Organic Optoelectronic Synapses for Sound Perception

The neuromorphic systems for sound perception is under highly demanding for the future bioinspired electronics and humanoid robots.However,the sound perception based on volume,tone and timbre remains unknown.Herein,organic optoelectronic synapses(OOSs)are constructed for unprecedented sound recognition.The volume,tone and timbre of sound can be regulated appropriately by the input signal of voltages,frequencies and light intensities of OOSs,according to the amplitude,frequency,and waveform of the sound.The quantitative relation between recognition factor(ζ)and postsynaptic current(I=I_(light)−I_(dark))is established to achieve sound perception.Interestingly,the bell sound for University of Chinese Academy of Sciences is recognized with an accuracy of 99.8%.The mechanism studies reveal that the impedance of the interfacial layers play a critical role in the synaptic performances.This contribution presents unprecedented artificial synapses for sound perception at hardware levels.

Keeping an ear out:size relationship of the tympanic bullae and pinnae in bandicoots and bilbies(Marsupialia:Peramelemorphia)

Bandicoots and bilbies(Order Peramelemorphia)occupy a broad range of habitats across Australia and New Guinea,from open,arid deserts to dense forests.This once diverse group has been particularly vulnerable to habitat loss and introduced eutherian predators,and numerous species extinctions and range retractions have occurred.Understanding reasons for this loss requires greater understanding of their biology.Morphology of the pinnae and tympanic bullae varies markedly among species.As hearing is important for both predator avoidance and prey location,the variability in ear morphology could reflect specialization and adaptation to specific environments,and therefore be of conservation relevance.We measured 798 museum specimens representing 29 species of Peramelemorphia.Controlling for phylogenetic relatedness and head length,pinna surface area was weakly negatively correlated with average precipitation(rainfall being our surrogate measure of vegetation productivity/complexity),and there were no environmental correlates with effective diameter(pinna width).Controlling for phylogenetic relatedness and skull length,tympanic bulla volume was negatively correlated with precipitation.Species that inhabited drier habitats,which would be open and allow sound to carry further with less obstruction,had relatively larger pinnae and tympanic bullae.In contrast,species from higher rainfall habitats,where sounds would be attenuated and diffused by dense vegetation,had the smallest pinnae and bullae,suggesting that low-frequency hearing is not as important in these habitats.Associations with temperature did not reach statistical significance.These findings highlight linkages between hearing traits and habitat that can inform conservation and management strategies for threatened species.