NOISE/NOTES

By Eoin A. King, NNI Editor

NNI is on Facebook and Twitter – we try to keep our readers informed with noise news from all across the globe by highlighting interesting research and projects. Here is a roundup of some of the stories that have been making headlines. Follow @NNIEditor to stay up to date with all noise-related news.

International Year of Sound Award winners

The International Year of Sound 2020-2021 Student Competition Winners have been announced! The students’ competition was launched in the framework of the International Year of Sound 2020-2021 aimed at encouraging youth to consider and express the importance of sound in their world. The competition was coordinated by Sergio Luzzi and his team. For more info check out the winners here.

INCE 2021 Honors and Awards Ceremony Student Winners Announced

Keeping with the theme of awards….INCE-USA recently hosted its annual Honors and Awards ceremony. INCE-USA Honors and Awards Winners are recognized for their outstanding service, research, and activity in noise control. Among the Student Honors and Awards Winners was Sunit Girdhar of Michigan Technological University who won both the inaugural INCE Student Scholarship and the Martin Hirschorn IAC Prize – Student Project. INCE recognizes both professional and academic work in noise control, and financially supports most honors and awards winners in their continued noise control research and work. For a full list of award winners please see here.

Exposure to persistent road traffic noise may impact on ‘executive function’

Researchers from University College Dublin (UCD) and the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) in Ireland have found evidence suggesting that road traffic noise exposure has a negative impact on executive function, a cognitive process that organizes thoughts, decision-making, and behavior among a sample of older adults in Ireland. The paper “Road traffic noise and cognitive function in older adults: a cross-sectional investigation of The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing”, was recently published in BMC Public Health.

Work on the Product Noise Rating continues

Work is continuing on the development of a simplified Product Noise Rating (PNR) method to provide noise level information on consumer products to the general public. By presenting PNR information in a simple and comprehensible manner, the hope is this will allow the general public to factor noise levels into their decisions and make more informed purchases. In this article, Dana Lodico, one of those driving the development of the PNR, describes the idea in more detail.

Why do Cicadas sing at dusk?

Cicadas are a wonderfully diverse and ancient insect. Many common Australian cicadas spend about six or seven years underground and when they emerge live for only a few weeks. The Sydney Morning Herald examines how and why they produce the familiar sound of an Australian summer.

Airport Noise Issues at Schiphol airport

Dutchnews.nl is reporting that Schiphol airport may have to cut flights to meet environmental rules. Without far-reaching measures, the airport may have to cut the number of take-offs and landings by 20%. To address the issue the government may have to buy out farmers working close to the airport and reduce the speed on nearby motorways to 80 km/hr to cut pollution in the vicinity. Read more at DutchNews.nl