The best way to block sound: coat walls with moth wings
A new way to make sound proof rooms
Here’s a brand new way to make a room sound proof: coat the walls with moth wings.
Moths have evolved under the shadow of Bats, and have developed mechanisms to evade acoustic bat signals.
They do this through specialized scales on their wings that absorb sound (preventing it from being reflected).
Generally, to make a wall sound proof it’s thickness must be at least 10 % the wavelength of the sound signal. The human audible range is between 17 m and 17 mm, so the walls would need to be pretty thick, in addition to being porous.
Metamaterials can block sound with much less material, but they are effective over only specific bandwidths.
Moth scales come in a broad range of sizes — each with a characteristic resonant frequency. This allows the wings to absorb sound across a wide range of frequencies, making them far more effective than conventional sound-absorbing materials.
Scientists coated an aluminum plate with moth wings. Typically, aluminum is a good conductor of sound.
However, the moth wing plate reduction by upto 87 %.
Bat signals are slightly above the human audible range, so it’s not an immediately translatable research, but it’s a promising first step.
Read further here: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/full/10.1098/rspa.2022.0046
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