From http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13905573
"Described in Physical Review Letters, the approach borrows many ideas from attempts to "cloak" objects from light. It uses simple plastic sheets with arrays of holes, and could be put to use in making ships invisible to sonar or in acoustic design of concert halls."
Beautiful looking idea - a stack of plastic with holes in it reflects all (or nearly all) sound that falls on it. The article did not say what the bandwidth of the cloaking device was. It appears as if the tests were done with a narrow bandwidth signal. Still, if it could be made with a wide enough bandwidth, it would be useful as acoustic treatment.
What other applications could be found for this device? Perhaps it could isolate some noise in a submarine, e.g. the water pumps of a nuclear reactor? Obviously it can't be used on the propeller, nor could it be used on the surface of a sub. What else can you think of?
"Described in Physical Review Letters, the approach borrows many ideas from attempts to "cloak" objects from light. It uses simple plastic sheets with arrays of holes, and could be put to use in making ships invisible to sonar or in acoustic design of concert halls."
Beautiful looking idea - a stack of plastic with holes in it reflects all (or nearly all) sound that falls on it. The article did not say what the bandwidth of the cloaking device was. It appears as if the tests were done with a narrow bandwidth signal. Still, if it could be made with a wide enough bandwidth, it would be useful as acoustic treatment.
What other applications could be found for this device? Perhaps it could isolate some noise in a submarine, e.g. the water pumps of a nuclear reactor? Obviously it can't be used on the propeller, nor could it be used on the surface of a sub. What else can you think of?