Developing a new electric vehicle sound
Reports and Proceedings
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 1-Jan-2026 17:12 ET (1-Jan-2026 22:12 GMT/UTC)
Automakers are required to design their vehicles so they emit sounds at low speeds to alert pedestrians to their presence, and researchers can design custom sounds to maximize their effectiveness. Mei Suzuki and her team’s efforts created a library of sounds and played them to volunteers, both in a studio and in real road conditions. They then asked the volunteers to rate each and found the best performer was a version of pink noise — a type of noise dominated by lower-frequency notes.
SSA and the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute (EERI) are pleased to announce that Francisco José Sánchez-Sesma, professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Mexico (UNAM), is the 2026 recipient of the William B. Joyner Lecture Award.
Concordia University researchers unveiled a new audio-tokenization method, FocalCodec, that compresses speech into compact tokens while preserving meaning and quality. Concordia University
By using binary spherical quantization and focal modulation, FocalCodec dramatically reduces bitrate — making speech easier for large language models to process. Concordia University
In listening tests with 33 participants, reconstructed speech was judged nearly indistinguishable from original recordings, showing the new method keeps natural sound.
New research shows that three-quarters of the world are not getting enough omega-3. A new study finds that 76 per cent of people worldwide are not meeting recommended intakes of EPA and DHA, revealing a significant global public health gap.
The research is the first global review of national and international omega-3 intake recommendations across all life stages for generally healthy people.