Using tools developed to monitor earthquakes, an interdisciplinary team of researchers reporting in Current Biology on May 7 have found that it’s possible to eavesdrop on elephants by listening in to vibrations through the ground as they move about and vocalize. The findings lend support to theories suggesting that elephants could use ground vibrations for long-distance communication among themselves, the researchers say. They might also lead to development of a new kind of alarm system for detecting elephant behaviors, such as panic running, as a means to catch and deter poachers.