What is that noise? Is it a nearby power plant, my refrigerator, or my belligerent neighbor? Am I the only one bothered by this? What is the best way to address these cases of mysterious and hard-to-detect residential noises?
Machines make noise all by themselves, but what motivates manufacturers to make them quiet? It’s a good question, because lots of noisy products flood the market right now.
A fitness studio likes to play loud, upbeat music. That’s what it takes to get the students to dance! But if a studio is sandwiched between a tile store and a post office in a commercial strip center, then, Houston, we have a problem.
We don’t do butterfly acoustics, but it’s interesting to note that scientists thought butterflies were deaf. But, in 1912, butterfly ears were identified.
In his paper at Inter-NOISE 2010, published in Sound)Vibration magazine, Bob Bruce addresses this question. He proposes an exposure rating that can be summed to determine what sound levels are safe for how long.
