Is sound a big issue in your life? Things just too noisy – the cars, the people, the escaped animals from the local zoo? Leave it to Canada to solve all of your problems.
Alberta electrical engineer Mark Nesdoly has created a noise-monitoring device — the Noise Snare — designed to help police and bylaw officers track down the offenders.
The device, designed to be mounted on a car, monitors passing traffic for noise levels, then automatically takes a video of any offenders who rev up past 96 decibels. Think of it as a red-light camera, but for obnoxiously-loud cars. The first one goes into action this month in Calgary says Nesdoly, who created a prototype seven years ago.
The real question is this: how long until these devices are installed on street corners everywhere? How long till governments begin penalizing noise after certain hours without the nagging necessity of employing police officers to perform the task?
A 2012 Invention Award was recently given to Richard Schwartz and John Croushorn, Army vets, for their Soldier Saver – an inflatable tourniquet to be used on the battlefield and save lives. It is a device that will essentially allow battlefield doctors to stop soldier blood loss instantaneously and protect massive limb loss. How does it work?
After positioning the tourniquet, a medic tightens it by twisting a windlass. A hand pump inflates a wedgeshaped bladder that compresses the patient’s aorta against his spine, until blood flow to the lower body is cut off.
The product is remarkable and the world’s armed forces are taking notice. The United States has ordered sixty of the devices and the English, French and German have expressed interest.