Sonic Fire Tech uses Infrasound to Extinguish Fire

A startup company in the USA, Sonic Fire Tech, is using infrasound to extinguish fires. An acoustic duct mounted in the eves of a house emits 20 Hz and below audio that oscillates the air, hindering the combustion process, which subdues fire. One advantage using sound to extinguish fire is that there is no water or chemical damage to the object. The company also makes a back-pack portable acoustic generator that can be used to extinguish flames.

See the youtube video of their system:

Honda Formula-1 Engine Sound for 2026

The Honda Formula-1 Racing Team has published on Instagram and X the sound of their 1.6-litre turbo V6 engine recorded while running on a test stand.

The audio clip is just the engine mounted in a dynamometer test stand. Once the engine is connected to the hybrid engine and mounted in the 2026 Aston Martin race car, it will sound like the Formula 1 cars that raced in Abu Dhabi in December 2025.

Using Smart Devices to Quantify #1

A paper published in Nature Scientific Reports describes researchers using a Dodotronic Ultramic384, an Oppo smartwatch, and a Xiaomi Mi A1 smartphone to record audio of the sound of a #1 hitting the water surface in a toilet bowl. The audio was analyzed using machine-learning regression algorithms to determined urine flow parameters such as voided volume and flow rate, and was compared with a commercial grade Minze uroflowmeter.

The tests involved peeing into a Minze uroflowmeter basin, and at the same time three different microphones recorded the sound. The Minze uroflowmeter was prefilled with 400 ml of water at the bottom of the container, to ensure that the sound generated by the twinkle was against the water, simulating the conditions of a real toilet bowl. All participants were given instructions asking them to aim at the toilet water.

The results showed there was very good correlation between using the smart devices and the ‘gold standard’ device.

Acoustics 2023 Sydney 4-8 Dec 2023

Acoustics 2023 in Sydney will be an enormous joint conference between:

  • The Acoustical Society of America
  • Australian Acoustical Society
  • WESPAC
  • PRUAC

The conference will be held in Sydney Australia from Monday 4 December to Friday 8 December 2023 at the International Convention Centre Sydney (ICC Sydney), Australia.

Abstract submissions are now open and close 24 July 2023.

Deep fake audio used for kidnapping ransom

A story on the New York Post describes a fake kidnapping and ransom demand using deep-fake audio of a 15-year-old girl from Scottsdale Arizona, USA. The kidnappers called the mom and claimed they had kidnapped her daughter, who was on a school ki-trip at the time, and demanded $US 1 million, but then lowered the ransom to $50k. The fake audio of the daughter sounded exactly like her daughter and were convinced it was their daughter. The parents called the police, and they confirmed the daughter was safe on the excursion.

Acoustics 2021 postponed 21-23 Feb 2022

The Acoustics 2021 conference, originally planned for November 2021 in Woollongong, New South Wales, Australia has been postponed until 21-23 February 2022.

New South Wales currently (2021-08-28) has an outbreak of COVID-19, currently 13,880 active cases, so holding a face-to-face conference presents a risk to potential attendees.