Pediatricians look for a list of behaviors to signal typical hearing development

In the womb, a fetus may begin to hear at 18 weeks

Though little indentations form on the side of the fetus's neck at roughly nine weeks—with some formations taking place even before then—developmentally, these indentations don't become ears that allow a little one to hear until around 18 weeks.

Steps for buying your first hearing aids

Hearing aids have advanced in aesthetics, simplicity, and cost in recent years, but acquiring them can be daunting for first-timers. Experts suggest finding a high-quality audiologist and knowing your rights with medical services. They also recommend buying them sooner rather than later, as hearing issues can compound and grow more costly over time.

More than 90% of American deaf children are born to hearing parents

The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders have collated top statistics about hearing loss in the US including differences by age, racial groups, and other factors.

Babies don't develop a circadian rhythm right away

Newborns don't develop circadian rhythm until they are a few months old, which helps to explain their erratic sleep schedules. When they're around three months old they begin to release melatonin, which influences sleep, and around the same time they develop more regular sleeping routines.

Gene therapy is restoring hearing among kids with genetic deafness

Gene therapy for profound genetic deafness has been advancing in recent years, with multiple clinical trials enabling hearing at normal levels for the first time without hearing aids or cochlear implants. The therapies target hearing loss caused by mutations in the OTOF gene that codes for a protein called otoferlin. That protein normally plays a key role in relaying sound signals in synaptic transmission between the ear's inner hair cells and the auditory nerve.

Newborns have a strong sense of smell

Babies are drawn to their mother's smell—and the particular odor of their mother's breast milk—within days, even as their vision remains blurry for months after birth. In the womb, the olfactory center also forms in the early stages of development.

Some animals possess sensitive hearing to help pinpoint prey and map the world

Bats and dolphins produce sound to reflect off surfaces and create a mental image of their surroundings. Owls' faces are dish-shaped to help funnel sounds to their ears, including that of mice moving along leaves or snow. Pinnipeds, such as seals and walruses, hear in both air and water.

Children are at increased risk of contracting swimmer's ear

Kids may be more likely to spend time at the pool so they have that water exposure. They also tend to have narrow ear canals, a prime location for water to get trapped. Frequently wearing earbuds or excessively trying to rid ears of earwax, however, can also increase the chances of painful swimmer's ear infections at any age.

Hear examples of what tinnitus can sound like to those suffering from it

This video, from a Scottish branch of the UK National Health Service, features different types of ringing, crackling, and other sounds that tinnitus sufferers experience. Individual responses to such phantom sounds may vary widely.

A cochlear implant stimulates parts of the cochlea directly, with limited pitch and timbre capabilities

People with these devices have to learn or relearn how to train their brains to interpret nerve signals as sound. The range of the type of sounds that the brain can distinguish with a cochlear implant is limited and consequently it's difficult to understand a tonal language or distinguish individual speakers in a crowd.

Hearing loss is linked with brain volume reductions

The brain looks different as a result of hearing loss, with reductions in brain volume overall and in specific areas, and these changes are hypothesized to impact cognition. Exactly why hearing loss alters cognition is an active area of research, but theories include that the elevated cognitive load of straining to hear affects brain power available for thinking and memory and that hearing loss leads to social isolation which boosts dementia risk.

Study shows singing to babies improves their well-being

In a study of 110 parents and their babies across a span of four months, singing boosted infant mood and reduced fussiness. Follow-up studies are aimed at exploring whether singing can alleviate caregiver stress and postpartum depression.

Emotional crying is an important and cathartic process

Though babies don't initially produce tears when they cry, this podcast discusses how humans are hardwired to cry throughout life. Most crying research relies on self-reporting of crying and emotions. This podcast notes that there aren't neuroimaging studies of crying—they're quite expensive to complete. As a result, the brain precursors and processes during a bout of crying remain understudied.

See this graphic describing what different decibel levels mean for hearing loss

From the sound of a ticking watch, which is roughly 20 decibels, to the sound of a gunshot at 140 decibels, the Hearing Health Foundation breaks down the decibels of daily sounds in this chart, noting that sounds louder than 70 decibels are considered harmful.

How our sense of taste evolves as we age

Kids are hardwired to prefer sweets over greens, with sweetness a shorthand for calorie-rich and bitter flavor warning of potentially noxious plants. This holds true even in the womb, where fetuses have been seen via ultrasound scans grimacing as their hosts consume kale capsules. As they age into double digits and beyond, their taste cells and sense of smell diminish, leading to broader and less sensitive palates.

A 19-month-old boy went viral for his natural drumming skills

A mother gifted her husband a drum set for Christmas, but was surprised to find their young child take a liking to the instrument. The musician couple noticed that over time the young boy taught himself proper form and how to keep up with the beat of the music. TikToks they filmed of their son went viral and amassed millions of views.

Acoustic Vehicle Alerting Systems provide motor sounds in electric vehicles

Since 2019, various global standards have set requirements for these systems, which seek to mimic combustion-engine sounds by meeting specific sonic criteria, including sound pressure, frequency, and pitch. Sound engineers design these systems to meet these requirements, ensuring that passers-by, particularly the blind and visually impaired, can detect the presence of a vehicle.

