Science Helps Teen Cell Phone Users Pull a Fast One

Generation Y can thank science for outsmarting their elders.

Recent technology developed by a security company has produced a high frequency ring tone for cell phones that is –- for the most part -– only addible for adolescents and children under the age of twenty. It allows children to receive calls and text messages while adults are none the wiser.

The new technology proves useful for those in the favored age range in many different facets. Looking to break the monotony of a lecture or seatwork? Why not write a message or two to your buddies? Phone privileges axed? Why not pull a fast one over your parents? The possibilities are as convenient as they are endless.

"A secondary school teacher in Cardiff said: 'All the kids were laughing about something, but I didn't know what. They know phones must be turned off during school. They could all hear somebody's phone ringing but I couldn't hear a thing.'" (Source: merto.co.uk).

The technology takes advantage of a human's natural, degenerative loss of hearing high frequency sounds as age increases. It's known as a medical phenomenon called "presbycusis," and it works like this: as sound waves enter the ear, they pass through an organ called the "cochlea." Within the cochlea are several tiny hairs that allow the individual to perceive high frequency sounds. However, as age increases (usually beyond the age of 20) these hairs flatten out and become somewhat defunct, thus handicapping the individual's ability to hear these noises. (Source : nytimes.com)

As if there weren't already enough perks of being young.