Edouard Chazal

Why The World’s Most Famous Acoustic Architect Says His Design Strategy Is To ‘Just Pray’

There are all kinds of theories about what makes a room sound good. One of the leading researchers in the field compares concert hall acoustics to tasting wine: some characteristics are easyily classifiable, but perception and taste are part of the equation, too. Another has suggested that understanding the way sound reflects in a room, not the shape of it, is the critical component to good concert hall design.

But the craziest theory comes from a researcher named Zackery Belanger. He thinks that acoustics is primarily a geometric problem, a theory so radical that he was forced out of his Ph.D. program because his advisor disagreed with it.

→ Fusion

What If Banks Didn’t Create Money?

Switzerland to revive the 100 percent reserve banking argument :

The fall of Communism completely discredited the idea of a planned economy; even in the Soviet Union for about two decades before its collapse, few believed state planning could work. Somehow, the idea that governments are less evil and better at making financial decisions than private banks has survived that disaster. It’s mainly the banks’ fault: They have been flagrantly irresponsible. A state monopoly on money could test the theory, and Switzerland, where the central bank is disinclined to do crazy things and democratic institutions are more powerful than in most other places, could be an ideal proving ground.

→ Bloomberg

Growing Old, But Not Together

HP is splitting into two separate companies on the NYSE :

Founded by two tech guys in a garage in Palo Alto in 1939, the giant created by Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard is remembered as Silicon Valley’s original startup. In its heyday, its flair for innovation was unrivalled, and it devised technologies that shaped people’s work and personal lives, from calculators to cameras to computers. Today it is regarded as a has-been: a reminder of Silicon Valley’s past but not a beacon of its future.

→ The Economist

Can Myanmar’s New Government Control Its Military?

The group was tired, but also optimistic. Yangon is an N.L.D. stronghold and, although the final results wouldn’t be released until the next day, they predicted that Tint would win. All three had spent years in military prisons for resisting the regime. Kyaw, the campaign manager, shared a hundred-square-foot prison cell with two other men for eight years, as punishment for participating in the 1988 student movement against military rule. “Back then prison was the place for people who believed in democracy,” he said, laughing. “Now it’s Parliament.” More than fifty former political prisoners were candidates.

→ The New Yorker

Why Your Phone Battery Is Rubbish

What about the rest of us? Can we expect our gadgets to last longer than a day any time soon? “As long as our batteries are based on a chemical reaction, we will have huge limitations,” Buchmann says. “The health of a battery is almost like the health of a living organism or human being. We have to take care of it.” Limer says: “I don’t think things will change much in 10 years. A realistic future to hope for is one where even in extreme heavy use you can get through a day without losing your battery.” Right now, he adds, what we have is “a battery stalemate”.

→ The Guardian