August 5, 2011

Ever wondered why you can recognize your favorite singer’s voice on the radio? And why is it that a man has a deeper-sounding voice than a woman? Well, we’ll have to explore how exactly our voices work.               

So, what is a voice? In simple terms, it’s our way of changing the air that we breathe out. We all have something called the voice box (also known as the larynx), which is a small organ in our neck. It houses a set of two folds (the vocal cords) that open and close really fast and vibrate as air passes through them from our lungs to our mouths. The vocal cords’ size, position, and even how they are stretched influences the type of sound that comes out. But that’s not it – the throat, nose, and other parts of our mouths also come into play. Plus, someone’s voice is also affected by how someone chooses to speak – maybe some pronounce their O’s with more of a fish-face!

But let’s get back to the question of why men have a lower voice range: simply put, when guys are going through the teen years (yup, those times when you start growing more hair and more muscles), their voice box or larynx also gets bigger. This means the vocal cords grow longer and thicker and this change leads to a deeper voice. Why? Because those thicker vocal cords don’t vibrate as fast.

Girls’ voices occasionally get lower, too. When you have a nasty cold, have you ever noticed that your voice gets a bit deeper? This is because your larynx and vocal cords have swollen and the vocal cords vibrate much more slowly.

Next time you hear someone’s voice change because of a cold, you’ll know exactly why

Image: The Writer’s Lounge

February 12, 2009

Contest: Unsung Body Parts

Does the world really need another song about "the heart"? Some body parts are celebrated much more than others in songs. Enough already with the "eyes" don’t you think?! Doesn’t your "spleen" or your "kneecap" deserve a musical tribute? Well, now it’s time to help me create a new collection of songs, poems, raps about less famous, but nevertheless important body parts.

Inspired by my new book The Human Body, I’m starting a rather silly contest! Send in a poem,  audio clip, video file etc of a short song about an "unsung body part."  I’ll post it here, if it tickles my funny bone (hey, there’s an idea for a body part).

The Prize: Winners of the best human body part song get an autographed copy of THE HUMAN BODY.

 

January 22, 2009

Did you know that there are more bones in children (about 300 or more bones) than in an adult (only about 206 bones). The reason is that bones fuse together as you grow older and where there might have been two or more bones in one spot in your body when you were a baby, there might be only one larger bone later in life.

Want to tell everyone your own fun fact? Email SeymourScience! and get your fun fact listed along with your name and class.

 

January 22, 2009

January 16, 2009

Can you believe that you’re made up of one hundred trillion cells, more than 600 muscles and over 200 bones. These are all parts of the twelve major systems that make up the human body. Seymour’s HUMAN BODY book uses the latest imaging techniques to give you a detailed glimpse of our bodies and explains how we function. THE HUMAN BODY covers everything about you, from outside to inside.