASA’s Worldwide Press Room will be updated with additional tips on dozens of newsworthy stories and with lay language papers, which are 300 to 500 word summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience and accompanied by photos, audio and video. You can visit the site during the meeting at https://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/.

PRESS REGISTRATION
We will grant free registration to credentialed journalists and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, contact AIP Media Services at media@aip.org.  For urgent requests, staff at media@aip.org can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips, or background information.

ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world’s leading journal on acoustics), JASA Express Letters, Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards.

Machine Learning Improves Human Speech Recognition

Machine Learning Improves Human Speech Recognition

Machine Learning

Overview of the human speech recognition model CREDIT: Jana Roßbach

WASHINGTON, March 1, 2022 — Hearing loss is a rapidly growing area of scientific research as the number of baby boomers dealing with hearing loss continues to increase as they age. To understand how hearing loss impacts…click to read more

From the Journal: The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America
Link to article: A model of speech recognition for hearing-impaired listeners based on deep learning
DOI: 10.1121/10.0009411

Killer Whales Lingering in Newly Melted Arctic Ocean

Killer Whales Lingering in Newly Melted Arctic Ocean

Melting ice opens new predation ground for killer whales as they spend more time in previously neglected territory

Media Contact:
Larry Frum
AIP Media
301-209-3090
media@aip.org

SEATTLE, December 2, 2021 – Killer whales are intelligent, adaptive predators, often teaming up to take down larger prey. Continuous reduction in sea ice in the Arctic Ocean is opening areas to increased killer whale dwelling and predation, potentially creating an ecological imbalance.

During the 181st Meeting of the Acoustical Society of America, which will be held Nov. 29 to Dec. 3, Brynn Kimber, from the University of Washington, will discuss how killer whales have spent more time than previously recorded in the Arctic, following the decrease in sea ice. The talk, “Tracking killer whale movements in the Alaskan Artic relative to a loss of sea ice,” will take place Thursday, Dec. 2, at 5:35 p.m. Eastern U.S.

Killer whales will often traverse to different areas to target varieties of prey. In a study including eight years of passive acoustic data, Kimber and their team monitored killer whale movements using acoustic tools, finding killer whales are spending more time than previously recorded in the Arctic Ocean, despite risks of ice entrapment there. Their readings indicate this change is directly following the decrease in sea ice in the area.

“It’s not necessarily that killer whales haven’t been reported in these areas before, but that they appear to be remaining in the area for longer periods of time,” said Kimber. “This is likely in response to a longer open water season.”

The reduction in sea ice may have opened new hunting opportunities for killer whales if certain species of prey are unable to use the ice to avoid the highly adaptive predator. For example, the endangered bowhead whale is vulnerable to predation by killer whales, likely to increase due to longer open water seasons.

“Although there is high spatial and interannual variability, the September Arctic sea ice minimum is declining at an average rate of 13% per decade, when compared to values from 1981 to 2010,” said Kimber. “Killer whales are being observed in the Chukchi Sea (in the Arctic Ocean) in months that were historically ice covered and more consistently throughout the summer.”

———————– MORE MEETING INFORMATION ———————–
USEFUL LINKS
Main meeting website: https://acousticalsociety.org/asa-meetings/
Technical program: https://eventpilotadmin.com/web/planner.php?id=ASAFALL21
Press Room: https://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/

WORLDWIDE PRESS ROOM
In the coming weeks, ASA’s Worldwide Press Room will be updated with additional tips on dozens of newsworthy stories and with lay language papers, which are 300 to 500 word summaries of presentations written by scientists for a general audience and accompanied by photos, audio and video. You can visit the site during the meeting at https://acoustics.org/world-wide-press-room/.

PRESS REGISTRATION
We will grant free registration to credentialed journalists and professional freelance journalists. If you are a reporter and would like to attend, contact AIP Media Services at media@aip.org. For urgent requests, staff at media@aip.org can also help with setting up interviews and obtaining images, sound clips, or background information.

ABOUT THE ACOUSTICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA
The Acoustical Society of America (ASA) is the premier international scientific society in acoustics devoted to the science and technology of sound. Its 7,000 members worldwide represent a broad spectrum of the study of acoustics. ASA publications include The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (the world’s leading journal on acoustics), JASA Express Letters, Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Acoustics Today magazine, books, and standards on acoustics. The society also holds two major scientific meetings each year. See https://acousticalsociety.org/.