Fast Company notes the invention of a new material:
A team of Boston University researchers recently stuck a loudspeaker into one end of a PVC pipe. They cranked it up loud. What did they hear? Nothing.
How was this possible? Did they block the other end of the pipe with noise canceling foams or a chunk of concrete? No, nothing of the sort. The pipe was actually left open save for a small, 3D-printed ring placed around the rim. That ring cut 94% of the sound blasting from the speaker, enough to make it inaudible to the human ear.
That sound must have been converted into something, some sort of energy. If it can be harvested, this could be really cool.
Imagine recharging your phone’s battery by shouting at it a few times.
Or putting this material on your roof and harvesting the noise of jets going by overhead. All of a sudden, those houses near the runways become prime real estate.
Snowblowers become silent.
And then lion’s learn about this and become silent, too. It’s amazing what evolution comes up with, so don’t laugh. At least, wait until you’re in a locked room.
