Here is a (partial) overview of (some of) the recent academic literature on the subject of 'Humming'

Security

Humming-based human verification and identification

“The experimental results show that linear prediction cepstral coefficients and perceptually linear prediction coefficients are conducive to verification and identification, respectively.”

Medicine

Strong humming for one hour daily to terminate chronic rhinosinusitis in four days:

“The morning after the first 1-hour humming session, the subject awoke with a clear nose and found himself breathing easily through his nose for the first time in over 1 month.”

Internet

Query by humming: a time series database approach (2003)

“A Query by Humming system allows the user to find a song by humming part of the tune.”

Zoology

Humming in bears: a peculiar sustained mammalian vocalization (2007)

“Humming is present in all extant species of the Ursidae with the exception of the giant panda. It has similar structural characteristics and the same mode of sound production in all species.”

Telecommunications

Cancellation of humming GSM mobile telephone noise

“A sometimes annoying problem in the most internationally widespread cellular telephone system, the GSM system, is an interfering signal generated by the switching nature of TDMA cellular telephone system”

Industrial engineering

On-Line Monitoring Systems Help Silence Combustor Humming

“Real-time monitoring of flame instability can save gas turbine owners from millions of dollars in damage due to ‘combustor humming.”

Vocalization

The Importance of Humming for Vocality Learning

“Humming is a good way to learn vocality. It can make the learners master the singing mood and position more quickly, and help them find the correct breathing pivot to gain the high position of vocality.”

Psychoanalysis

On humming: reflections on Marion Milner’s contribution to psychoanalysis

“Like doodling, humming exists in a space that links the inner and the outer, subjective and objective realities: ”

Entomology

Humming in Tune: Sex and Species Recognition by Mosquitoes on the Wing

“Male mosquitoes detect and locate female mosquitoes by hearing the female’s flight tone, but until recently we had no idea that females also respond to male flight tones.”

Astronautics

Feedback Attitude Control of Space Humming Bird

“The Space Humming Bird is an intra-vehicular free flying system (IVFFS) to be used in micro gravity environment.”

Seismology

The Ocean’s Seismic Hum

“Since the early 20th century, seismometers have detected a continuous, low-frequency seismic “hum” that is caused by wave-wave interactions in the ocean.”