Acoustics: A next generation microphone needs a special test chamber

I certainly hope it is not a sin to be envious of someone else's funded research work, because if it is, I have a penance coming.  The University of Alabama and Tuskegee University got an NSF (National Science Foundation) grant for research into a next generation microphone that will sense more than just changes in sound pressure and they are getting a new anechoic chamber to test it in as a bonus.  ScienceDaily has a write-up that focuses on the chamber, while the Tuscaloosa News has more details on the microphone research.

Indoor Acoustics: Study of 40 Churches

Wired has a short write-up about research into church acoustics. The researchers used dummy heads with binaural microphones as well as separate soundfield microphones to make their recordings. A book is due to be published next month (April 2007) documenting their first round of results. The title is Worship, Acoustics and Architecture.