AS MOVIE makers have long suspected, made-up noises really do sound better than the real thing. Psychologists Laurie Heller and Lauren Wolf from Brown University in Rhode Island recorded the sounds of people walking through mud and autumn leaves. Then they faked the sound by squeezing wet newspapers or sticking their fingers into a packet of cornflakes, and modifying the rhythm of the sounds on a computer. Volunteers asked to identify the most realistic sounds picked the fake noises more than 70 per cent of the time, the researchers will report at a meeting of the Acoustical Society of America…
To continue reading, today with our introductory offers
Advertisement
More from New Scientist
Explore the latest news, articles and features

Life
Has the answer to life's origins been hiding in our cells all along?
Features

ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû1000¼¯ºÏ
Sperm have been made magnetic to allow IVF inside the body
News

ÎçÒ¹¸£Àû1000¼¯ºÏ
The social media ban is an experiment – here’s how it will be studied
News

Technology
Inside the start-up aiming for a giant leap in robot intelligence
News
Popular articles
Trending New Scientist articles
1
Has the answer to life's origins been hiding in our cells all along?
2
We may have finally solved cosmology's chicken-or-the-egg problem
3
How to sparkle in conversation with strangers
4
Toy universe shows that time could be a quantum illusion
5
Fully autonomous drones have killed human soldiers for the first time
6
The relationship recession is even bigger for Gen Z than we thought
7
Vaping after quitting smoking is linked to lung cancer
8
Pancreatic cancer halted by virus injection in three patients
9
Understanding anorexia’s grip on the brain could unlock new therapies
10
Symptoms of early dementia reversed by bespoke treatment plans