Sono, a noise cancelation and isolation device that sticks on your window

If you’re the sort that needs peace and quiet to get anything done, escaping the noise pollution of every day life — regardless of where you’re located — is no easy task. A new device that sticks onto your window, Sono, will not only cancel real-world noise, but isolate the noises you’d prefer to hear, if any.

You live in a corner apartment, and your one, meager window faces a beautiful, serene park. However, in front of that park is a major metropolitan road, host to loud traffic throughout the day. If not for the constant stream of cars and barking dogs, the soothing sounds of chirping birds and the wind rustling through trees would make its way across the street and into your bedroom. With Sono, you can stick the device right on your window, and fiddle with some settings to either cancel out noise entirely, or cancel out the specific noises that are drowning out the peaceful ones.

Sono it’s a concept created by Austrian industrial designer Rudolf Stefanich. Sono works by vibrating a window in a pattern counter to the vibrations caused by the ambient noise, essentially turning the surface into a noise-canceling speaker. During prototype testing, Sono’s transducer used active noise canceling to successfully lower the audio signal by 12 decibels — which would probably do a good job of blocking out quieter sounds in the 30-80 dB range, but you’d still definitely hear traffic and other loud sounds.

The device employs concentric broadband antenna rings, and can be charged through WiFi signals or the standard electric outlet, so your noise shield won’t unceremoniously lower in the middle of the night.

The strength of Sono is not that it can cancel out obnoxious ambient noises, but can still filter pleasant ambient noises through. So, not only can you still get the chirping birds and rustling leaves from that park across the street, but the sounds are natural — not some recreation on your phone that sounds very digital. Though Stefanich’s device is more of a concept than a tangible item, the theory behind the device was successfully tested with that aforementioned prototype, and it is a finalist for the James Dyson Award.

Info from Extreme Tech

O porquê dos arquitetos precisarem de usar os ouvidos

O nosso mundo cada vez mais barulhento está a corroer a nossa saúde mental. Julian Treasure estuda o som e aconselha empresas relativamente a como usá-lo melhor. É o presidente da Sound Agency, uma empresa que aconselha empresas por todo o mundo em como usar o som. Diz-nos para prestarmos atenção aos sons que nos rodeiam. Como é que eles nos fazem sentir: produtivos, nervosos, com energia?

Nesta Ted Talk, Treasure explica que devido a uma má acústica, os alunos em salas de aula perdem 50% do que os professores dizem, e pacientes em hospitais têm dificuldade em dormir porque continuamente se sentem stressados. Julian Treasure faz um apelo à ação dos designers e arquitetos para prestarem atenção à "arquitetura invisível" do som. 

Deixo-vos com outras duas Ted Talks do mesmo autor aqui (Sound Health in 8 steps) e aqui (5 ways to listen better).

Interesting facts about sound

The malleus, incus and stapes (otherwise known as the hammer, anvil and stirrup) are the smallest bones in the human body and are full size at birth.    All three together could fit on a penny. The whole area of the middle ear is no bigger than an M&M.    The cochlea (inner ear) is about the size of a pencil eraser.    The ear never stops working, even when people are asleep. The ear continues to hear sounds, but the brain shuts them out.    Ears are self-cleaning. Pores in the ear canal produce cerumen, or ear wax, and tiny hairs, called cilia, push the wax out of the ear.    Sound travels at the speed of 1130 feet per second, or 770 miles per hour.    A sonic boom occurs when an object breaks the speed of sound. The sound waves from behind and in front of the object crash into each other and create the boom.    Chuck Yeager was the first American pilot to travel faster than the speed of sound.    At 115 dB, a baby's cry is louder than a car horn.    In Africa, a tribe of people call Maabans live in such quiet that they can hear a whisper from across a baseball field, even when they are very old.    The hearing of a dog is more sensitive than humans. Dogs can hear much higher frequencies, which is why they respond to "silent" dog whistles. More than 28 million Americans have a hearing loss.    More than 1/3 of the U.S. population have a significant hearing impairment by age 65.    Approximately 2 million people are profoundly deaf.    One of every 1,000 infants is born totally deaf.    Sitting in front of the speakers at a rock concert can expose a person to 120 dB, which will begin to damage hearing in only 7-1/2 minutes.    It does not matter if you like the sounds you are exposed to. An orchestra playing Mozart at 120 dB will damage your hearing as quickly as Metallica playing at 120 dB.    Two out of three babies will have an ear infection before age 1.

