Dr. Konstantina Stankovic
👤 PersonAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
If you take a penny, then you'll notice that Lincoln is on a penny.
So the human organ of hearing, which is called the cochlea, in cross-section is the size of Lincoln's upper face on a penny.
Super small.
And that organ is filled with fluid.
How much fluid?
What's your guess?
What's the volume of this inner ear fluid?
It even has a fancy term.
It's called paralymph and endolymph.
There are two types of fluid, but that doesn't matter.
What matters is the scale.
So how much fluid do you think there is?
That's pretty close.
It's actually the equivalent of three raindrops, so about 140 microliters.
So this is an organ that's amazing.
It is the most sensitive sensory organ.
It can detect displacements that are on the order of the diameter of a hydrogen atom.
That's astounding.
If you just think in terms of electronic chips, the traces are now on the order of one nanometer, which is the size of five silicon atoms.
but the ear can detect displacements that are one-tenth of that.