earwax isn't just gross. It's gross and useful. The Middle Ear: Good Vibrations After sound waves enter the outer ear, they travel through the ear canal and make their way to the middle ear. The middle ear's main job is to take those sound waves and turn them into vibrations that are delivered to the inner ear. To do this, it needs the eardrum, which is a thin piece of skin stretched tight like a drum. The eardrum separates the outer ear from the middle ear and the ossicles (say: ah -sih-kulz). What are ossicles? They are the three tiniest, most delicate bones in your body. They include: the malleus (say: mah -lee-us), which is attached to the eardrum and means "hammer" in Latin the incus (say: in -kus), which is attached to the malleus and means "anvil" in Latin the stapes (say: stay -peez), the smallest bone in the body, which is attached to the incus and means "stirrup" in Latin When sound waves reach the eardrum, they cause the eardrum to vibrate. When the eardrum vibrates, it moves the tiny ossicles -- from the hammer to the anvil and then to the stirrup. These bones help sound move along on its journey into the inner ear. The Inner Ear: Nerve Signals Start Here Sound comes into the inner ear as vibrations and enters the cochlea (say: ko -klee-uh), a small, curled tube in the inner ear. The cochlea is filled with liquid, which is set into motion, like