Topic: Did you know ...

The 2008 Ig Nobel prizes were awarded recently which included an award to Massimiliano Zampini (University of Trento, Italy) and Charles Spence (Oxford University, UK) for conducting listening tests with people and found that by electronically modifying the sound that a potato chip makes when chewed can make the person think it is crisper and fresher.

Their work was published in the Journal of Sensory Studies.

In one of the largest hearing loss studies ever conducted, the results show there is a strong correlation between hearing loss and smoking, and that it is dose-related. There was also a strong correlation between body-mass-index and hearing loss. On the upside, the results from the study show that moderate alcohol consumption had an 'inverse correlation' with hearing loss, meaning that some drinking seems to decrease the likelihood of age related hearing loss.

Read the entire journal paper here.

A collaboration between several research groups has found that a particular frog from China has the ability to 'tune' its hearing to a particular frequency range by opening and closing its Eustachian tubes. The researchers claim that this frog is the only known animal that can actively select the frequency range of interest.

Read the full news article on Medical News Today.

United States Patent Application 20060002568 describes an invention to counter-act the effects of loud bass music that can affect sensors in seats used to detect a passenger sitting in the seat, which is used to measure the weight of the passenger and trigger the appropriate air-bag. The new sensors measures the effect of the music on the sensor and subtracts the music signal, leaving the measurement of the person's weight.

Scientists at the University of Michigan are developing a mechanical cochlea. The MEMS device is designed to operate underwater and can currently sense acoustic waves in the range from 4.2kHz to 35kHz.

For more information read the UMich press release.

Sensaphonics is a company that develops hearing protectors. They have developed the Delphi earpiece that has in-built accelerometers in the earpieces that measures the acceleration of the users head. These earpieces are worn by Indy car drivers to measure the acceleration of the head during a crash.

Read about the headset here.

Skullcandy manufacture headphones that incorporate 30mm diameter vibration units in each ear to enhance the bass response of the 30mm loudspeaker earpieces.

Go to the Skullcandy web site to read more about the SkullCrusher headphones.

A company is manufacturing vibrating gym equipment that they claim enhances fat burning in the body. Gym users touch a plate that vibrates between 30-60Hz which causes muscles in the body to work.

Read more about the equipment here.

Head make snowboards that have active vibration control systems incorporated into the board to reduce vibrations using piezoelectric strips. Their system is called the Adaptive Intelligence(TM) Chip Technology. Check out the Head's Monster i.M 75 Chip Super Railflex skis.

See a demonstration of their system here.

Walmart are now selling a range of headphones that use active noise control technology.

See the Walmart web site.

Professor Robert E. Newnham will receive the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering. The award is made in recognition of Professor Newnham’s pioneer groundwork in understanding the properties of composite piezoelectric materials for use as transducers, sensors, and actuators. His early papers in this field demonstrated the importance of connectivity patterns and various strain amplification mechanisms within the composites, and provided a frame of reference for scientists and engineers working in underwater acoustics, bioengineering, and materials science.

Read more details about the Franklin Awards.

Researchers at Imperial College are investigating using thermosonics to detect cracks in materials. The technique involves vibrating parts with ultrasonic vibration in the 20-100kHz frequency range, which causes the surfaces of a crack to rub together and generate heat, which can be detected with a thermal imaging camera.

Read more about this on the Imperial College web site.

Japan Today has an article on a cell phone that uses bone conduction for the speaker. The user presses the phone against her jaw and the sound is transmitted into the ear using bone conduction. The phone is made by Tu-Ka Cellular

An Israeli company called Phone-Or is making optical microphones. Light is reflected off a vibrating membrane and is used to measure the vibration amplitude. These devices are well suited to environments where there are strong radio or magnetic fields, where conventional microphones will not work.

NASA Langley Research Center are conducting experiments at Denver International Airport to measure the sound generated by the vortex wake of aircraft. In addition two LIDARs (laser radars) will be used to measure the vortex strength and movement. The scientists hope to determine whether a permanent monitoring system is feasable at an operating airport.

Read the press release on the NASA web site.

Measurement Specialties manufacture a low cost cantilever-type vibration sensor called Minisense 100. It uses a PVDF sensing element with a mass attached at one end. The sensor is suitable for measuring vibration between 2-40Hz.

Read the Minisense 100 specifications on the Measurement Specialities web site.

The Xansys mail list, an excellent resource for help with Ansys, has shifted from groups.yahoo.com, and is now hosted at www.xansys.org.

OMRON has put an Analog Devices MEMs accelerometer (model ADXL202E) inside their new blood pressure measuring instrument, the HEM-6371T. The accelerometer senses the angle and height of the users elbow and starts measurements only after the wrist is set at the right position.

Bombardier make turbo-prop aircraft in their Q-series that have an active noise and vibration control system to reduce the noise level inside the cabin. Their Noise and Vibration Suppression System (NVS) uses actively controlled tuned vibration absorbers attached to the fuselage to reduce the vibration, and hence reduces the noise transmitted into the cabin. The system was designed by Ultra-electronics.

Read more on the Bombardier web site.

A professor at the Medical College of Georgia, is studying zebra fish that can regrow the hair inside their ears responsible for hearing. He is trying to find the genes responsible for that regrowth and see if they can be applied to human hearing problems.