Unring A Bell? Acoustic Engineers Can!
Posted on December 13th, 2017 by Mary Lord
Who says you can’t un-ring a bell? As a team of acoustical engineers and a biomedical engineering student demonstrate, “destructive interference” can can silence even a huge temple bell – leaving a sleeping baby undisturbed.
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Tags: acoustic engineering, bell, Contest, fun with technology, sound, sound wave, STEM education, unring a bell
Like engineers in Santa’s workshop, Ohio State University students and faculty are working with families in a unique Toy Adaptation Program to “hack” popular electronic toys so that children with special needs can enjoy them. 
Students in grades 6 to 9 learn about biomedical engineering and the human sensory system, then follow the engineering design process to create sensory-integration toys for youngsters with developmental disabilities.
They grasp fingers, curl up in your palm, and break wind when their heads are squeezed. Meet Fingerlings, the cute little robotic monkeys that rocketed to the top of the toy charts this holiday season – thanks to engineers. 
“It started out as a beautiful day, but in a disaster, anything can happen at any time…” So begins Extreme Event, a free, hour-long role-playing game from the National Academy of Sciences’ Marian Koshland Science Museum. The game is latest addition to teacher resources designed to help students and communities use science to address climate change, health, and other problems. 
Can you muffle the sound of a jingle bell using a variety of Christmas-themed items? Explore your sense of hearing – and learn about the 1965 astronauts who played Jingle Bells in space – in this simple activity designed for preK-5 students.
