POMA | Acoustics.org

New Across Acoustics Episode: Quiet Down! Lowering the Recommended Occupational Noise Exposure Limit

The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s (NIOSH) recommended exposure limit for occupational noise is often cited as the upper limit for loudness in all situations– but that’s not actually the case. Worse, the limit may not even fit modern ears, which face a barrage of loud sound in and out of the workplace, starting at an early age. In this episode, we talk to Daniel Fink of Quiet Coalition about how NIOSH’s recommended exposure limit for occupational noise impacts even those of us in quiet workplaces, and why the limit needs to be revised downwards.

Like the episode? Check out the related article!

Unlocking the Sounds of Mardi Gras

Mardi Gras, renowned for its vibrant parades in New Orleans, brings to life the spirit of celebration with music and revelry leading up to Ash Wednesday. While the sound of parades may appear commonplace, research has uncovered fascinating nuances in the soundscape. A paper published in the Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics (POMA) introduces an automated classification algorithm capable of discerning crowd reactions at a Mardi Gras parade from those at a basketball game. Explore the fascinating findings here: https://doi.org/10.1121/2.0001327.

For those who haven’t experienced the magic of a Mardi Gras parade in-person, the question lingers – what is it like? The prospect of virtually attending such events is on the horizon, prompting curiosity about whether the auditory experience can be replicated. In an insightful article published in Acoustics Today, the creation of dynamic virtual soundscapes is explored, offering a glimpse into the potential future of immersive virtual Mardi Gras experiences. You can read more in the article here: https://doi.org/10.1121/AT.2020.16.1.46, or listen to the Across Acoustics podcast episode featuring the author: https://acrossacoustics.buzzsprout.com/1537384/9601986-virtual-sounds

Cluster distribution of crowd noise for basketball and Mardi Gras data. https://doi.org/10.1121/2.0001327

Left: watching Mardi Gras on a TV set; right: being literally “inside” Mardi Gras, in a virtual acoustic environment. Original photo of marching band by Prayitno, used under the Creative Commons license with attribution (CC BY 2.0). https://doi.org/10.1121/AT.2020.16.1.46

Excitingly, ASA is set to return to the vibrant city of New Orleans for the 188th Meeting, jointly held with the International Congress on Acoustics from May 19-23, 2025. Having last convened in the city in 2017, the conference yielded a treasure trove of proceedings papers spanning a myriad of acoustics topics. For those captivated by the fusion of sound and science, immerse yourself in the 174th ASA Meeting proceedings here: https://pubs.aip.org/asa/poma/issue/31/1, or check out the Lay Language Papers (LLP) here: https://acoustics.org/lay-language-papers/new-orleans-louisiana/. We hope to see and hear you back in New Orleans in 2025!

174th ASA Meeting held in New Orleans in 2017

High School Brilliance in ASA Publications

In this post, we invite readers to look back at a few ASA articles that were written and/or co-written by authors who were still in high school at the time of publication, proving that age is merely a number in the pursuit of scientific excellence.

The author and her siblings (left to right) Brooke, Ross, and Morgan Dougherty

First up is Brooke Dougherty who reached out to the editor of Acoustics Today (AT) to pitch her article idea. Her passion and initiative resulted in the AT Sound Perspective piece, “The Sound Journey of a Future Acoustician” (DOI: 10.1121/AT.2021.17.4.70) where Brooke writes about Perfect Pitch Fluency—an accessible resource to master perfect pitch, delve into sound concepts, and explore the hidden world of frequency in music and beyond.

Experimental setup for testing the benefit of the metamaterial structure.

Next up, Joonyoung Lee and Mincheol Park, who received the ASA Second Award at the 2019 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), also presented at the 2019 International Congress on Ultrasonics. Co-authored with Jong-Rim Lee, Younho Cho, and Young H. Kim, the Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics (POMA) publication, “Optimize ultrasound condition for water treatment by coiled-up space metamaterial” (DOI: 10.1121/2.0001123) explores the efficiency boost of ultrasonic waves for cleansing.

Flowchart of Making the Sound Absorption Materials

The 2019 ISEF ASA Honorable Mention team made up of Neil David C. Cayanan, Shaira C. Gozun, and E’van Relle M. Tongol presented their project at the 178th Meeting ASA Meeting and then published their work in POMA. Their publication, “Hibla: Acoustic fiber” (DOI: 10.1121/2.0001264), showcases their innovative thinking in creating high-performance sound absorption panels from Abacá, Bamboo, and Water hyacinth.

Spectrograms of the same utterance of “I know because I will” spoken by an adult female native English speaker.

After presenting their work at the Washington State Science and Engineering Fair in 2017, Adeline F. Hillier, Claire E. Hillier and their mentor, David A. Hillier, published in The Journal of the Acoustical Society of America (JASA). “A modified spectrogram with possible application as a visual hearing aid for the deaf” (DOI: 10.1121/1.5055224), describes how enhanced frequency resolution, optimized information clarity, and the elimination of distracting details is paving the way for a more intuitive and efficient interpretation of acoustic patterns.

The next time you come across a scientific publication, remember – it might just be the work of the next generation of acousticians, who penned their groundbreaking insights while still navigating the halls of high school!

Most liked publications social media content

If you’ve been reading the last couple Propagations posts, you know the ASA Publications Office likes to do end of year reviews looking at what content the acoustics community enjoyed. We’ve shared our most popular Across Acoustics podcast episodes as well as the most downloaded ASA publications. Now we’re going to share some of the most liked publications content across our social media accounts. Even though we share the same content on all our social media accounts, some posts get more likes on specific platforms. Check out which posts users on different platforms like the most.

Source separation with an acoustic vector sensor for terrestrial bioacoustics

This Technical Area Pick for Signal Processing was the most liked JASA content posted across our social platforms, specifically on Facebook and X. Check it out to read the authors’ proposed a solution for the challenge of separating overlapping calls and environmental noise in the passive acoustic monitoring of complex soundscapes.

Irina Tolkova, Holger Klinck; Source separation with an acoustic vector sensor for terrestrial bioacoustics. J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 1 August 2022; 152 (2): 1123. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0013505

Distributed acoustic sensing recordings of low-frequency whale calls and ship noise offshore Central Oregon

In JASA Express Letters, this Editors Pick about the potential of distributed acoustic sensing (DAS) for low-frequency acoustic monitoring was the most liked JASA EL content posted across our platforms. In particular users on LinkedIn and X liked it. Be sure to give it a read!

William S. D. Wilcock, Shima Abadi, Bradley P. Lipovsky; Distributed acoustic sensing recordings of low-frequency whale calls and ship noise offshore Central Oregon. JASA Express Lett. 1 February 2023; 3 (2): 026002. https://doi.org/10.1121/10.0017104

Low-frequency directional characteristics of a gamelan gong

Samuel David Bellows, Dallin T. Harwood, Kent L. Gee, Timothy W. Leishman; Low-frequency directional characteristics of a gamelan gong. Proc. Mtgs. Acoust. 5 December 2022; 50 (1): 035003. https://doi.org/10.1121/2.0001722

This paper was the most liked POMA content posted across our platforms, notably Facebook and Instagram.

Were any of these popular posts surprising to you? What publications would you like us to post in the coming year? We’d love to hear your thoughts!