A round of applause, please: Scientists have finally figured out what’s behind the sound of clapping. The research pinpoints a mechanism called a Helmholtz resonator — the same acoustic concept that ...

NPR's Scott Detrow speaks with actor and musician Fred Armisen about the reason and production behind his new sound effect album, 100 Sound Effects.

In a pivotal scene from the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand, a mutant claps his hands and blasts a shockwave across a battlefield. In a theater somewhere, Sunny Jung watched—and wondered. “It made me ...

What’s a political debate without a clapping, cheering audience? A debate with a silent audience “is like a movie without a soundtrack. …So many people are empowered by Twitter, Facebook. You have ...