Arthur C Clarke's short story Silence Please, published in 1957, tells the tale of a young scientist, Rupert Fenton, who invents a machine, the Fenton Silencer, which creates "complete silence over a wide area". Thrilled by the prospect of it relieving the "outraged ears of suffering humanity", he sets it running in a concert hall and confounds the audience by completely silencing the performance of an opera. In reality this feat would be technically impossible, but the theory behind the Fenton Silencer is identical to the "active noise-control" technology used in noise-cancelling headphones. Noise can be effectively suppressed by anti-noise, which sounds almost identical to the original noise, but is actually a mirror-image of its sound wave. In experiments this year, scientists have been pushing the boundaries of what might be possible, with active noise-control – but could it ever be used to successfully silence traffic, muzak or nuisance neighbours?
Can true silence ever be achieved?
The theory of active noise-control was first devised in the mid-1930s, and it’s beautifully simple. If two precisely opposite sound waves combine, the peaks of one cancel out the troughs of another. It’s called destructive interference, and if it’s done perfectly, the result is total silence. However, achieving that silence outside the laboratory is extremely difficult. Take the case of the concert hall in Clarke’s story: with sound waves rebounding in different directions from various surfaces, every person in the auditorium would hear a slightly different sound, and one machine could never cancel out all of them. “In some sense, noise-cancellation is about solving equations,” says Sheng Shen, from the Electrical and Computer Engineering department at the University of Illinois. “Imagine you want to create silence at one particular position. That’s one equation. But at any other position, it’s a different equation.”
When anti-noise is generated, anything less than total precision across both space and time, may have the opposite effect. Rather than achieving silence, the noise could end up doubling in volume. As a result, successful use of active noise-control has, thus far, been restricted to very specific circumstances: either at the source of the noise (for example placing speakers in an air conditioning duct) or in our ears, which is where noise-cancelling headphones have been such a great success. In these devices, a headset-mounted microphone picks up external noise, inverts the waveform and plays it through the headphones, cancelling out some of the external sound. But it’s still a complex process. Anyone who has used these devices on a long haul flight will know how good they are at suppressing the low rumble of the aircraft, but higher frequency sounds are relatively unaffected, and merely get dampened by “passive noise-control” – i.e. your ears being physically covered up.
“The low frequency noise in an aircraft is repetitive,” says Shen, “but the high-frequency sound of a baby crying is not predictable! The major difficulty in the noise-cancellation industry is that you have to do everything really fast. If you generate the anti-noise too late, it won’t cancel the noise out. So it’s a challenge for companies to design really fast hardware.”
How does wireless technology help?
Shen and his colleagues at the University of Illinois have developed an ingenious approach to this problem by using wireless technology. “Wireless signals travel a million times faster than sound,” he explains. “It’s similar to the speed difference between seeing lightning and hearing thunder.” By placing wireless-enabled microphones around a local environment – say in a noisy office corridor – and sending those noise signals to a headset worn by someone sitting in the office itself, the information needed to create anti-noise moves faster than the sound itself. “So now we have a relatively large time gap,” says Shen. “Our earpiece has a head start, and has adequate time to cancel out complex sounds – including high frequencies.”
This system, known as Mute, is so adept at blocking higher frequencies that the headsets can have a “hollow ear”, ie the ear canal doesn’t need to be blocked; anti-noise just needs to be played next to the ear. Mute’s bubble of noise-reduction around the human head has outperformed noise-cancelling headphones in recent tests, but Shen is clear about the system’s limits. “We’re not claiming that it can reduce noise levels across a room,” he says. “There’s just better cancellation at your ear. And we also lose portability, as you can’t carry our system around with you, for example if you’re running on the street.”
What has been tried?
Downplaying the capabilities of active noise-control is perhaps a wise approach. In recent years, a number of inventions have seemed to promise effective noise suppression to the public, but have fallen way short. One notable example, called Muzo, raised more than half a million US dollars (Dh1.8m) on Kickstarter in 2016 with its promise of creating a “personal zone” with “noise-blocking technology”. When the device finally launched, it merely used masking techniques to play sounds that distracted from the unwanted noise. Backers were far from impressed. “It produces a humming noise when the silent mode is activated, but background noises don’t disappear,” said one, “and I will file a request for a refund.” Shen laughs at the mention of Muzo. “We knew way before they manufactured the product that it wasn’t going to work,” he says. “The idea of putting a device on a bedroom window that cancels all the noise from the street is a bright vision, but it’s not going to work.”
Nevertheless, attempts to harness the potential of active noise-control are ongoing. Back in May, researchers at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore produced a window-mounted prototype that they claim is able to reduce outdoor sounds by as much as a half, indicating that the science fiction dream of electrically generated silence is evidently still alive and kicking, regardless of the scientific challenges.
Clarke’s short story ends with the Fenton Silencer exploding and killing its inventor, but the biggest hazard to today’s scientists is perhaps over-optimistic expectations. “We all agree that noise is a big problem in society,” says Shen, “and in some sense our unrealistic hopes emphasise why we need noise-cancellation so much.”
