Re: [microsound] FRPS - Fractally Reverse-Palindromic Soundwave

[Tyler Adams <tadams@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

bunkum!  here's what ask yahoo says about duck quacks:

http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20021002.html

We hate to break it to you, but all our sources say a duck's quack echoes
just like any other sound. There doesn't seem to be anything special about
the noise, except that it has mysteriously produced this persistent bit of
folklore.
That intrepid tester of suspicious stuff, Cecil Adams of the Straight
Dope, assigned it to one of his researchers. She disproved the myth
herself in 1998 with a few friends, a duck, and a large courtyard
conducive to echoes. Sure enough, the quack echoed (once they figured out
how to make the duck quack, that is). Likewise, the good folks at the
premiere urban legend resource, Snopes.com, have personally experienced
the quacky echo of talkative ducks.

The MadSci Network suggests an explanation for this common misconception.
An echo is caused by sound waves reflecting off a hard surface. Higher
frequency sounds reflect better and create stronger echoes. Perhaps some
ducks have quacks without a lot of high frequency components, resulting in
very faint echoes.

Physlink.com explains how an extremely clever duck might avoid creating an
echo at all. If the distance between the duck and a reflective surface
falls exactly at one of the nodes of the quack's sound wave, sound will
not be reflected back, thus no echo. The duck could also use partially
reflective material and some sound wave measurements to prevent a quack
from echoing, much in the same way the military hides aircraft from radar.
However, we suspect Daffy and his pals aren't quite that sophisticated or
conniving.




>
> A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why
>
> http://flagonthemoon.blogspot.com/2005/03/fun-facts-about-animals.html
>
> is this true?
> anybody can explain this a little better?
>
> davide
>
>
>
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