Six-year-old boy in wheelchair surprises his family by walking at his graduation

The young boy was diagnosed with Noonan syndrome, a rare genetic disorder that impacts mobility and development, at just 2 months old. He usually needs a wheelchair or walker to get around, but he shocked and thrilled his parents by standing up to receive his kindergarten diploma.

Button boards may be the next step in human-canine communication

In a viral trend, dogs have been recorded using button boards to seemingly "talk" with humans. Researchers are divided on whether this means dogs have learned language or are engaging in sophisticated behavioral conditioning.

American Psychological Association issues recommendations for teen social media use

Listen to this three-minute podcast to learn more about the American Psychological Association's recommendations for teenagers' use of social media. The first report of its kind, it advises parents to closely monitor teens' social feeds during early adolescence, continually screen for signs of problematic use (such as sleep interference), minimize the amount of dangerous content their child is exposed to (such as disordered eating), and limit their teen's use of social media around appearance-related content.

What is the measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine?

Federal guidance currently recommends a two-shot schedule of the MMR vaccine for children in most cases, once at 12 to 15 months and once at 4 to 6 years. (A September 2025 update only called for the elimination of a combined vaccine that included protection against varicella, the MMRV shot.)

The features that make our voices unique

Human voices are about as unique as fingerprints: similar instruments but with endless variations. We each produce sound in the same physiological way, but when we talk we’re dropping clues about who we are, what we do, and where we’re from.

Risk factors linked with ASD include older parents, preterm births, and toxic prenatal exposures

Though researchers agree that there is a strong genetic component to ASD development, certain environmental factors heighten that risk, with studies suggesting older parents, premature birth, maternal obesity, and air pollution exposure in utero all elevate risks of ASD development. There is no connection between receiving vaccines and ASD development.

An Aztec skull whistle discovered in the 1990s was mistaken for a toy

In the late 1990s, archaeologists unearthed a sacrificed man clutching two skull-shaped clay whistles at a Mexico City temple to the wind god Ehecatl (eh-HEH-kahtl). Initially dismissed as toys, the instruments produce a scream-like sound that modern brain scans show triggers fear and urgency responses in listeners. This podcast explores the discovery.

Childhood memes like '67' existed before the internet

Kids saying "67" and then erupting in laughter may have been popularized by social media, but childhood rhymes, songs, and jokes that confuse adults have always existed. Iona and Peter Opie studied the phenomena, publishing numerous books on the topic from the 1950s through the 1980s.

In recent years a child anxiety expert has created and tested a novel phobia and anxiety treatment approach for children, focused on changing how parents respond to the fears.

Crows are believed to have intelligence on par with a seven-year-old child and demonstrate complex behaviors, from problem-solving with tools to recognizing human faces.

Fish populations in the Great Barrier Reef have increased after installing waterproof speakers on the ocean floor that played recordings of sounds from healthy coral reefs.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

After 25 people used virtual reality headsets to practice flying with virtual wings—flapping their arms—their visual cortex responded to the wings almost as if they were real arms, treating them as body parts.

A pickleball's loud 'pop' sound can reach 120 decibels, which is equivalent to a hammer hitting a nail

Trace how the Bill of Rights, inspired by centuries of political theory, took shape between 1774 and 1789.

About 2,000 US babies are born annually without some portion of their limbs, potentially leading to a lifetime of pricey prosthetics.

Alzheimer's can lead to brain shrinkage, with an average of around 2% of volume reduction per year

Walt Disney's early film 'Alice's Wonderland' was a groundbreaking innovation in the silent film era

Mid-century modern graphic designers, known for their bright colors and bold lines in advertising, also found success with children's books.

An initial public offering or 'IPO' is the process of a private company becoming public by putting shares of the company on the stock market for purchase.

The first steps to rebuilding your credit score include getting to know exactly what's on your credit report and figuring out how far you are from the '700 club,' or 'good score' range.

Fireworks-related ER visits are on the rise—in 2024, they increased by 52% as compared to the prior year.

For centuries, it was common to sleep in two shifts: a few hours at the beginning of the night, and a longer period beginning around midnight

Brian Wilson wrote the Beach Boys' 'Don't Worry Baby' for the Ronettes, but the legendary girl group rejected it.

See the evolution of Ebola vaccine and treatment development.

At the beginning of the 20th century, a group of young men ate standard American food—replete with food additives like borax and formaldehyde—as part of government research to better understand food safety.

In 2009, the nation was gripped by the story of a missing young boy who was believed to be floating over Colorado in a homemade balloon, until it was revealed that he was at home the whole time.

As of 2025, the most cited papers in science include a review of graphene, methods to improve image recognition, streamlining electron density calculations, and optimizing protein studies.

Between 10 million and 50 million people in the US develop rashes from poison ivy, poison sumac, and poison oak each year.

The first image of a black hole was captured by creating an Earth-sized virtual observatory from a network of eight radio telescopes.

While El Niño moves warm Pacific Ocean waters east along the equator, La Niña moves them west, shifting where rainfall will become more common for months.

Tattoos remain visible on your skin thanks to immune cells called macrophages

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.