October 2005

Low-echo choir, frog voice recognition, acoustic fire extinguisher

Over 20 lay-language papers for upcoming acoustics meeting

What are the differences between amateur and professional choirs? Is it possible to aim different sounds at specific seats in a concert hall? Do chimpanzees have some basic mathematical ability that tells them when they are outnumbered and should keep quiet? Can ultrasound interact with audible music in such a way as to enhance listeners' enjoyment of the music? Are student musicians in marching bands at risk for hearing loss?

These and other questions are addressed in lay-language papers for the joint meeting of the Acoustical Society of America (ASA) and NOISE-CON 2005, the annual conference of the Institute of Noise Control Engineering. The meeting will be held October 17-21, 2005 at the Hilton Minneapolis Hotel (1001 Marquette Avenue, Minneapolis, MN 55403)

Even if you cannot travel to Minneapolis, the detailed descriptions in the lay-language papers, along with contact information and supplemental visuals and sound files, enable you to cover the meeting from your desk. We encourage you to contact presenters as soon as you'd like, even before they head off to the meeting.

The following text lists some examples of lay language papers and additional meeting topics.

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FULL LAYPAPER MENU
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/lay_lang.html

SELECTED HIGHLIGHTS:

What Are the Differences Between Amateur and Professional Choirs? by Harald Jers, University of Cologne/KTH Stockholm
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/Jers.html

Sound Waves: Untapped Fire Extinguishers? by Dmitriy Plaks, Elizabeth Nelson, Nesha Hyatt, James Espinosa, Zade Coley, Cathy Tran, and Ben de Mayo, University of West Georgia
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/Plaks.html

Listening to Bacterial Gases by Miguel Horta and Steve Garrett, Penn State
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/Garrett.html

Painting Sound in Space by Joung-Woo Choi and Yang-Hann Kim, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/Choi.html

Historic Recording Gives Choir "Alien" Feeling: In Anechoic Space, No One Can Hear You Sing by Ron Freiheit, Wenger Corporation
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/Freiheit.html

Noise Exposure Associated with Marching and Pep Bands by Joseph Keefe, Ostergaard Acoustical Associates
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/Keefe.html

Where'd You Get those Ultrasonic Peepers? by Martin Lenhardt, Virginia Commonwealth University
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/Lenhardt.html

What Do We Know About Noise in Hospitals? by James E. West and Ilene J. Busch-Vishniac, Johns Hopkins
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/Busch-Vishniac.html

Chimpanzees Know When to Keep Quiet by Michael l. Wilson, Gombe Stream Research Center and University of Minnesota, et al.
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/Wilson.html

Using Sound to Detect Shuttle Defects by J. Adin Mann III and Todd A. Thompson, Iowa State University
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/Mann.html

Voice Recognition in Frogs by Mark A. Bee, University of Minnesota
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/Bee.html

Communicating Underwater Using Natural Ocean Noise by Dennis Jones, Defense R&D Canada
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/Jones.html

Speech-Recognition Interfaces for Music Information Retrieval by Masataka Goto, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, Japan
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/Goto.html

More laypapers at http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/lay_lang.html

ACOUSTICS MEETING GENERAL PRESS RELEASE
(contains many additional story tips)
http://www.acoustics.org/press/150th/press_release.html

The Acoustical Society of America (http://asa.aip.org) is the largest scientific organization in the United States devoted to acoustics, the science of sound. The Institute of Noise Control Engineering of the USA (INCE/USA; www.inceusa.org) is a non-profit professional organization with the primary purpose of promoting engineering solutions to environmental noise problems.