A soundproof room, but you can hear outside - Technology & science

A soundproof room, but you can hear outside - Technology & science - Science - DiscoveryNews.com - msnbc.com

Imagine a room where a band is playing. Neighbors can't hear the music, but if someone outside the room is talking, the musicians can hear it.

The concept — a kind of one-way mirror for sound — seems imaginary, but two Italian scientists recently pushed this kind of sound manipulating technology closer to reality.

"Nonlinearity makes our world much richer than a linear world," said Giulio Casati, a physics professor and director of the Center for Nonlinear and Complex Systems at the University of Insubria. "It allows us much more possibility."