# @science on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/DYnXE93kySH
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/65837982-science-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/postThumbnails/68c3b2a36e.jpg
- **Posted:** 2026-05-21T21:00:22.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Science 🧬 (@science) — https://gondola.cc/science

## Caption

The notion that counting the chirps of crickets can serve as an informal way of working out the temperature is not new — in 1897, physicist Amos Dolbear proposed the reverse of that idea, stating outdoor temperature determined the number of cricket calls one would hear. Over the years, his way of looking at this relationship was turned around — people now count the chirps to get the temp rather than consult the thermometer to figure out how many cricket calls they will hear.⁠
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There is a variety of "cricket chirp thermometer formulas". One specifies counting the chirps over a 40-second interval, then adding 38 to that number to achieve the current temperature. Another says it's chirps over 14 seconds, then add 38. Yet a third says it's the number of chirps heard in 15 seconds, then add 48.⁠
The formula endorsed by The Old Farmer's Almanac seems the most reliable. Says that esteemed tome:⁠
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To convert cricket chirps to degrees Fahrenheit, count the number of chirps in 14 seconds, then add 40 to get the temperature.⁠
Example: 30 chirps + 40 = 70° F⁠
To convert cricket chirps to degrees Celsius, count the number of chirps in 25 seconds, divide by 3, then add 4 to get the temperature.⁠
Example: 48 chirps ÷ 3 + 4 = 20° C⁠
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#crickets #temperature #science #biology

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## Tags

science, temperature, biology, crickets

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