Scientific Sonnets

Your friends at taste of science Houston are partnering up with the Houston Maritime Museum a for a free celebration of sound! The Maritime museum will be participating in Smithsonian's Museum Day by hosting family-friendly activities from 10:00am-2:00pm, followed by a taste of science event on the science of sound at 3:00pm. How does sound travel underwater? How does human-made sound impact underwater life? And how does the brain transform what comes into our ears transform into what we actually hear? Come find out this Saturday at 3pm!

---

Meet our speakers

Ana Sirovic

Underwater world is awash with sounds, as sound is the primary way for many marine animals to find food, each other, or sense their environment. Whales, dolphins, fishes, and different invertebrates all contribute to the cacophony of sound underwater. Some of them produce song-like vocalizations, contributing to melodies and beats in the ocean, that compete with human-produced ocean noise. Come hear Professor Ana Širović discuss some of the underwater sound diversity and try to make your own sounds in our interactive display.

Jon Flynn

Jon Flynn, our very own city coordinator, is an assistant teaching professor at Rice University. While getting his Ph.D. at UTHealth in the Houston TMC, he studied the computational underpinnings of perception. One of his interests is in how sound is turned from an objective phenomenon into a subjective experience. Dr. Flynn will explain the basics of hearing and demonstrate a few ways that what comes into your ears isn't always what you hear.