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Posts Tagged “

Sound

robofish

Schools of Robot Fish Will Soon Infest the Seas

Robots can already mimic people, dogs, cats and insects. They can even walk on water. Now roboticists at the University of Washington have built a school of three robotic fish that swim and communicate wirelessly with one another using sonar signals. So far the fish are swimming happily in a laboratory tank, but researchers plan to build 20 of the aqua bots and unleash them in the Puget Sound next year to help track fish and whale migration, and contaminants in the water. More »

triviagasm

The Scifi Sound Effects That Take Over Your Brain

Even if you just hear a science fiction movie or TV show playing in another room, you'll instantly recognize it thanks to the weird sounds of alien spaceships and laser weapons. No genre of entertainment has ever challenged sound-effects designers as much as SF. We've gone through some of scifi's most identifiable and iconic sounds and boiled them down into a list of the coolest and the most earwormy. More »

triviagasm

The "Castle Thunder" Noise that Rocked a Thousand Movies

On Friday we told you about the pervasive use of the Wilhelm Scream through movies, tv shows, and video games, but today we bring you something even closer to the hearts of science fiction history: Castle Thunder. It's been used to bring assembled body parts back to life, to send people back to the future, and to herald the ominous approach of spooky evil mad scientists who want to shrink you and your friends down to miniature size. Find out all about this multi-purpose noise below. More »

triviagasm

Why You've Already Heard Scifi's Ubiquitous Wilhelm Scream

You've probably heard the Wilhelm Scream dozens of times in different movies and television shows without realizing it, but it's one of those things that once you hear, you'll always be able to identify it afterwards. It's now become an in-joke amongst sound editors who try to insert it into their films whenever there's a perfect moment that just needs an over-the-top scream. It began as a Warner Bros. stock sound effect, but was revived and put to serious use by Star Wars sound designer Ben Burtt. Now the thing just won't die. Find out more in our screaming triviagasm below. More »

triviagasm

Set Your Bowel Disruptor To Explosive Diarrhea

For years there have been urban legends about a "brown sound" or "brown note," a frequency so low that it'll literally cause you to shit yourself. Not only has this elusive weapon been sought by governments, but it also crops up in science fiction. Just think about what this insidious weapon could do in the hands of an evil villain! It turns out the legend was born after several real-life tests of the Republic XF-84H "Thunderscreech" airplane in 1956, which earned the honor of being the loudest airplane ever built. Find out more about the poop plane and the quest for the sound of brown inside. More »