Suzanne Cuscik, age 10, of West Newton, Pa., for her question:

WHAT IS THE WOOSHING SOUND IN A SEASHELL?

You hear this wooshing sound when you hold a big conch shell close to your ear. Some people tell us that it is the sound of the ocean waves, breaking on some faraway shore. True, we can save sounds on a record and play them again and again. But the sound we hear in a seashell is something quite different.

The best shell for this sort of test is sturdy and coiled like a snail shell. Inside are small chambers with curved walls, just right for catching sounds and bouncing back the echos. When you hold the opening close to your ear, the echo chambers inside catch the sound of the blood pulsing through your veins. Woosh‑woosh, it really does sound like an echo of waves on a faraway beach.