Sep 05, 2005

Remember Doug Chiang’s Star Wars-themed home theater?

Well, here’s a home theater based around Raiders of the Lost Ark, complete with actual props from the movies.

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Here’s a review of the X-woofer, a “wearable woofer” that’s worn around the neck. Good idea in principle, if not in execution.

[from Engadget]

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Using sound to improve aircraft performance at low speeds: “A Qantas aerospace engineer has found a way to make small planes safer and more efficient by turning their wings into flying speakers that can beat out a tune.”

More info here.

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First is was the Kokomo Hum, now it’s the Ohio Scream: “An unusual and noisy mystery has people in a small town north of Middletown on edge, worried and asking questions.”

Maybe it’s time to give Jim Cowan a call?

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Another step in the preservation of “Natural Quiet”: A man speaks up for silence

“In claiming one small inch for the sounds of the natural world, without intrusion from the racket of man, Hempton, 52, hopes to preserve the quiet of miles of wilderness backcountry in Olympic National Park.”

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From the New York Times:

While scientific literacy has doubled over the past two decades, only 20 to 25 percent of Americans are “scientifically savvy and alert,” he said in an interview. Most of the rest “don’t have a clue.” At a time when science permeates debates on everything from global warming to stem cell research, he said, people’s inability to understand basic scientific concepts undermines their ability to take part in the democratic process.

I can sympathize, this is something I encounter more and more as I try to explain acoustical concepts to lay people – for example, people don’t understand concepts like decibels and A-weighting so they dismiss these metrics even though they can be very effective at predicting annoyance from noise.

But in the end, as a consultant, it’s my job to help people to understand these things. But sometimes I wish it was just a bit easier.

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Brad’s Audio Blog has info on a new DIY line array loudspeaker kit.

Interesting design – the array consists of a pair of woofers and a tweeter mounted in a D’Appolito configuration which, in turn, is flanked by a ported woofer array.

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Here’s a tutorial for DIY Tube Traps.

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