VOX POPULI: Finding spark that can make science so cool and so much fun

Hearing that a “device that can produce human voices” can be made from “a paper cup, straw, flexible condiment bottle, sponge and transparent file folder,” I visited the National Museum of Nature and Science where a program called “Oto no Kagaku Kyoshitsu” (literally, acoustic science classroom) was being offered.

Of the 20 or so individuals who attended, most were elementary school children.

To make this device: First, cut the straw on an angle and cover the opening with an oval piece that has been cut out of the file folder. Then, insert the straw into the paper cup and attach the cup to the condiment bottle that has been stuffed with the sponge.

When you blow firmly into the cup while squeezing the condiment bottle into various shapes, the device produces sounds like “ah” and “ooh.” That’s so clever.

While some kids could cleverly manipulate the sounds, others were less successful. “This isn’t working,” someone grumbled.

Yoshinori Takahashi, 45, an associate professor at Kogakuin University who acts as the coach, advised one of his struggling associate “pupils” to rework the straw. When this was done, the device produced a loud “boo” to everyone’s relief.

We also learned the mechanism of human vocalization. Air is pumped from the lungs and reaches the vocal cords that make sounds. And those sounds resonate in the vocal tract of the nasal cavity to become voices.

It turned out that the straw served as the vocal cords and the condiment bottle was the vocal tract.

A boy who said he loves science exclaimed, “Awesome! Humans are so cool.”

This year’s recipients of the Ig Nobel Prize, which recognizes “unique research that makes people laugh and then think,” were announced yesterday Japan time. For the 18th year in a row, a Japanese researcher won the prize.

Watching footage of the awards ceremony that was filled with fun and laughter, I recalled the faces of the bright-eyed youngsters who enjoyed the “acoustic science class” at the museum.

The Ig Nobel Prize is commonly understood to focus on what is “fun,” but it has actually honored many “serious” research projects, too.

I caught myself dreaming of the voice-producing device becoming the inspiration for youngsters to become scientists.

–The Asahi Shimbun, Sept. 14

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Vox Populi, Vox Dei is a popular daily column that takes up a wide range of topics, including culture, arts and social trends and developments. Written by veteran Asahi Shimbun writers, the column provides useful perspectives on and insights into contemporary Japan and its culture.

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