Giving a Listen
Listen up! Although several posts about the human ear have been posted here, it is helpful to be reminded of the amazing and complex design involved. Those flaps of skin on the side of the head effectively scoop sounds traveling in the air (there is no sound in space, despite presentations in science fiction movies). Not just sounds on either side, but also above, below, and behind. The brain has been designed to sort out all of that information and make it useful for us, from danger to pleasure and everything between. Ear diagram credit: National Science Foundation / Zina Deretsky (usage does not imply endorsement) Although the bones in the ear have more formal names, eardrum, hammer, stirrup, and eardrum are commonly used. Like so many products of the Master Engineer, there is no room for piece-by-piece evolution because everything has to be in place at the same time. Otherwise, nothing would work or even make sense if some parts "appeared" and others came later. Most pe