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BeholdMyResponse t1_itin1xj wrote

Quesst has sounded interesting for a long time, I'm just curious to hear firsthand if its "sonic thump" is really that much better than a sonic boom. They'll be flying over major cities in 2024 and then asking residents what they think of the sound, that should be interesting. It could revolutionize air travel in the 2030s if it works.

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experiential t1_itjqamt wrote

I’m sure that the good people of Oklahoma will be more than willing test participants again!

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absentmindedjwc t1_itk2px9 wrote

IIRC, it'll sound like a basketball bouncing instead of an explosion.

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PasswordisP4ssword t1_itkgklf wrote

Now I'm imagining the sound of a kickball to the head

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tickettoride98 t1_itkad8l wrote

I find it very short-sighted that stuff like this is only concerned with human's perception and not the rest of the biosphere. How would the noise of regular flights affect animals and insects? Some animals have far more sensitive hearing than we do, and sound is energy, so a sonic shockwave is transferring energy to all those tiny bugs in a way that nature has ever had (on a regular basis) which cannot be good for their delicate structure.

Yet all we ever check is how humans feel about it. Meanwhile wildlife populations are down 69% since 1970 and insect populations are down 75% in 25 years. But hey, faster air travel!

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londons_explorer t1_itkmja3 wrote

It's fairly clear that humans and nature can never life in perfect harmony. The only way is to separate the humans and the nature - for example we could all move to Mars and leave earth for the nature.

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PlanetLandon t1_itm07si wrote

I started working on a novella years ago (but abandoned it) that had something similar. It was the distant future and humanity had colonized a dozen other worlds, so Earth was essentially turned into a giant nature preserve to allow the planet to heal. It was illegal for any human to land on the surface.

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Sunion t1_itmk6mz wrote

I actually fucking love this idea. Too bad that by the time it becomes viable there will be no nature left.

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EKmars t1_itn7im7 wrote

Only by moving the population to space can Mother Earth truly recover. Join the AEUG today!

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thefriendlycouple t1_itm8r2n wrote

Humanity can do more than one thing at a time. There are also people working on those issues as well.

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tickettoride98 t1_itmnrls wrote

My point was we're horrible at predicting the consequences of our own actions yet we're prepared to introduce constant low-grade sonic thumps as long as humans consider them tolerable. Seems like another great recipe for finding out in 20 years that constant low-grade sonic thumps really screw with other animals. See sonar and whales.

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strcrssd t1_ito23re wrote

Right, but there are consequences for not taking risks and advancing the state of the art as well. There are consequences for every action and inaction. If you want to be upset about the environment, take a look at that we're still using and aerosolizing lead in aviation engines. Look at the impacts associated with burning, rapidly, every fossil fuel we can find and allowing corporations to capture the government to continue, today, to subsidize fossil fuel resource extraction. After we know what fossil fuels are actually doing.

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Imaginary-Location-8 t1_itl9euy wrote

Bugs don’t ‘hear’

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tickettoride98 t1_itmoib7 wrote

The Atlantic - Is Noise Pollution Making Desert Bugs Disappear?

> Some bug groups did not show much difference in abundance regardless of the overall noise level or the presence of a compressor. But others had dramatic changes. There were 24-percent fewer grasshoppers in compressor plots, 52-percent fewer froghoppers, and a whopping 95-percent fewer cave, camel, and spider crickets. The louder the plot was, regardless of the presence or absence of a compressor, the fewer velvet ants and wolf spiders there were.

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