The Cyborg, The Scientist, and the Death of Silence
Twenty Thousand Hertz
Are the Hairs Really Antennas or Are They More Like Little Amplifiers?
The active process amplifies sound. So you can hear sounds that move the hair bundle by only about three tenths of anatomy. When the amplification fails, you are hearing sensitivity plummets. Even an untrained individual can distinguish two tones that differ by one-thirtieth of a percent. This fine discrimination is useful in our ability to distinguish different voices and to understand nuances of speech.
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