Posts by Norman

Even if they don’t know its name, its purpose, or its location, most people can see a picture of the Sydney Opera House and instantly recognize it as familiar. It is near the top of the list with other buildings such as the Empire State Building, Big Ben, and the Eiffel Tower as the most…

Ambient noise is a modern-day scourge. It robs you of your concentration, reduces your productivity, distracts your attention and may even threaten your sanity or your life. For the business traveller or anyone who simply works in a noisy environment, achieving a little quiet can be a boon for concentration and, therefore, productivity. The sound of…

James Adonis is one of Australia’s best-known people-management thinkers Office noise polluters smash the keyboard with their fingers and have their radio set to an unsociable volume. As I write this sentence, I can hear the roar of a truck (or is it a bus?) barrelling past my home office, one after the other. It’s…

We can only warn them! Scores of millennials could be deaf by the time they reach 40 – because they’re listening to music too loud, claims a new study by a team at the University of Sao Paulo’s Medical School in Brazil. Soaring numbers of teenagers are being diagnosed with tinnitus, a permanent ringing or…

LOUD busking will be banned along a key CBD street amid hundreds of complaints about excessive noise. Under a three-month City of Melbourne trial, Swanston St will be off-limits to amplified performances from August 1, and the ban could become permanent. The shock move comes a month after the Sunday Herald Sun revealed that a…

People find alcohol sweeter in noisy environments, which might drown out our ability to judge how much we’re drinking, according to new research. The research, conducted by Dr Lorenzo Stafford, a psychologist from the University of Portsmouth, is the first experimental study to find out how music can alter the taste of alcohol. Dr Stafford…

Filling in your musical black spots’ – two Melbourne inventors, ‘perfect’ headphones and $700,000 from Kickstarter Nura set to revolutionise headphones Two Melbourne inventors have created a pair of headphones that can detect your personal hearing signature and customise the sound of the music you play. PT3M7S 620 349 Here’s the pitch: Everyone has a…

We are all trying to lose weight! How can sound help?? Well, there is a US study which suggests that we tend to eat less if we hear our food being eaten!! So turn off that iPad or TV and listen to the crunch while you eat. Who knows, you may have found one way to help shed those kilos!!

October 22, 2015 Source: PLOS Summary: Echolocating bats can fly through complex environments in complete darkness. Swift and apparently effortless obstacle avoidance is the most fundamental function supported by biosonar. Despite the obvious importance of obstacle avoidance, it is unknown how bats perform this feat. New research suggests that bats compare the volume of an…

The best and worst driving music, according to Israeli research By Suzanne Pollak Israeli Prof. Warren Brodsky studied the way music affected the driving of 85 teenagers. Israeli research has bad news for music lovers: When your favourite song comes on the radio, it may make you a worse driver. Don’t despair, though, certain music…