A high-speed camera and underwater microphones help scientists to investigate a puzzle about bubbles.
31 July 2026
A high-speed camera and underwater microphones help scientists to investigate a puzzle about bubbles.
Bubble and squeak: small bubbles form with a louder sound than big ones. Credit: Tui De Roy/Nature Picture Library
Test out this finding during your next trip to the pool. Bubbles forming under water make a noise — and researchers have now zeroed in on the physics that determine the volume of that sound1.
Access options
In 1997, a mysterious sound echoed across the Pacific. Years later, scientists traced the 'Bloop' to Antarctica
In 1997, a mysterious ocean sound called the 'Bloop' sparked sea monster and lost underwater city theories. The truth came from Antarctica
The birds and the beeps: Clicks, chirps and calls are boosting conservation efforts
How a whale's dive shapes its song
The deep ocean has a way of turning ordinary events into unanswered questions. Far below the waves, sounds travel through water…
Researchers listening off the Caribbean island of Dominica found variations in the mammals’ audible clicks when marine traffic…
A plastic disc labeled "fish noises" sat in a Woods Hole archive for 75 years, and turned out to be the oldest known recording of…
The low, eerie rumbles have travelled up to five miles, been felt through the structures of buildings for decades and have…
Scientists detected a powerful underwater sound called the Bloop in 1997. This mysterious noise traveled thousands of miles,…
Understanding whale sounds could help prevent strikes from ships and even aid in search for extraterrestrial life
