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The Cost of Noise: Traffic Sounds Linked to Poor Health in Birds
STEM Snacks
Steve Burgess
April 27, 2024
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Egg Noise
Noise can negatively affect animal growth and development. Researchers found traffic sounds slow growth and lead to other health factors in birds.
Bird studied = zebra finch
Traffic noise played at 65 decibels before and after hatching
Noise exposed eggs were 19% less likely to hatch
Noise exposed hatchlings experienced slow growth, lower red blood cell counts, damaged chromosome tips, and produced ~50% less offspring. Further research into how noise causes these impacts will aid sustainable infrastructure development and help us better understand noise pollution’s impact on humans.
Source: Science.org
AI (yai yai)
ChatGPT tries stand-up comedy. How do you think it did?
Imagine if traffic noise affected humans the same way. Our cities would just be full of sleepy, grouchy people moving really slowly... wait a minute.
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