Bugs Help Out With Hearing Aid Technology

It is no secret to anybody that there exists some very noisy insects as loud bugs exist in all parts of the world. Cicadas, locusts and crickets are just a few annoyingly loud bugs. It turns out that these loud sounds are worth something to humans since researchers believe that new and improved hearing aids can be created that are designed after loud bugs.

Currently researchers are focused on what it is that makes crickets so loud. When a cricket rubs its wings together loud sounds are produced from the friction between two very stiff patterns that are located on the crickets wings. For the experts developing the bug-inspired hearing aid, it is this “stiffness” that is key to producing the crickets loud sounds. A device that amplifies sound based on the crickets wings could be placed into a hearing aid to project sounds picked up in the environment by a microphone. The researchers hope that this improved hearing aid is only the beginning of more effective methods to help the hearing impaired.

Could these hearing aids be used by people without hearing problems in order to eavesdrop on conversations far away?