Ultrasound in air: Experimental studies of the underlying physics are difficult when the only sensors reporting contemporaneous data are human beings.

Leighton, Timothy (2020) Ultrasound in air: Experimental studies of the underlying physics are difficult when the only sensors reporting contemporaneous data are human beings. Physics Today, 73 (12), 38-43. (doi:10.1063/PT.3.4634).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Airborne ultrasound is becoming more prevalent in public places. Some individuals are complaining of adverse effects, including nausea, dizziness, tinnitus, fatigue, migraines and persistent headaches, and an uncomfortable feeling of “pressure in the ears.”1 Reduced technological costs have led to ultrasound being incorporated into new technologies beyond the pest deterrents that have been used for decades (see figure 1). But tracking the increased prevalence of ultrasound in public spaces is difficult because there are no requirements to report it. A complicating factor is that the symptoms individuals attribute to ultrasound can be caused by other means. Whether someone has been exposed to ultrasound and to what level and for how long is often unclear, which makes the causal relationship difficult to establish.

This record has no associated files available for download.