Burton MacKenzie

Back in the summer of 2004, I was moving some boxes in my garage when I suddenly heard a loud hiss-type noise from over by my garbage can/bench. I looked up but didn't hear it anymore, so I assumed it was an insect. When I bent over, I heard it again. A few up/down cycles later I realized that I was just hearing an acoustic effect, with sound from out in the garden (the sprinkler) being amplified somewhere in the garage and directed back at my ear. Being the ever curious boy, I kept waving my head around in the air, following the sound closer and closer until I was just at the point of losing the signal. Since I can't see beside my head, I used my finger to find the source of the sound reflection.

Much to my giddy surprise, I found an actual paraboloid shape that was collecting sound and directing it out at a specific angle, with the path intersected by my ear. Witness my parabola! (you can click on the image for a large image)





I thought that was pretty cool.

Burton MacKenzie
http://www.burtonmackenzie.com