New mathematical method provides better way to analyze noise

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Monotone. In this image created by a computer that reassigned a sounds rate and frequency values using Magnascos new algorithm a single-frequency tone can be seen as it cuts through a background of white noise. The bright blue spots indicate the area ...
Monotone. In this image, created by a computer that reassigned a sound’s rate and frequency values using Magnasco’s new algorithm, a single-frequency tone can be seen as it cuts through a background of white noise. The bright blue spots indicate the areas in this histogram where there was no sound at all.

Humans have 200 million light receptors in their eyes, 10 to 20 million receptors devoted to smell, but only 8,000 dedicated to sound. Yet despite this miniscule number, the auditory system is the fastest of the five senses. Researchers credit this discrepancy to a series of lightning-fast calculations in the brain that translate minimal input into maximal understanding. And whatever those calculations are, they’re far more precise than any sound-analysis program that exists today.


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