Millions have wondered what exactly made Mona Lisa smile, but thanks to Dr Matsumi Suzuki, a Japanese acoustics expert, the sound of her voice no longer remains a mystery. Suzuki used the length of her finger along with average height of Italian women to estimate Mona Lisa’s 5ft. 6in. height. Researchers then calculated the size of her bones, the volume of her nose and throat and her skull structure. Using voice print technology and a database of more than 150,000 voices, Suzuki and his team used voice synthesizers to record the sound of Mona Lisa’s voice.

Suzuki, a 2002 Nobel Peace Prize winner, also successfully uses this technology in criminal investigations, including solving murder cases. Previously, he also identified Osama bin Laden’s voice from an audio tape.

But Suzuki’s technology isn’t just for use on humans. He has created “Bow-lingual”, a transmitter that, when attached to a dog’s collar, can translate what its barks mean in human phrases. The transmitter says phrases such as “Let’s go” and “I miss you” based on the tone and other factors of its bark.