Posts by pwsadmin

Published: September 14, 2023 Author Disclosure statement Oluremi (Remi) Ayoko receives funding from Australian Research Council. Partners University of Queensland provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU. From colleagues chatting about their weekends or having intense phone conversations, to email alerts and loud tapping on keyboards, the evidence that open-plan offices take a toll…

By Crux Staff ROME – An architect and acoustics expert who’s worked on some of the most famous concert venues in the world said he brought a touch of rock and roll to a recently debuted new sound system in St. Peter’s Basilica, creating a wave of sound radiating out from the main altar. The system…

Communicating expectations and monitoring behaviour at the team level is important. Libby Sander Is it OK to wear headphones in the office? Do they help get work done, or is wearing them considered rude and damaging to the office vibe? While it might be easy to dismiss our headphone-wearing colleagues as unfriendly, the increase in usage is symptomatic…

Residents who say West Gate Tunnel works have badly damaged their Brooklyn homes have been offered free window cleaning and a $20 pizza voucher as compensation. Ian Royall Yusuf Balla says the cracks worsened after a two-month, 24-hour construction blitz. Picture: Mark Stewart Residents who say West Gate Tunnel works have badly damaged their Brooklyn homes have…

First extensive exploration of Israel’s deep-sea economic waters by Israeli-UK team identifies two species of threatened whales that are sensitive to underwater noise By SUE SURKES  Dr. Aviad Scheinin, director of the Marine Apex Predator Lab at the Morris Kahn Marine Research Station at the Haifa University Charny School of Marine Sciences, looks for marine mammals…

Evidence is accumulating that taping six metal beads to specific points on the ear helps weight loss. Photo: Getty John Elder You’re doing all the right things to lose weight. Eating more vegetables, and at the same time cutting back overall on the calories. You’re exercising most days, endeavouring to get to bed earlier, and drinking…

A consultation process, closing this week, is asking Australians if they think EVs should be equipped with “acoustic alerting systems” due to fears they could be a hazard for pedestrians or cyclists. The technology would digitally mimic the sound of a combustion engine and play it through external speakers to better alert Australians when they’re…

Traffic noise isn’t just annoying, it carries a number of health risks. Photo: Getty John Elder When living on a busy road, do we ever get used to tyres squealing and revving engines, the factory-like grunt and throb of trucks, sirens and angry horns honking? We might learn to tune out the endless hum, but those…

Scientists discover clicking sounds, which humans can’t hear and which differ based on species and type of stress; wonder what uses other plants, animals make of the information By SUE SURKES 30 March 2023 It has been known for some time that plants communicate with one another, but Israeli scientists now say they’ve identified “words,” and have…

By Carolyn Y. Johnson March 22, 2023 In 1802, German composer Ludwig van Beethoven wrote a heart-wrenching letter to his brothers, describing the deafness that forced him to “live like an exile” and yearn for death. Beethoven kept going for another 25 years, propelled by his music, but he begged them to have his hearing loss studied and…