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Scientist Can Wrangle Microscopic Particles Using Gentle Tornadoes of Sound
Getting microscopic objects into formation is a tricky proposition. They don’t make tweezers small enough. Fortunately there’s an alternative: sweeping them up in a sonic vortex. In a recent...
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These 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 fluorescent lights. But even the most whisper-quiet devices are singing their little songs of daily life; you...
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Relax in Peace and Quiet Under This Sound-Absorbing Lamp
You usually don’t expect a lamp to do much more than provide a little illumination and snazz up a room. But maybe it’s time you should. Monica Armani’s Silenzio lamps are made with sound-absorbing foam...
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How Oblivion Made Earth Sound as Post-Apocalyptic as It Looks
Tom Cruise’s new sci-fi thriller Oblivion has been out for over two weeks now, so the SoundWorks Collection has a fascinating behind-the-scenes look at how the filmmakers used sound and music to paint...
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This Animation Based on Oscillating Sine Waves Is Utterly Entrancing
Are your eyes bored this morning? Look at this right now. It’s an animation by computer artist Daniel Sierra, and it will mesmerise you, if only for a few minutes. Sierra just got his MFA from New...
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How Star Trek Into Darkness’ Epic Score Came to Life
They hear it through the entire movie, but most theatre goers don’t pay close attention to one of the most important supporting players in a film: the soundtrack. It’s as important for building tension...
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Pioneer’s New Soundbar Is Beautifully Simple and Wonderfully Cheap
Pioneer’s new SB-PS23W is a soundbar the way most people want it: A simple, relatively inexpensive way to make a television sound louder. In that way, it’s cut from the same cloth as the fantastic...
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The Sonic Secrets That Bring Pixar’s Latest Movie To Life
For a totally animated flick, it’s the sound masters behind the scenes who are really responsible for bringing a movie to life—every squeal, sigh, and clunk is key. Thanks to the people over at...
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Over-Engineered Speaker Cables? Nope, Actual Speakers
Do you live in a bizarre, warped, Escher-style home that’s made installing a booming sound system next to impossible? The Anakonda KAN200 might look like a well shielded audio cable, but it’s actually...
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Man Hears Voices Out of Sync with Lips, Like an Old Kung Fu Movie
Well this is a first. No, really, a man going by the name of PH is the first known diagnosis of a deeply odd and presumably infuriating condition: He hears voices out of sync, as though he’s watching a...
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Tropical Moths Use Ultrasonic Crotch Blasts to Confuse Attacking Bats
In what has to be one of the most brilliant self-defense mechanisms ever developed, several species of tropical moths are able to rasp their genitals against their bodies to produce ultrasonic signals...
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Wake Up Tomorrow Morning With an Earful of Coffee
Sunday night is this kind of melancholy time, where you’re still free, but know you can’t do anything too fun cos you have to go back to work. But Monday morning doesn’t have to be so grim: piping hot...
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A Melodious Mashup of Nearly Every Chime and Bleep in Tech History
Close your eyes at any given moment, and you’re likely to hear an audio artifact or two — whether the boo-dah-ling of a text message or the clacking of a keyboard. But as this new sound collage reminds...
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Little Robots Turn Marker Squiggles Into Sound
All the little droids zipping around the Star Wars universe seemed sort of frantically aimless. Where were they going? These little robots look similar but their mission is clear. Follow the black...
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Yeah, What’s The Deal With Clapping?
Sometimes I have an out of body moment where I see myself as an audience member and think about how dumb-looking the whole process is. You sit somewhere. You gape at something and don’t monitor your...
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Incredible Disney Microphone Transmit Sounds Through Your Fingertips
When it comes to secrets, whispering just got outdated. Disney Research has come up with a microphone, straight out of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, that doesn’t actually amplify your...
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Why Does Your Voice Sound Different When It’s Recorded?
If you’ve ever listened to a recording of yourself and thought you sound completely different, you’re not alone. But more than that, you were also correct. Here’s why it sounds different. You see, when...
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Your Parents Are Right: Music Really Has Gotten Louder
You know how your mum or granny or whoever is always complaining about how “kids these days” listen to louder music than when she was young? Turns out, she was scientifically correct. Echo Nest, a...
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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...
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A Tiny Matchbook-Sized USB DAC Will Make Your Headphones Sound Sublime
If you’ve dropped a small fortune on a nice pair of over-the-ear headphones but are just connecting them to your laptop’s built-in headphone jack, you’re probably not hearing everything you paid for....
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