A CONVERSATION about 鈥渉earing maps鈥� between New 杏吧原创 editor-in-chief Jeremy Webb and Trevor Cox, professor of acoustic engineering at the University of Salford in the UK, led somehow or other to the topic of 鈥渟inging roads鈥�.
Hearing maps are software packages that architects use to identify potential areas of poor acoustics and unwanted noise in the buildings they are designing. 鈥淪inging roads鈥�, on the other hand, are roads that make music 鈥� very badly.
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If you don鈥檛 believe us on this point, go to , where you can enjoy a video of a car travelling over a customised road surface in Lancaster, California. Variations in the surface cause 鈥渕usical鈥� vibrations as the car runs over them.
The video helpfully points out that the caterwauling you can hear is, in fact, the road鈥檚 rendering of Rossini鈥檚 overture to William Tell. Other clips allow listeners to savour singing roads in Korea, Japan and Denmark. They all sound dreadful.
鈥淟ost鈥� study on cell phones unearthed
FEEDBACK thanks Alan Lewin of for sending us a link to research on shielding of mobile phones published by the UK government at . says that 鈥淎 study published in May 2002 by the Department of Trade and Industry showed that devices to cut radiation from mobile phones can 鈥榮ignificantly reduce鈥� exposure to potentially harmful radiation,鈥� but neither we nor the DTI鈥檚 successor, the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), had been able to find it (5 March).
The study, it turns out, was commissioned from Sartest Limited, now listed as 鈥渘on-trading鈥�. It did find significant reductions in exposure to radiation 鈥� but only by devices that clip over antennas, and by shielded cases. On what it calls 鈥渁bsorbing buttons鈥� 鈥� of which the Phoneshield is an example 鈥� it reports that 鈥渘one of the devices are very effective鈥� in reducing specific absorbed radiation. It also notes that makers of button devices 鈥渁re not usually specific about the basis of the claims鈥�, with which we can only concur.
But how is a claim of reduced radiation relevant, when still says (as we go to press) that Phoneshield 鈥渄oes not attempt to stop or limit the level of radiation鈥�? Lewin tells us that this qualification 鈥渋s intended to highlight that鈥� claims of 鈥�99 per cent reduction in radiation鈥� made by others make no sense because without radiation the technology wouldn鈥檛 function,鈥� which is what we were thinking too. In fact, effectively shielding a phone can increase radiation emissions, as it tries harder to contact a base station.
Lewin also says that shielding 鈥渋n itself would be ineffective鈥�. That may well be true 鈥� but it still leaves us uncertain just how Phoneshield is supposed to be effective.
When we asked BIS about official responses to the report the DTI had commissioned, it suggested we file a Freedom-of-Information request. Watch this space.
National Union of Stew Departments
IN AN email headed 鈥淭he comedy of subtitles鈥�, Antony Badsley-Ellis tells us that he and his office colleagues entertain themselves by taking time off to read the subtitles on TV bulletins from the likes of Sky News and the BBC News Channel. These are generated in real time, he says, with some odd results.
Some names that the subtitles have got badly wrong include Sir Liam Donaldson, who became Silly and Admundsen, Sir Gus O鈥橠onnell, who became Circus O鈥橠onnell, and the National Union of Students which became the National Union of Stew Departments.
Then, back in November last year, there were repeated references to people wearing puppies (as opposed to poppies) for the UK鈥檚 Remembrance Sunday; the Office for National Statistics became the Office of Nursed All Statistics; 鈥淧rincipally chemical and biological weapons鈥� was corrupted to 鈥淧rince of Chemical and Bionicle Weapons鈥�; 鈥済overnment trying to make helpful decisions鈥� became 鈥済overnment trying to make holes for surgeons鈥�; and, at prime minister鈥檚 question time in the House of Commons, Ed Miliband, the leader of Her Majesty鈥檚 opposition party, was repeatedly referred to as Ed Miller Band.
READER Olaf Lipinski reports on what could be the start of a new trend in units of measurement. He tells us that the German news website Spiegel Online described the piece that broke off the Tasman glacier in New Zealand during the earthquake earlier this year as having 鈥渢he mass of five Cheops Pyramids鈥�.
This is all very well, but we can鈥檛 help asking the obvious question: 鈥淲hat鈥檚 that in elephants?鈥�
FINALLY, when Joshua Prettyman booked a holiday recently he was told that the refunds policy did not cover 鈥渁cts of God鈥�.
鈥淲hat a relief,鈥� says Joshua. 鈥淚 was afraid that it might not cover unexpected meteorological, geological or hydrological occurrences.鈥