| Summary: | Detecting submarines via biomimicry Jellyfish sensory organs offer the inspiration for a new sensor design that can sensitively detect low-frequency sounds underwater. These capabilities are particularly for the long-range detection of submarines, which produce faint sound signatures in the 5–200 Hertz range. Researchers have struggled to develop compact ‘hydrophone’ devices that can sensitively capture such frequencies underwater, but Wendong Zhang of the North University of China and colleagues have identified a promising solution. Modeled on the pectis jellyfish auditory organ, this system features an otolith-like structure mounted on a cross-beam that produces a piezoresisitive signal in response to vibrations. Based on this concept, the researchers fabricated a device that effectively detects very faint sounds in the 20–200 Hertz range at depths of at least 1000 meters, highlighting the potential of such ‘otolith-inspired MEMS vector hydrophone’ devices.
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