The night the Rhymer went whack

5

Nick’s hearing was impeccable.

The outer ear collects the vibration, sending it through the canal, then stimulating our eardrum which in turn stimulates the bones malleus, incus and stapes. Now amplified, the cochlea was activated and the sound ripples the water that lives in the cochlea for this very purpose. These ripples travel along a small membrane, the basilar, then sensory hair cells ride this wave, distinguishing the higher pitched sounds from the lower pitched sounds. Now, the stereocilia, which sits on top of those hair cells, bumps, bends, causing pore-like channels to open up, sending chemicals into the cells which create electrical pulses.

At birth, Nick’s ears were larger than normal. His ear canal slightly longer and the cartilaginous structure was more defined than most humans, more angular and more in depth. He tilted his head toward dog whistles and strained his neck at sounds over sixty megahertz.