Posts Tagged ‘sound’
Hear the Big Bang in high fidelity
U. WASHINGTON (US) — New high-frequency audio recreates the likely sound just after the Big Bang—when the entire universe was ringing. Continue…
Monday, April 15, 2013 10:17 - 2 Comments
Science & Technology - Feb 14, 2013 11:52 - 1 Comment
Our brains learn to love music’s harmony
U. MELBOURNE (AUS) — The ability to appreciate harmony in music may be a learned—not innate—skill, new research suggests. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Dec 27, 2012 13:33 - 1 Comment
Invisible ‘knife’ focuses sound waves to slice
U. MICHIGAN (US) — A lens coated in carbon nanotubes that converts light to sound may eventually lead to an invisible scalpel for noninvasive surgery. (more…)
Top Stories - Oct 11, 2012 9:06 - 5 Comments
Why nasty noises make us squirm
UCL (UK) — The screechy sound of chalk on a blackboard is unpleasant because of the heightened activity between the emotional and auditory parts of our brain, research shows. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Oct 2, 2012 12:32 - 0 Comments
Medical tests may shrink with sound ‘tweezers’
PENN STATE (US) — A technique that uses acoustic waves to sort cells on a chip could lead to medical analytic devices as small as a cell phone, say researchers. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Sep 11, 2012 10:56 - 1 Comment
‘Chatter’ changes how some ears hear
PURDUE (US) — Background noise causes the ears of people with hearing impairments to work differently, according to new research that could influence the design of hearing aids and assistive technologies. (more…)
Science & Technology - Aug 20, 2012 15:22 - 0 Comments
Animated clatter sounds like the real thing
CORNELL (US) — Computer scientists have figured out how to add acceleration noise to make the bangs and clatters of animated crashes sound like the real thing. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jun 25, 2012 12:15 - 6 Comments
1890 image may be world’s oldest recording
INDIANA U. (US) — Modern technology may have resurrected the oldest recording in the world from an image. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Feb 1, 2012 12:05 - 4 Comments
Lifelong musicians may keep ears in tune
NORTHWESTERN (US) — Age-related delays in neural timing are not inevitable and can be avoided or offset with musical training, according to a new study. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Dec 30, 2011 10:30 - 0 Comments
Loudest threat to hearing: MP3 players
U. MICHIGAN (US) — MP3 players and stereos are the source of more harmful noise exposure than work and city transit, say researchers. (more…)
Top Stories - Oct 24, 2011 6:21 - 1 Comment
Tap sensor takes touch to the next level
CARNEGIE MELLON (US) — A touchscreen sensor uses sound to distinguish between the tap of a fingertip, finger pad, fingernail, and knuckle. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jul 29, 2011 14:27 - 1 Comment
Switch-up may lead to one-way sound
CALTECH (US) — A tunable diode that allows acoustic information to travel in one direction only may bring the concept of a true sound-proof room a step closer to reality. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jun 27, 2011 14:33 - 0 Comments
Sea microphone works like orca ears
STANFORD (US) — Taking a cue from orca whales, scientists have developed a highly-sensitive microphone the size of a pea that can be used underwater at any depth, to hear sounds at any range. (more…)
Science & Technology - Jun 30, 2010 11:29 - 0 Comments
Now hear this: How brain localizes sound
NYU (US)—Researchers have identified a mechanism the brain uses to help process sound localization by focusing on how the brain computes the different arrival times of sound into each ear. (more…)
Science & Technology - Apr 23, 2010 11:12 - 0 Comments
‘Sound bullets’ act like sonic scalpels
CALTECH (US)—Inspired by the popular executive toy Newton’s cradle, researchers have built a device—called a nonlinear acoustic lens—that produces highly focused, high-amplitude acoustic signals dubbed “sound bullets.” (more…)
Science & Technology - Mar 11, 2010 13:32 - 5 Comments
Audibility maps help tune out office buzz
CARDIFF U. (UK)—Sound-mapping software based on human hearing could take the overhead noise out of open office and meeting spaces. (more…)
Science & Technology - Feb 10, 2010 15:00 - 4 Comments
How the brain hears the sound of silence
U. OREGON (US)—Researchers have isolated an independent processing channel of synapses inside the brain’s auditory cortex that deals specifically with shutting off sound processing at appropriate times. The finding could lead to targeted therapies such as improved hearing devices, says psychologist Michael Wehr. (more…)
Health & Medicine - Nov 24, 2009 16:04 - 9 Comments
Brain listens, learns while we sleep
NORTHWESTERN (US)—Even in deep sleep, sounds make their way into our minds, researchers have found, and enhance associated memories. (more…)
Science & Technology - Nov 11, 2009 15:39 - 0 Comments
Virtual crashes sound like the real thing
CORNELL (US)—When you kick over a garbage can, it doesn’t make a pure, musical tone. That’s why the sound is so hard to synthesize. Now computer scientists have developed a practical method to generate the crashing and rumbling sounds of objects made up of thin “harmonic shells.” (more…)
