Summer is heating up and bird and cricket songs drift through the air. According to the Library of Congress Science Reference Department, there is a way to ascertain the temperature by listening carefully to the sound that crickets make.
Male crickets make the sound by rubbing their wings together, usually with the purpose of impressing females. The rate depends on the cricket’s absolute temperature.
- For Fahrenheit: count the number of cricket chirps in 15 seconds and then add 37.
- For Celsius: count the number of chirps in 8 seconds and add 5.
Summer Haiku
Silence, a a deeper silence
When the crickets hesitate.
~ Leonard Cohen
