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Engine compressor with ?stepped? blades to reduce noise, designed by NRC in the 1960s.
In this inaugural edition of NRC's webzine, we bring you snapshots of Canadian science today with stories such as breakthroughs in photonics, antioxidants from potatoes and nanoprobes that can detect pathogens.
The name of our webzine — Dimensions — looks to Canada's future, and also hearkens back to NRC's past and its respected magazine, Science Dimension.
From 1969 until 1986, Science Dimension reported on NRC research to solve the problems of the day. In its first year of publication the magazine ran a story on jet noise near major airports. With the supersonic Concorde due to begin service in the 1970s, concerns were growing about noise pollution in Canadian communities. At the time, NRC researchers were investigating a new way to partially ?cancel out? the whine from aircraft engines by creating destructive interference in sound wave patterns.
A technician makes adjustments to a jet engine, circa 1969.
Today's jets are much quieter than their predecessors and the Concorde has now passed into aviation history. But with increasing air traffic, population growth around airports and more stringent noise standards, reducing aircraft noise is still a priority.
NRC continues to lead the way with expertise in computer modelling, computational fluid dynamics and some of the world's most advanced test facilities. Aircraft engine manufacturers come to NRC to make sure that their engines operate within noise and vibration limits. Other examples of our current work include the following:
- Research is underway on a full-size aircraft fuselage to verify computer models that will predict sound levels in an aircraft cabin.
- NRC's unique acoustic chamber can simulate the intense vibration of space launch on a satellite or aircraft components.
- Powerful software developed by NRC helps architects and builders find the best way to insulate buildings against aircraft noise, even before construction begins.
NRC studies the transmission of sound through aircraft structures.
Forty years after the first issue of Science Dimension, NRC continues to take Canadian science in new directions that will improve health, safety and quality of life. We'll continue to tell you about advances in Canadian science and technology in future issues of Dimensions. 