 

Red Grapes, Red Wine Could Prevent Hearing Loss and Cognitive Decline

Studies linking red wine with numerous health benefits are not new, though neither are studies coming to opposite conclusions, admittedly. But in the last decade or so, we’ve seen numerous bodies of research indicating a wealth of potential benefits in an occasional or even regular glass of red wine. Recently, scientists with the Department of Otolarynology-Head & Neck Surgery at Henry Ford Hospital have found the active component within red wine and grapes, known as resveratrol, may help protect against both hearing loss and cognitive decline.

“Our latest study focuses on resveratrol and its effect on bioinflammation, the body’s response to injury and something that is believed to be the cause of many health problems including Alzheimer’s disease, cancer, aging, and hearing loss,” said the study’s lead author Michael D. Seidman, director of the Division of Otologic/Neurotologic Surgery.

The researchers looked at how resveratrol could protect against hearing loss and cognitive decline thought to be caused by cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), a “key to the inflammatory process”. They found that noise exposure caused an up-regulation of COX-2 while resveratrol inhibited COX-2 expression and actually reduced hearing loss caused by prolonged acoustic stimulation in rats.

“COX-2 levels are induced dramatically following noise exposure,” the study reads. “This increased expression may be a potential mechanism of noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL) and a possibly mechanism of resveratrol’s ability to mitigate NIHL by its ability to reduce COX-2 expression.”

“We’ve shown that by giving animals resveratrol, we can reduce the amount of hearing and cognitive decline,” said Dr. Seidman. 

Resveratrol is found in most concentrated levels within the skin of red grapes, which is why it is found in red wine. While the benefits of red wine due to resveratrol are suspected to be many, critics warn against using red wine as a health food.

To that end, a study last fall by researchers with Rutgers University found that just two glasses of red wine each day can actually reduce brain cell production by up to 40%. They found that although motor skills and short-term associative learning were not affected by a blood alcohol level of .08 (the legal driving limit), brain cell production was.

What does this mean for you? It likely means that resveratrol has health benefits, but the alcohol in wine could negate those benefits if consumed in larger amounts. In other words, you can get your resveratrol from red grapes and even wine, but don’t continue to drink moderately if you’re concerned about the potential negative effects.

From Natural Society

Hearing protection - You're doing it wrong

How Old Are You Ears

Procedimento inovador nos EUA permite a uma criança surda de nascença ouvir pela primeira vez voz do pai

Há um video que está a emocionar milhões de pessoas em todo o mundo. Mostra o momento em que uma criança de três anos, surda desde a nascença, ouve pela primeira vez a voz do pai. Grayson Clamp é a primeira criança americana a receber um implante auditivo do tronco cerebral.

Notícia acedida em RTP.pt

Why you should wear ear protection

The Noise Shirt

The Noise Shirt is a machine washable, wirelessly rechargeable garment that measures ambient sound via an LED equalizer bar on the chest. 

An embedded microphone measures the environmental noise level and displays it as a vertical 5 step EQ bar, in which the top two lights represent noiselevels beyond recommended limits for hearing protection. A small lithium-polymer battery in the shirt contains a wireless recharging induction loop in the neck tab which, when conjoined with an inductive coil on the shirt's specially designed coat hanger, will recharge the shirt in about three hours. 

The next step is to add a mobile user interface to the device in order to access outside services and applications, giving it functionality beyond reminding everyone at the next Mudvayne show that they'll eventually be going deaf.

Info from EnGadget

Is Noise-induced hearing loss preventable?

NIHL is 100 percent preventable. All individuals should understand the hazards of noise and how to practice good hearing health in everyday life. To protect your hearing:

• Know which noises can cause damage (those at or above 85 decibels).
• Wear earplugs or other hearing protective devices when involved in a loud activity.
• Be alert to hazardous noise in the environment.
• Protect the ears of children who are too young to protect their own.
• Make family, friends, and colleagues aware of the hazards of noise.
• If you suspect hearing loss, have a medical examination by an otolaryngologist (a physician who specializes in diseases of the ears, nose, throat, head, and neck) and a hearing test by an audiologist (a health professional trained to measure and help individuals deal with hearing loss).

Info from National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Image from Contaminacion auditiva

What is Noise-induced hearing loss?

