A service pack for Ansys release 14.5.7 has been released according to an announcement by Ansys Inc.
Stock Screams For The Movies
The Smithsonian Magazine reported on the use of screams in movies. Two commonly used stock scream sounds are the Wilhelm or the Howie. The Wilhelm scream was first played in in the movie ‘Distant Drums’, from 1951. The Howie scream was most likely first played in the film ‘The Ninth Configuration’, from 1980. These stock screams are used in numerous movies and video games.
Source: Smithsonian Magazine
The Most Annoying Sounds
The Journal of Neuroscience published a paper describing the top 10 most annoying sounds, according to a group of 16 people undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging scanning of their brains when exposed to 74 different sounds. The results were:
1. Knife on a bottle
2. Fork on a glass
3. Chalk on a blackboard
4. Ruler on a bottle
5. Nails on a blackboard
6. Female scream
7. Anglegrinder (a power tool)
8. Squealing brakes on a bicycle
9. Baby crying
10. Electric drill
Source: Smithsonian Magazine
Wide-band echo sounder for locating fish
The ScienceDaily reports that Norwegian researchers have developed an echo sounder that simultaneously emits 100 frequencies. This enables the selective identification of a species of fish or zooplankton for viewing on the echogram or sonogram.
Source: The Research Council of Norway (2012, November 8). Next-generation echo sounder ready. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 10, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121108073807.htm
GM 2013 Cadillac Uses Active Noise Control
The new 2013 GM Cadillac ATS sports sedan uses active noise control from Bose to reduce noise inside the passenger cabin.
Three microphones on the interior door frame on the front driver and passenger and rear driver’s side monitor the sound quality. The loudspeakers from the audio system are used to cancel low frequency noise within the cabin between 40Hz-180Hz.
Read more on the GM news web site.
Active vibration isolation table
Accurion have released an active vibration isolation table, the i4 series, suitable for laboratory instrumentation. vibration isolatoin starts from 0.6Hz and at 10Hz provides 40dB of vibration attenuation.
Restaurant with variable acoustics
Popular Science have an interesting story of a restaurant in Berkley California with an ambient noise audio system that can be adjusted by staff, usually depending on the number people in the restaurant – if there are few patrons, the system is turned up, if the restaurant is full, the system is turned down.
Read the article on Popular Science.
Tailored Engine Noise in Ford Focus
Ford Europe has developed a tailored engine noise for the new Ford Focus powered by a 1.6-L EcoBoost engine. The system is called the Sound Symposer, which is a box with four chambers, two in the engine bay and two outside. The chambers are separated by a movable flap that opens when the engine is under high load, so that sound is transmitted to the outlet chambers. The system boosts engine volumes into passenger compartment in 200-to-450-Hz frequency range.
Watch the youtube videos to hear it work.
And you watch an advert for the Focus.
See also stories on Ford Media Release, SAE.
Ig Nobel Prize for Acoustic Speech Jammer
Kazutaka Kurihara and Koji Tsukada won a 2012 Ig Nobel prize in acoustics for creating a device that disrupts a person’s speech by playing back their their own spoken words with a slight delay.
Bruel and Kjaer training courses 2013 in UK
Bruel and Kjaer have announced a range of acoustics and vibration courses for 2013 in the UK.