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How Do Active Noise Cancelling Headphones Work?

After doing a lot of plane travel with the annoying drone of the engines, Joanne Manaster found herself in need of some noise cancelling headphones.

This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American


After doing a lot of plane travel with the annoying drone of the engines, Joanne Manaster found herself in need of some noise cancelling headphones. According to her post on PsiVid:

“Although I understand the physics (and accompanying math-specifically trigonometry) of how the earphones work, I was uncertain if the technology was sophisticated enough to cancel ambient noise for the average flyer (at a reasonable price).”

So just how do they work? James May at HeadSqueeze has a great video to explain it:


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Carin Bondar is a biologist, writer and film-maker with a PhD in population ecology from the University of British Columbia. Find Dr. Bondar online at www.carinbondar.com, on twitter @drbondar or on her facebook page: Dr. Carin Bondar – Biologist With a Twist.

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