It's loss of hearing caused by exposure to loud noises. When exposed to loud noise the tiny hairs inside the ear (more specifically the cochlea) are damaged. These hairs can repair themselves if only a small amount of damage is done, however over time repeated exposure to loud noise can cause permanent damage. It can be caused by a one-time exposure to an intense “impulse” sound, such as an explosion, or by continuous exposure to loud sounds over an extended period of time, such as noise generated in a woodworking shop.

People of all ages, including children, teens, young adults and older people, can develop Noise-induced hearing loss (NIHL). Exposure occurs in the workplace, in recreational settings and at home. Recreational activities that can put someone at risk of NIHL include target shooting and hunting, woodworking, listening to or playing loud music and other hobbies. Harmful noises at home can come from music, lawnmowers, leafblowers and other power tools.

Info from National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Image from Action on Hearing Loss

Dress gives vibrotactile feedback to help those with hearing loss

Here is one interesting example of clothes that are more than just expensive ways to cover our nakedness. 

With the rapid advancement of mobile, flexible, and even plant-based technologies, clothing has become yet another medium upon which to explore the limits both of science and fashion. Wearable technology has really started to come into its own, with fashion designers and engineers collaborating to imagine where their fields might overlap in the not-so-distant future. While the idea of energy-generating shoes and gloves embedded with LED turn signals might sound far-fetched, the reality is that wearable technologies are already helping to make our world a cleaner, healthier place.

FLUTTER dress for the hearing impaired

For those who are partially or fully deaf, independent living can be a challenge. Hearing aids, lip reading and sign language ensure that hearing impaired are able to communicate with those around them, but being unable to hear environmental sounds can be dangerous. Finding a way to alert hearing impaired individuals to warning sounds in their surroundings would enable them to safely venture out into the world without constant supervision.

Flutter is a perfect example of the way textiles and robotics can be combined to improve the quality of life for disabled individuals. Created by Halley Profita, Nicholas Farrow, and Professor Nikolaus Correll at the University of Colorado at Boulder, the Flutter dress gives vibrotactile feedback in the direction of a loud sound or alarm to help those with hearing loss respond more intuitively to their external environment. The team also says that development of this wearable technology would also cut down on e-waste created by discarded hearing devices.

Info from Tree Huger

How MP3 players can cause hearing loss

IPods and other portable music devices have changed the way many people listen to music. As the popularity of these devices continues to rise, hearing experts worry that the number of people with hearing loss will become as commonplace as the devices themselves.

Hearing experts are concerned that hearing loss will take place because exposure to music through these devices can be both loud and long. With the new MP3 players, such as the iPod, significant improvements in sound quality are possible in smaller and more portable devices. Sound quality, portability and convenience translate into more time spent listening to music, which makes the potential for damage even greater.

"With the older devices, like the Walkman, if you turned them up all the way, they sounded very bad, so people didn't do it. Now, they don't sound bad at maximum volume, and that could pose a problem," says Jodi Cook, Ph.D., director of the hearing aid program at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.

Although any hearing loss that occurs may not be apparent for years, once that damage occurs, it's permanent and irreversible.

How MP3 players can cause hearing loss

Music and other loud noises cause hearing loss by damaging the hair cells in the cochlea, a part of your inner ear that helps transmit sound information to your brain. These hair cells can often recover from temporary damage. If you've ever been to a rock concert and your hearing sounded muffled for the next day or two, you've experienced temporary damage to these hair cells.

But extremely loud noise, such as a gunshot, or moderately loud noise that continues for long periods of time, can permanently damage these hair cells. Once these hairs are destroyed, they don't come back and at least partial hearing loss occurs. About 30 million Americans currently have some hearing loss and approximately one-third of them have noise-induced hearing loss.

Any sound above 90 decibels (db) may cause some hearing loss if the exposure is prolonged. But most portable music players can produce sounds up to 120 db. That's louder than a lawn mower or a chain saw and equivalent to an ambulance siren.

The problem is that you don't feel hearing loss occurring. You won't know until years later that some of your hearing has been permanently destroyed.

Info from Riverside

Music is the soundtrack to our lives

Music is the soundtrack to our lives. BUT every time you listen to loud music for too long, you increase the risk of damaging your hearing.

If your exposure to loud music is repeated regularly, the damage could be permanent.

Remember - M.U.S.I.C.