Dear Matthew Alice: My mother showed me a trick to do with a big shell she has, and I want to know how it works. When I put the shell on my ear, I can hear the ocean that it came from. How does that ...

If you hold up a seashell to your ear and listen, you may hear what sounds like rolling waves and wind. But it’s not actually the ocean. Now that we’ve got that out of the way, what exactly is it that ...

(PhysOrg.com) -- Archaeologists and acousticians strike an unusual partnership to understand the mesmerizing role of conches in the temple culture around Peru's Chavin. The sound is ancient and eerie.