Noise is all around us • Hacker News Board

Re: Noise is all around us

#21

Post by ComputerGuru » Sun, May 21, 2023, 11:05 PM UTC

Turskarama wrote: post #12

bm3719 wrote: post #6

I think of ambient silence as the most valuable sound of all. Think about what it'd cost you to get freedom from your neighbor's lawnmower, traffic, sirens, construction, dogs barking, and the rest of the mindless noise that involuntarily assaults the average person's brain all day. You might think you can move out to the country, but most of the homes you might buy still have plenty of it. Neighbors will have bigger…

With modern (unmodified) cars a lot of the time tyre noise is actually more significant than engine noise, so a switch to electric by itself won't do it.

Only at speed.

Re: Noise is all around us

#22

Post by brickfaced » Sun, May 21, 2023, 11:05 PM UTC

kibwen wrote: post #11

phaserphile wrote: post #5

The developed nations have known exactly how to build structures that ACTUALLY reduce noise for 70+ years, but they didn’t care enough to mandate such construction techniques into the building codes at our own peril.

Improved standards for thermal insulation (important for reducing energy consumption from heating and cooling) will have a side effect of improving the acoustic insulation of structures. Not quite to the same extent as dedicated acoustic insulation, but better than nothing.

Ditto fire safety. High-rise apartments where I live tend to have concrete floors and sturdy walls between units for this reason, and it helps greatly with noise reduction.

Re: Noise is all around us

#23

Post by brickfaced » Sun, May 21, 2023, 11:07 PM UTC

The duality of man:

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2019/11/the-end... - "Why Everything Is Getting Louder The tech industry is producing a rising din. Our bodies can't adapt." (2019)

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2022/09/let-bro... - "Why Do Rich People Love Quiet? The sound of gentrification is silence." (2022)

Re: Noise is all around us

#24

Post by jahewson » Sun, May 21, 2023, 11:08 PM UTC

june_twenty wrote: post #2

The Environmental Noise Directive (END) doesn't stop countries permitting houses to be built along motorways, next to fire stations or near airports/flight paths or trains. Once the houses are built people will live there. What we need is some good tech to make our homes and gardens more peaceful and quiet.

I’ve lived near two different fire stations, it wasn’t a big deal. They only leave with the sirens on in big emergencies, a couple of times a year. Far more disturbing was the sound of trucks and motorbikes with modified exhausts.

Re: Noise is all around us

#25

Post by Turskarama » Sun, May 21, 2023, 11:08 PM UTC

ComputerGuru wrote: post #21

Turskarama wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With modern (unmodified) cars a lot of the time tyre noise is actually more significant than engine noise, so a switch to electric by itself won't do it.

Only at speed.

At any speed you'd do on a road, even on suburban back roads tyre noise can match or exceed engine noise.

Re: Noise is all around us

#26

Post by phaserphile » Sun, May 21, 2023, 11:08 PM UTC

kibwen wrote: post #11

phaserphile wrote: post #5

The developed nations have known exactly how to build structures that ACTUALLY reduce noise for 70+ years, but they didn’t care enough to mandate such construction techniques into the building codes at our own peril.

Improved standards for thermal insulation (important for reducing energy consumption from heating and cooling) will have a side effect of improving the acoustic insulation of structures. Not quite to the same extent as dedicated acoustic insulation, but better than nothing.

Yes, air tightness is part of the problem, but if that's the only tool used, sound is still going to get through. Double walls help dramatically.

Re: Noise is all around us

#27

Post by GuB-42 » Sun, May 21, 2023, 11:11 PM UTC

Turskarama wrote: post #12

bm3719 wrote: post #6

I think of ambient silence as the most valuable sound of all. Think about what it'd cost you to get freedom from your neighbor's lawnmower, traffic, sirens, construction, dogs barking, and the rest of the mindless noise that involuntarily assaults the average person's brain all day. You might think you can move out to the country, but most of the homes you might buy still have plenty of it. Neighbors will have bigger…

With modern (unmodified) cars a lot of the time tyre noise is actually more significant than engine noise, so a switch to electric by itself won't do it.

It depends, rolling noise is more important at high speed, but engine noise is more important at slow speeds. If you are next to a highway, it probably won't make a difference, but if you live in a city with a lot of slow traffic, it will.

Also, mopeds, even unmodified ones are way too loud, especially for the speed they are going.

Re: Noise is all around us

#28

Post by ericmcer » Sun, May 21, 2023, 11:13 PM UTC

bm3719 wrote: post #6

I think of ambient silence as the most valuable sound of all. Think about what it'd cost you to get freedom from your neighbor's lawnmower, traffic, sirens, construction, dogs barking, and the rest of the mindless noise that involuntarily assaults the average person's brain all day. You might think you can move out to the country, but most of the homes you might buy still have plenty of it. Neighbors will have bigger…

We already have noise ordinances but police don’t enforce them.

It is really hard to prove a person was making a noise I guess. Maybe with the right motivation they could just make certain vehicle modifications entirely illegal. Loud cars and leaf blowers are the bane of my existence.

Re: Noise is all around us

#29

Post by theodric » Sun, May 21, 2023, 11:13 PM UTC

bm3719 wrote: post #6

I think of ambient silence as the most valuable sound of all. Think about what it'd cost you to get freedom from your neighbor's lawnmower, traffic, sirens, construction, dogs barking, and the rest of the mindless noise that involuntarily assaults the average person's brain all day. You might think you can move out to the country, but most of the homes you might buy still have plenty of it. Neighbors will have bigger…

I moved to the Irish countryside for the quiet.

On the other hand, I found my former situation with the Swiss regulations around noise, including mandated, legally-backed, police-enforced quiet from 12:00-13:00, 22:00-07:00 M-Sa and the entirety of Sunday a source of continual angst. (Of course, the church bells which bang every 15 minutes 7x24 are exempted from these strictures.)

On balance, I think I'd rather take the risk of having a neighbor running a chainsaw any time he wants over getting a knock from the cops because some busybody decided hoovering up broken glass on a Sunday afternoon was sufficiently verboten to necessitate involving the authorities.

Re: Noise is all around us

#30

Post by runeb » Sun, May 21, 2023, 11:15 PM UTC

jmugan wrote: post #7

I'm always surprised that we tolerate so much unnecessary noise. We let people fly helicopters around and run leaf blowers. We even allow trucks to go beep beep beep and alert everyone within a kilometer that they are backing up, even though we have rearview cameras, like it's everyone else's responsibility to scurry out of their way.

As someone with tinnitus and hyperacusis I think about this often. A bus or truck dumping its air brakes right next to you, incredibly loud sirens, squeaky breaks that pierce the soul. I feel fairly certain you could make the case that many sounds we have grown to just accept in society are in fact at dangerous decibel levels.