Matsushita, the Japanese company that manufactures under the Panasonic and National brands, have developed a technique to provide a listener wearing headphones the feeling of 3-dimensional sound. Typically people wearing headphones think the noise is coming from the center of their head. The new technique involves modifying the sound to account for the transfer function of the ear canal, so that the listener thinks the sound is coming from in front.

Read the press release on the Matsushita web site.

David Swanson from Penn State University has developed a security system called APIDS – acoustic perimeter intrusion detection system. The system uses wires connected to geophones. When the wires are disturbed, the vibrations in the wires are analyzed by a computer to determine if the vibration is caused by an intruder or a false alarm such as wind, rain drops or a bird sitting on the wire.

Read more on the Washington Post web site.
Visit the Penn State graduate program in acoustics site.

It is well known that the acoustics in the Australian icon, the Sydney Opera House, is often criticized. A major program has begun to analyze the acoustics by Arup Acoustics. Ove Arup were the original structural engineers of the building.

Read more on the Sydney Morning Herald web site. Read the Arup web site on the Sydney Opera House, and the media release.

Sound Pharmaceuticals are developing a drug that can protect against hearing loss. Otoprotection drug trials have been conducted on animals and have shown success. Two of four potential drugs already have been approved for human use to treat other diseases. In addition, they are also examining the regeneration of auditory hair cells.

Endevco and National Instruments are developing plug-and-play sensors. The sensors have in-built low-cost memory chip that contains information about the transducer stored in the Transducer Electronic Data Sheets (TEDS). Information such as calibration data will be automatically read by a signal conditioner or analyzer, thereby eliminating calibration errors. The TEDS format conforms to the IEEE standard P1451.4, which was in part developed by National Instruments.

Read more on the Endevco web site.

Elsevier Science has bought out Academic press, and transferring ownership of journals and online services. The IDEALAlert service (email notification of table of contents) is also ceasing on December 31, 2002. To receive free alerts about IDEAL journals (Journal of Sound and Vibration, Digital Signal Processing, Mechanical Systems and Signal Processing, Journal of Fluids and Structures, and others), by signing up for:
– ScienceDirect alerts, available for all the over 1,700 journals
on the platform, and accessible at
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/alerts.
– ContentsDirect, providing alerts for Elsevier Science journals
and books, and accessible at http://contentsdirect.elsevier.com/.

MSC Laminates is an off shoot from Material Sciences Corporation that makes laminated steel products. Their QuietSteel product is damping material that has been sandwiched between two layers of sheet steel. I have heard that this product is used in every oil pan on US cars. Recent news articles have appeared describing how Ford are using it in the firewall of their larger vehicles to reduce noise transmitted into the cabin.

Read more on the MSC Laminates web site.

The European Commission’s SILENCE program, Significantly Lower aircraft Environmental Noise Community ExposuRe, aims to reduce the noise from commercial aircraft. The research program involves 51 companies. Rolls Royce and Boeing developed a modified engine that was flight tested on a Boeing 777 that resulted in jet noise reduction of 4 dB and fan noise reduction by 13 dB.

Read more on the SAE Aerospace magazine online web site.

Researchers have developed a technique that uses an ultrasonic probe to examine tissue samples. The advantage of this technique is that tissue can be examined in-situ, without removing samples and that the tissue does not need staining. The resolution of the technique is useful to examine cells, down to about 0.1 micron.

Read more on the Physics Today web site.

Bruel and Kjaer USA are selling used and demo equipment at discounted prices. Check out their products listed on their web site.