sounds
Design
A Party In Your Mouth
9:00AM Jesus Diaz | Daito Manabe, my favourite Japanese weirdo ever, is at it again. This time the party is in his mouth, thanks to a custom LED/sound based device programmed by him and Motoi Ishibashi. [Thanks Enjuto Mojamuto] More »
Gadgets
Maybe the Most Stupid-Looking Military Invention of All Time
1:51AM Jesus Diaz | Yes. This is not a steam-punk montage. It is a real photo from an old military parade circa 1917, showing what’s probably the dumbest-looking military invention of all time. But what is it? More »
Science
NASA Detects Mystery Booming Sound In Deep Space, Origin Unknown
10:00PM Jesus Diaz | Call Dr Arroway, because NASA has detected a deep space sound that defies belief or any explanation. They don’t have a single clue about its origin, according to Alan Kogut from the Goddard Space Center: More »
Science
Sound Wave Harvesting Justifies Your Annoyingly Loud Phone Voice
1:30PM Wilson Rothman | The surge of systems devised to re-capture bodily output continues, this time with a nano-piezo technology that could use sound waves to charge mobile phones. But how long must you talk before you can… talk? Science Daily reports that Tahir Cagin, a professor in the chemical engineering department at Texas A&M, has merged the really old science of piezoelectrics with the very new science of nanotechnology to discover that a technique for harvesting energy actually gets way more efficient at the nano level. Specifically, when a piezoelectric film used to convert vibrations into energy is reduced to around 21 nanometers in thickness, it’s suddenly twice as good at converting the energy. There’s not a lot of detail on the uses for this technology just yet, and—like other vibration-power systems—the earliest uses would probably be in very low energy applications such as sensors. But the article does suggest this could have “potentially profound effects for low-powered electronic devices such as mobile phones, laptops, personal communicators and a host of other computer-related devices,” though I wonder if that wasn’t just thrown in to make people like me excited about it. It worked. I am. [Science Daily via TreeHugger] More »
Design
Sound Sewing Machine Concept Shows You the Music
11:30AM Gizmodo US Edition | This concept of a sewing machine was created by SOUNDS.BUTTER, a design group interested in physically representing sound waves. They sought to represent it tactically instead of digitally where sound is oft seen in sound and music editing. The sewing machine was chosen because of its association with industriousness and physicality. While it is a very unique concept, I’d be curious to see exactly what Metallica would look like under this sewing machine—would it actually turn into a picture of sex and drugs? [SOUNDS.BUTTER via Design Boom] More »
Vehicles
Tuner Adds Fake ‘Vrooom’ and ‘Pew Pew’ Sounds to Tesla Roadsters
7:32PM John Herrman | Popular Mercedes tuner Brabus has designed a Tesla modding package which adds — among other things — fake engine sounds to make up for the Roadster’s silent electric motor. You can opt for a traditional v-8 engine sound, a race car sound or even two “futuristic landscape” settings that may or may not make your Tesla sound like George Jetson’s spacewagon. You also get a few trim additions, some interior tweaks and, oh god, groundlighting. The whole package might be gaudy, but the fake engine sounds take the tacky cake. I’ll say it: they’re the electric supercar equivalent of spinner hubcaps. [NextAutos] More »
Hardware
Hard Drive Failure Soundboard Guarantees Debilitating Flashbacks
10:30PM John Herrman | Data recovery service Datacent has put together an extensive collection of recordings of popular hard drives failing. This might sound pretty boring, but it isn’t just bunch of typical of click-click-bzzzzz heartbreakers — a lot of these sounds are downright bizarre. Who knew that Maxtor drives play a song when their spindles fail? Or that failing Hitachi Deskstars wrote every Autechre track, ever? Or that Toshiba laptop drives are actually screeching Helldemons with an acute sense of pain? [Datacent via Slashdot] More »
Gadgets
Ecotones Adapts to Outside Sounds to Lull You to Sleep
5:45PM Gizmodo US Edition | Traditional sound machines tend to use white noise or repetitive nature sounds to compete with the cacophony of the outside, but that only works to a certain extent. Ecotones, by Silicon Valley start up ASTI, is hoping to one-up them by actually being able to adapt to the user’s environment. You can choose from 12 different SoundStories–including settings, I bet, like ocean or rainforest–that play at 18-bit quality, better than standard CDs. Audio backgrounds react to cues in the listening space and combine them with hundreds of “natural” sounds to make a soundscape that’s supposedly a lot more relaxing. It’s available through Hammacher Schlemmer for $US299. Wow, anything for a good night’s rest, I guess? [Hammacher] More »
Science
