Drilling Holes in Your Wall Could Improve Soundproofing

Researchers at the Polytechnic University of Valencia in Spain have found that -- remarkably -- drilling holes into a wall yields better soundproofing, Unplggd and New Scientist report.
Researchers discovered that holes with a three-millimeter diameter trapped and canceled out sound waves, which without the holes, would have penetrated the wall. Because the offending sound waves were larger than the holes, the holes effectively caught the sounds, preventing them from penetrating the wall. As a result of this sound barrage's reverberation through the holes, the wall wound up resonating so as to nullify interfering sound waves.
Unless this unusual design is full of holes (sorry, had to say it), it could be a great boon to apartment dwellers, particularly those who don't want to shell out a hundred bucks to silence their neighbors' yappy dogs. A quick cautionary note: This experiment was conducted underwater and not yet on dry land, so don't bust out your three millimeter drill bit quite yet. [From: New Scientist via Unplggd]



Does your neighbor's dog bark incessantly all day and night, or worse, 


















