quote:

You can tell where a sound is coming from when you're on land because the sound reaches your ears at different times, which orients the sound.

Ummmmm...sort of. That explains how you can place a sound source to the right or left. It doesn't explain how you can distinguish when a sound is in front or in back of you. Or above or below you. Both of which you can do with a good deal of precision.

This is done by noting subtle interference effects introduced into the sound by all those weird folds in your ears. There is little doubt that this also comes into play when placing a sound source off to one side. Timing may also play a role, but phase comparisons probably come into play more so.

There was a demo of this several years ago that was played on the radio. A recording of someone walking up a wooden staircase sounded exactly as though it began several feet below the car (where I heard it) and ended several feet above. Most remarkable was that this was a pure monophonic recording, with no left/right differences at all.

look plain and simple water will not slow sound sound travels faster in water and wind has no affect on the speed of sound but tempature does the colder the tepature the slower it travels.

Wind won't slow down the speed of sound through the air, but since the air is moving it does have an affect.

If the wind is blowing from you to the sound source, you may not be able to hear it, or it may sound like it's further away.

If the wind is blowing from the sound source to you, you can sometimes hear things you wouldn't without the wind and it may sound like the sound is closer than it actually is.

If the wind is blowing cross ways and is blowing hard enough, it can actually make is sound like the sound is coming from a location downwind from where it is actually coming from.

Some people don't believe this is true, but I know from experience that it is. I have had every one of these situations happen to me.

shwm19 is right. The speed if sound in air is variable. At high altitudes it is slower than at sea level, but not just because of temperature, the lower pressure also has a slowing effect on the speed of sound. That's why fighter pilots reference their speed to Mach 1. Mach 1 at 60,000 feet is quite a bit slower than Mach 1 at sea level.