‘Bored’ seismologists turn to tracking silence

Southern Methodist University geophysicist Stephen Arrowsmith with a seismogram projection showing measurements taken from the basement of SMU's Henroy Building, where he does his seismology studies, on May 13,2020, in Dallas. Photo: Tom Fox/Dallas Morning News/TNS

If you’ve been noticing more birds chirping and more frogs singing, it’s probably not your imagination.

Noise created by humans, such as car and truck traffic, quieted by about 30% between late March and early May, according to a new analysis by researchers at Southern Methodist University.