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Biog
Mr Kandhari is legally authorised to conduct marriages in the gurdwara
He has officiated weddings of Sikhs and people of different faiths from Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Russia, the US and Canada
Father of two sons, grandfather of six
Plays golf once a week
Enjoys trying new holiday destinations with his wife and family
Walks for an hour every morning
Completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree in Loyola College, Chennai, India
2019 is a milestone because he completes 50 years in business
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
SPECS
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
RESULT
Bayer Leverkusen 2 Bayern Munich 4
Leverkusen: Alario (9'), Wirtz (89')
Bayern: Coman (27'), Goretzka (42'), Gnabry (45'), Lewandowski (66')
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
ONCE UPON A TIME IN GAZA
Starring: Nader Abd Alhay, Majd Eid, Ramzi Maqdisi
Directors: Tarzan and Arab Nasser
Rating: 4.5/5
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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Know your Camel lingo
The bairaq is a competition for the best herd of 50 camels, named for the banner its winner takes home
Namoos - a word of congratulations reserved for falconry competitions, camel races and camel pageants. It best translates as 'the pride of victory' - and for competitors, it is priceless
Asayel camels - sleek, short-haired hound-like racers
Majahim - chocolate-brown camels that can grow to weigh two tonnes. They were only valued for milk until camel pageantry took off in the 1990s
Millions Street - the thoroughfare where camels are led and where white 4x4s throng throughout the festival
WHAT IS A BLACK HOLE?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
The biog
Job: Fitness entrepreneur, body-builder and trainer
Favourite superhero: Batman
Favourite quote: We must become the change we want to see, by Mahatma Gandhi.
Favourite car: Lamborghini
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Profile of Tarabut Gateway
Founder: Abdulla Almoayed
Based: UAE
Founded: 2017
Number of employees: 35
Sector: FinTech
Raised: $13 million
Backers: Berlin-based venture capital company Target Global, Kingsway, CE Ventures, Entrée Capital, Zamil Investment Group, Global Ventures, Almoayed Technologies and Mad’a Investment.
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
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Fuel economy 12.2.L / 100km
Labour dispute
The insured employee may still file an ILOE claim even if a labour dispute is ongoing post termination, but the insurer may suspend or reject payment, until the courts resolve the dispute, especially if the reason for termination is contested. The outcome of the labour court proceedings can directly affect eligibility.
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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Company%20profile
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The bio
Favourite food: Japanese
Favourite car: Lamborghini
Favourite hobby: Football
Favourite quote: If your dreams don’t scare you, they are not big enough
Favourite country: UAE
What the law says
Micro-retirement is not a recognised concept or employment status under Federal Decree Law No. 33 of 2021 on the Regulation of Labour Relations (as amended) (UAE Labour Law). As such, it reflects a voluntary work-life balance practice, rather than a recognised legal employment category, according to Dilini Loku, senior associate for law firm Gateley Middle East.
“Some companies may offer formal sabbatical policies or career break programmes; however, beyond such arrangements, there is no automatic right or statutory entitlement to extended breaks,” she explains.
“Any leave taken beyond statutory entitlements, such as annual leave, is typically regarded as unpaid leave in accordance with Article 33 of the UAE Labour Law. While employees may legally take unpaid leave, such requests are subject to the employer’s discretion and require approval.”
If an employee resigns to pursue micro-retirement, the employment contract is terminated, and the employer is under no legal obligation to rehire the employee in the future unless specific contractual agreements are in place (such as return-to-work arrangements), which are generally uncommon, Ms Loku adds.
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Killing of Qassem Suleimani
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From exhibitions to the battlefield
In 2016, the Shaded Dome was awarded with the 'De Vernufteling' people's choice award, an annual prize by the Dutch Association of Consulting Engineers and the Royal Netherlands Society of Engineers for the most innovative project by a Dutch engineering firm.
It was assigned by the Dutch Ministry of Defence to modify the Shaded Dome to make it suitable for ballistic protection. Royal HaskoningDHV, one of the companies which designed the dome, is an independent international engineering and project management consultancy, leading the way in sustainable development and innovation.
It is driving positive change through innovation and technology, helping use resources more efficiently.
It aims to minimise the impact on the environment by leading by example in its projects in sustainable development and innovation, to become part of the solution to a more sustainable society now and into the future.
RESULTS - ELITE MEN
1. Henri Schoeman (RSA) 57:03
2. Mario Mola (ESP) 57:09
3. Vincent Luis (FRA) 57:25
4. Leo Bergere (FRA)57:34
5. Jacob Birtwhistle (AUS) 57:40
6. Joao Silva (POR) 57:45
7. Jonathan Brownlee (GBR) 57:56
8. Adrien Briffod (SUI) 57:57
9. Gustav Iden (NOR) 57:58
10. Richard Murray (RSA) 57:59
LIVING IN...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
RESULTS
Light Flyweight (48kg): Alua Balkibekova (KAZ) beat Gulasal Sultonalieva (UZB) by points 4-1.
Flyweight (51kg): Nazym Kyzaibay (KAZ) beat Mary Kom (IND) 3-2.
Bantamweight (54kg): Dina Zholaman (KAZ) beat Sitora Shogdarova (UZB) 3-2.
Featherweight (57kg): Sitora Turdibekova (UZB) beat Vladislava Kukhta (KAZ) 5-0.
Lightweight (60kg): Rimma Volossenko (KAZ) beat Huswatun Hasanah (INA) KO round-1.
Light Welterweight (64kg): Milana Safronova (KAZ) beat Lalbuatsaihi (IND) 3-2.
Welterweight (69kg): Valentina Khalzova (KAZ) beat Navbakhor Khamidova (UZB) 5-0
Middleweight (75kg): Pooja Rani (IND) beat Mavluda Movlonova (UZB) 5-0.
Light Heavyweight (81kg): Farida Sholtay (KAZ) beat Ruzmetova Sokhiba (UZB) 5-0.
Heavyweight (81 kg): Lazzat Kungeibayeva (KAZ) beat Anupama (IND) 3-2.
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
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The Baghdad Clock
Shahad Al Rawi, Oneworld
The Sand Castle
Director: Matty Brown
Stars: Nadine Labaki, Ziad Bakri, Zain Al Rafeea, Riman Al Rafeea
Rating: 2.5/5
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