This article has been reviewed according to Science X's editorial process and policies. Editors have highlighted the following attributes while ensuring the content's credibility: In a quiet summer garden, a caterpillar perches on a branch, munching serenely on leaves. A moment later, it freezes.
It senses danger—and just in time. From behind, a wasp approaches, sizing up its prey. Tobacco hornworm caterpillars don't look like they have ears, and yet they're able to sense predators such as wasps.
How does the caterpillar know a wasp is approaching? Scientists do not yet fully understand how this caterpillar's senses work, but we are part of a team of biologists and engineers who want to figure it out. Our ongoing research suggests the tobacco hornworms can hear using tiny, supersensitive hairs on their bodies.
Understanding the intricate biological mechanisms that allow this organism to perceive and interact with its environment would help solve a mystery of the natural world. It could also help scientists design new, cheaper microphone technology. Because the hornworms' hairs are so sensitive, we have to study them in complete silence.
And where better to study hearing than in the complete silence of an anechoic chamber? What happens outside the anechoic chamber stays outside the anechoic chamber because it is meticulously built that way. Anechoic chambers are some of the quietest places in the world.
They are engineered specifically to block the entry of any undesired sounds. Heavy-duty steel springs support the "floating" chamber and keep it from touching the ground. This detachment isolates the space from outside vibrations or noise.
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