Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/07/13/scientists-invent-an-electroni.html
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Came here expecting a box fan…leaving intrigued!
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So they reduced the noise by 10 db by installing a bunch of small obstructions that take up about 10% of the window area. Hmmmm. I bet I could reduce it a lot more for a lot cheaper just by installing bricks and taking up 100% of the space. Just sayin.
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this could merely be an elaborate office prank amongst scientists:
“it works Milton now tell the head of R&D anything you want he cant hear you, promise”
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I’d rather apply this to my apartment ceiling. I’ve got “those” neighbors.
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if they work on a system like this it’s the best of both worlds, un-obstructed window and audio cancelling
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You know there are musical representations made by MIT scientists which are derived from the COVID19’s amino acid architecture:
The Sonification of the Coronavirus Spike Protein (Amino Acid Scale) is about 35 minutes long
(https:soundcloud.com/user-275864738/sets/protein-counterpoint) and
The Viral Counterpoint of the Coronavirus Spike Protein (2019-nCoV)
(https:/soundcloud.com/user-275864738/viral-counterpoint-of-the-coronavirus-spike-protein-2019-ncov) is about an hour and 50 minutes long and has three distinct movements, probably one for each strand of the spike.
I’ve asked those scientists and a friend from Bose who helped develop their noise-cancelling headphones whether noise cancellation technology would be useful in developing a way to blunt that COVID19 spike but haven’t heard back from them.
Just a thought to help solve the most important jigsaw puzzle in the world.
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Looks like it works great for frequencies above 400 Hz, when averaged over the course of an unspecified time period. Not sure why they cut off the noise sample above 1000 Hz, you know, where a whole lot of objectionable noise lives. Also no mention of subjective impressions of noise reduction. 10 dB is a perceptual halving of noise level, but that’s mostly for steady-state noise. I doubt that impulsive noises are attenuated nearly that much. Because active noise control is just not that effective for anything that’s not steady-state.
Funny they compare it to noise-cancelling headphones. I am an acoustician, and every time I see something like this, that’s supposed to use sound waves to block sound waves, I cringe. The last time I wore noise-cancelling headphones, I laughed at how sure, the drone of the jet engines was nicely attenuated, but every crying child or snoring adult on the plane had now effectively moved 10 feet closer to me. Now I just wear $2 ear plugs. If you want to live in a city, either get used to the noise, or close the dang window.
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did you make this up specially, or did that caption preexist?
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You just need one brick, but it must be aimed squarely at the head of the person making the noise.
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Gotta love vaporware. Here’s Electroboom debunking a similar device and explaining why it may be a pipe dream:
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Does it work for the sound of people upstairs dropping marbles? That is the main noise issue for Singaporeans.
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Because it works literally the exact same way.
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I merely liked your post because there was no “I live your post, I feel those feels” button.
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