The goal of the research was to focus on the target frequencies while ignoring the distractor frequencies.
As we get older, we have an increasingly harder time ignoring distractions. According to new research in the Cell Press journal Neuron, by learning to discriminate a sound amidst progressively more disruptive distractions, we can diminish our distractibility.
Continue reading… “Sound training can help an aging brain ignore distractions”
I just learned about Ferrofluid today. It can do some amazing things, like this video shows. After the jump is a second video explaining HOW ferrofluid works.
From the YouTube descriptioin:
A steel sculpture with changing magnetisation is coated with ferrofluid.
The fluid is pulled in the direction of increasing flux density and forms peaks, which become smaller in higher flux density. At an accumulation of fluid at ridges, the flux density at the surface decreases. The flow and the distribution of the fluid can be observed at several characteristic locations…
World’s loneliest whale.
We’ve heard about whales suffering from loneliness due to overhunting. There’s simply fewer of their species for them to communicate with. But what about a whale who sings at the wrong frequency? One whale, recorded since 1989 and tracked since 1992, sings at a frequency of 51.75 Hz, whereas others of her kind sing at 15 to 25 Hz. She’s lonely because no one else can hear her.
Continue reading… “Loneliest Whale in the World Sings at the Wrong Frequency”
Fear not, folks in Japan have created a device to help answer that question.
The pocket-sized device, aptly called the “Age Prediction Machine,” emits high-frequency buzzing noises that are meant to help users determine someone’s age based on how well they can hear it.
The noise levels are broken down by age range: teens, 20s, 30s and 40-plus. People 25 and under will respond to the quieter settings, while those over 40 will only be able to hear the loudest.
Continue reading… “Age Prediction Machine Helps You Figure Out Date’s Age Using Mosquito Noises”
It’s not often that a press event at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Meeting features a car. But the car that was driven into the press room today was an electric one, with some added communications skills: it could talk with the electric grid…
Continue reading… “Testing The Electric Vehicle-To-Grid Connection”
Many people think that the hearing impaired would have lost a large part of being human, that is, being unable to experience the joy of music. Well, have you ever attended a deaf church’s worship service? Those involve drums that lets the congregation literally feel the beat of the song, and the Sounzzz concept is a visual, audio, tactile MP3 player that can not only work for the hearing impaired but is universal enough for everyone to have a go. Sound will be translated into a range of vibrations, where you will need to hug the device in order to feel the music.
Why Cry Baby Analyzer
When a new born baby arrives in to the world, the baby’s parents soon learn that they cry for various reasons that often you might not be aware of. This “Why Cry Baby Analyzer” is a monitoring device that sits next to your baby at night and analyizes why the baby is crying.
Continue reading… “‘Why Cry Baby Analyzer’ Analyzes Why Baby Is Crying”
Transforming your clothes into speakers sounds weird, but science is working hard to bring fiction to reality. Like most of the technological breakthroughs these days, this one also seems possible with the help of nanotechnology. Researchers at Beijing’s Tsinghua University noticed that sending an audio frequency current through carbon nanotubes resulted in good quality sound.
Continue reading… “Turn Your Clothes Into Fabric Speakers”
PainShieldTM MD is a pocket-sized device that is used to stop pain and speed the healing process.
Continue reading… “PainShield MD: Pocket Sized Pain Control Device”
Large animals are towards the top of the list when it comes to causing accidents in rural areas. Even though many measures are in place to keep these collisions to a minimum, some accidents are unavoidable. However, a new system is currently being tested that could help to reduce the number of animal related accidents even further.
Continue reading… “New Technology Can Reduce Number Of Animal Related Accidents”
There’s no shortage of demand for faster wireless, but today’s fastest technologies–Wi-Fi, 3G cellular networks, and even the upcoming WiMax–max out at tens or hundreds of megabits per second. So far, no commercial wireless system can beat the raw speed of optical fiber, which can carry tens of gigabits per second.
Continue reading… “Faster Wireless to Compete with Speed of Fiber”
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s9GBf8y0lY0[/youtube]
This video does a great job of creating the visual patterns associated with sound waves. Its a simple science experiment done with lots of salt. Second video after the jump.
Continue reading… “Visualizing Sound Waves with Salt”
