Posts by Norman

I have just attended Internoise 2015 in San Francisco. There were over 1000 attendees from many parts of the world and a few Aussies as well. It was great to catch up with colleagues and friends and to attend some very good papers. Building acoustics, as always, attracts attention and there were many papers about impact noise…

We all know that music can affect your mood. But it can also affect your performance. This research just out. Not surprising. When Plastic Surgeons Listen to Their Preferred Music, Their Stitches Are Better and Faster “Our study confirmed that listening to the surgeon’s preferred music improves efficiency and quality of wound closure, which may translate to health…

Have you often wondered why some sounds attract more attention than others? Why do alarm/emergency type sounds attract more of our attention? Here’s Why The Sound Of Screaming Freaks You Out The Huffington Post | By Carolyn Gregoire Of all the terrible sounds in the world, few are worse than that of a screaming baby — especially when…

“Well, there is one way to get hot air blowing and the Prime Minister has done his fair share. But he got it wrong!! Wind Turbines are NOT the cause of health impacts for residents living 1 km away despite what Tony says. And then we had yet another Senate Hearing into Wind Farms where an…

I recently attended Oceanoise 2015 in the City Auditorium of Vilanova I la Geltrú which is a beautiful beach town near Barcelona, Spain. The growing scientific and societal concern about the effects of underwater sound on marine ecosystems has been recently recognized through the introduction of several international initiatives aiming at measuring the environmental impact of…

High-pitched sounds cause seizures in old cats: Certain breeds more susceptible Date: April 27, 2015 Source: SAGE Publications Summary: Sharp high-pitched sounds have been found to cause seizures in older cats. The most commonly reported triggers were the sound of crinkling tin foil, a metal spoon clanging in a ceramic feeding bowl, chinking or tapping…

So here I am in Glasgow for the WTN 2015. This year had a record turn out of over 190 people. It was great to catch up with colleagues and friends while also getting straight into the serious side with papers and posters. There were some very good papers especially dealing with the fiction that infrasound is the cause of the complaints by people living…

The Hearing Aid BRW Published 20 March 2015 Larissa Nicholson “Disrupting a cosy, overpriced industry”: customer-fitted hearing aid pioneers Dr Elaine Saunders and Professor Peter Blamey A hearing aid package which eliminates the need to visit a specialist has not endeared the entrepreneurs behind it to their audiologist peers. But Dr Elaine Saunders and Professor…

I am on the Australian Standards committee looking at a revision of AS2107. This Standard deals with recommended indoor sound levels and reverberation times and we recently met for two days to review the over 500 comments received following the release of the Draft earlier this year. All of these were discussed and some of the points…

It is good to see that modern technologies are being adapted to assist people with disabilities. I came across this today and thought how marvellous it would be if this or similar technology could be used assist those who have not been able to access this type of audio assist. The hearing aid entrepreneurs whom…