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Experts unveil 'cloak of silence'
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psilonaut
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Jun 13, 2008 11:26:33
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Being woken in the dead of night by noisy neighbours blasting out music could soon be a thing of the past.
Scientists have shown off the blueprint for an "acoustic cloak", which could make objects impervious to sound waves.
The technology, outlined in the New Journal of Physics, could be used to build sound-proof homes, advanced concert halls or stealth warships.
Scientists have previously demonstrated devices that cloak objects from microwaves, making them "invisible".
"The mathematics behind cloaking has been known for several years," said Professor John Pendry of Imperial College London, UK, an expert in cloaking.
"What hasn't been available for sound is the sort of materials you need to build a cloak out of."
Sound shield
The Spanish team who conducted the new work believe the key to a practical device are so-called "sonic crystals".
These artificial composites - also known as "meta-materials" - can be engineered to produce specific acoustical effects.
Acoustic cloak simulation
Sound waves are channelled around an object by sonic crystals
"Unlike ordinary materials, their acoustic properties are determined by their internal structure," explained Professor Pendry.
These would be used to channel any sound around an object, like water flowing around a rock in a stream.
"The idea of acoustic cloaking is to deviate the sounds waves around the object that has to be cloaked," said Jose Sanchez-Dehesa of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, one of the researchers behind the new work.
He believes a material that consists of arrays of tiny cylinders would achieve this effect.
Simulations showed that 200 layers of this metamaterial could effectively shield an object from noise.
Thinner stacks would shield an object from certain frequencies.
"The thickness depends on the wavelength you want to screen," he told BBC News.
Sub systems
Dr Sanchez-Dehesa now wants to make and test such a material in the lab to confirm the simulations.
But researchers, such as Professor Pendry, believe the initial work is already an important first step.
Woman with finger on lips
Acoustic cloaks could be used to make soundproof rooms or buildings
"It's not an unrealistic blueprint - it doesn't demand that we do extraordinary things," he said. "This is something that can easily be manufactured."
If a material could be commercialised, both researchers believe it could have many applications.
Walls of the material could be built to soundproof houses or it could be used in concert halls to enhance acoustics or direct noise away from certain areas.
The military may also be interested, the researchers believe, to conceal submarines from detection by sonar or to create a new class of stealth ships.
However, the material may need to be optimised first.
"You don't want to wrap a submarine in something that is heavy and several inches thick," said Professor Pendry. "It would add quite a lot to the Navy's fuel bill, I think."
Light touch
The research builds on work by scientists from Duke University in North Carolina, US, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Invisibility cloak Image: Duke University
Duke University researchers created an invisibility cloak in 2006
Earlier this year, independent teams from the two institutions demonstrated the mathematics necessary to create an acoustic cloak.
Other scientists have shown that objects can be cloaked from electromagnetic radiation, such as microwaves.
For example, in 2006, scientists at Duke University showed how a small copper cylinder could be rendered invisible from microwaves.
The technique used a metamaterial consisting of 10 fibreglass rings covered with copper elements, to deflect the microwaves around the object and restore them on the other side.
To an observer it looked like the microwaves had passed straight through the cylinder.
Other researchers hope to build the holy grail of cloaking: an invisibility device that would channel light at wavelengths normally visible to the eye.
However, this technology is in a more primitive state, according to Dr Sanchez-Dehesa.
"We believe the acoustic cloak is more feasible than a similar device for light," he said.
[url]http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7450321.stm[/url]
  My tracks:
www.myspace.com/psilonautmusic
www.myspace.com/listentobleep |
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-aeon-
Aeon
Started Topics :
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546
Posted : Jun 13, 2008 13:24
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fucking awesome.
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Tomos
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Jun 13, 2008 13:37
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"sonic crystals", do they mean rockwool?
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Partzi Floch
Started Topics :
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126
Posted : Jun 15, 2008 12:46
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nice one. Harry Potter of sound waves 
Tomos, I don't think it'll be rockwoll, or at least not the same material we know today, (the "crystals" would need to be precisely adjusted to get the frequencies right, and that's sort of high-tech manufacturing stuff). |
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Tomos
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Jun 15, 2008 12:52
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t'was a joke.
A jest. A jibe.
I was alluring to the idea that this fabulous new sonic crystal was one we've had in a studios for years, and now they're wrapping submarines in it.
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Partzi Floch
Started Topics :
6
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126
Posted : Jun 15, 2008 12:53
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hmmmmm.
Silly me 
IT is a funny idea though thinking of a submarine wrapped in Rockwool and all the sailors comeimg out scratching themselves...... |
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smehoparanoya
IsraTrance Junior Member
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280
Posted : Jun 15, 2008 14:20
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can we make a non-resonating studio environment with that sh*t? think of the possibilities... we can rule the world...
Monitoring devices, know where you go
Mass media, total control
Digital delight, desire in megabite
Data overflow, virtual suicide
This information, is disinformation
Truth is hidden, knowledge forbidden |
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Tomos
IsraTrance Full Member
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Posted : Jun 16, 2008 14:29
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Completely dead studios are actually a thing of the past. It was decided that too much of a dry sound doesn't sound as good as with a little bit of the room. Some reverb when recording is actually a good thing.
Mixing in completely acoustically dry studios is a matter of taste I think. |
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acidkills
IsraTrance Junior Member
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Posted : Jun 16, 2008 15:19
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Mike A
Subra
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Posted : Jun 16, 2008 16:33
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Quote:
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On 2008-06-16 15:19, acidkills wrote:
But could be used if u got noisy neighbors..
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Yea! Just put it around them until they die of suffocation.
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