Now hear this: Simple fluid waveguide performs spectral analysis in a manner similar to the cochlea

(Phys.org) --Within the mammalian inner ear, or cochlea, a remarkable but and long-debated phenomenon occurs: As they move from the base of the cochlea to its apex, traveling fluid waves - that is, surface waves, in which (like waves on the sea and or in a canal) water moves both longitudinally and transversally - peak in amplitude at locations that depend on the wave's frequency. (Higher frequencies are concentrated in the base, lower frequencies in the apex.) What's critical is that these peak...