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Duck's Quacks Really Do Echo

Posted by Hemos on from the what-about-nintendo's-duck-hunt dept.

troc writes "Finally that age-old myth of the duck's quack has been overturned. It has long been thought that the duck's quack did not produce an echo, so some boffins with spare time and a duck did some experiments. "

2 of 46 comments (clear)

  1. Old news by Alereon · · Score: 4, Informative

    This Urban Legend was definitively put to rest in 1998.

  2. A more detailed version of the article... by mforbes · · Score: 5, Informative

    is available on the BBC's news site. Apparently the article on Ananova was edited a little too completely for space, and lost the explanation of the reason for the study.

    The full article makes clear that Prof. Cox's work is used in the design of facilities like concert halls, train stations, etc. In other words, the duck was incidental. What he was concerned with was the qualities that reduced the echo.

    Suggesting his work deserves an IgNoble (as someone earlier in the thread offered) begs comparisons to Sen. Proxmire. Try to be a little better informed before you criticize so broadly.

    --

    Allegedly real newspaper headline from 1998:
    Man Struck by Lightning Faces Battery Charge