By Andrew Williams •
November 6, 2009
Are you a petrohead with a conscience? Someone who likes the thought of owning an electric car but put off by the weedy sound of today’s offerings?
Well, for those of you who want to blend eco-cred with the engine roar of a Lamborghini, the wait may be finally over. New technology developed by Lotus and hi-fi whizz Harman Kardon will enable drivers of hybrid and electric cars to select the engine noise of their choice - from a beefy V8 to the swoosh! of the Enterprise at warp speed.
By Cate Nelson •
July 21, 2009
Played classical music for your unborn? Me, it was way too much NPR. Sure, our relatives might have scoffed, but a new study shows that after 30 weeks, the fetus may actually have memories of the rockin’ out time y’all shared.
Researchers in the Netherlands studied 100 pregnant women and found that prenatally, babies may have short-term memories of sound by 30 weeks. After that, they develop a long-term sound bank.
Here’s how they make their musical claims:
By Ariel Schwartz •
February 23, 2009
Chalk up another reason to buy the Chevy Volt in 2011: a powerful, compact, energy-efficient sound system from Bose. According to the company, the system is 30% smaller, 40% lighter, and uses 50% less energy than conventional Bose sound systems.
By Skye Kilaen •
April 1, 2008
I realize that on April 1st, it’s a bit risky to post about fabric made from recycled cassette tapes. Are you going to believe me? It’s true, though! Sonic Fabric, the creation of designer Alyce Santoro, is woven from recycled cassette tape and cotton. It’s recorded with a sound collage before weaving, and you can actually listen to sounds from the fabric by running a tape head over it.
No, really. I’m serious.
Granted, Santoro describes the sound as “kind of like scratching a record backwards or radio static” because you’re listening to many strands of tape at one time. So a Sonic Fabric dress isn’t exactly a replacement for the IPod.
