It’s one of the most satisfying bits of modern magic: you flip a switch on your headphones, and the roar of a jet engine or the drone of a busy office simply vanishes into a bubble of quiet. But how is it possible to erase a sound? How can a device add more sound to the air to create silence?In this episode, we break down the incredible science of noise-cancelling headphones. We explore the physics of "destructive interference," where two sound waves meet and cancel each other out, and reveal how a tiny microphone, a computer chip, and a speaker work together to create a wave of "anti-sound." We'll dive into the surprising origin story of the technology, born from a frustrating airplane flight, and explain the different "flavors" of noise cancellation that make some headphones better than others. Finally, we’ll uncover why the silence is never perfect and the fascinating reason the technology can sometimes trick your brain into feeling a strange sense of pressure.

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