Sound

Road noise has long been a problem in cars, but it's even more obvious in electric cars. Nissan has now developed an acoustic meta-material that is as effective as the sound insulation materials currently used, but at a quarter of the weight.

Many of us frequently use Google Maps' Street View feature, to see what things look like at a given location. Well, Australian scientists are developing sort of an audio equivalent, that will let users hear various eco-regions throughout the country.

Some birds make beautiful chirps and tweets. But the white bellbird blasts an obnoxious “song” so loud that it sounds almost digital. Now, researchers have measured just how ear-splitting it is – and crowned it the loudest bird call ever recorded.

NASA has released a symphony of sounds captured by InSight on Mars including quakes, howling winds, metallic “dinks and donks” and other eerie sounds.

NASA recently tested a microphone that's 30 miles long to measure the acoustic signature of the quiet supersonic X-59 X-plane.

​Imagine if you were a spy who needed to receive secret messages while you walked around a crowded room, but you didn't want to wear an earpiece. Well, a cheap new device could help. It's billed as being "the first sound projector that can track a moving individual."

Imagine talking to someone across a crowd of thousands without using a phone, or sitting way up the back at a concert, but hearing everything perfectly. This is the promise of acoustic lenses, and researchers at the universities of Sussex and Bristol in the UK think they’ve something to shout about.

Netflix has finally given attention to optimizing its audio streaming technology in the same way its adaptive video system can seamlessly recalibrate video bitrates while a stream is underway. The company claims its audio streams are now perceptually indistinguishable from studio quality sound.

​Airliner toilets can be scary things. When they flush, they sound like they'd like to suck you in along with everything else. Frequent fliers can take heart, however, as scientists have created a commode system that is claimed to reduce flush noise by almost 50 percent.

In our increasingly noisy world, it can be hard to find some quiet time. Now, a team of mechanical engineers at Boston University has developed a new device that is specially designed to block up to 94 percent of incoming sound waves, while still letting air pass through.

In the modern day, we’re used to sending messages to people over long distances, usually by way of a phone. But now, scientists at MIT have developed a way to use a laser to beam an audible message through thin air to a person standing on the other side of a room, so that only they can hear it.

​According to many musicians, in order to have the best sound possible, an acoustic guitar has to be made from the "right" type of wood. Unfortunately, such wood often comes from endangered, unsustainably-harvested trees. A new study, however, suggests that wood type makes essentially no difference.