Design and experimental validation of a finite-size labyrinthine metamaterial for vibro-acoustics: enabling upscaling towards large-scale structures.

In this article, we present the design and experimental validation of a labyrinthine metamaterial for vibro-acoustic applications. Based on a two-dimensional unit cell, different designs of finite-size metamaterial specimens in a sandwich configuration including two plates are proposed. The design phase includes an optimization based on Bloch-Floquet analysis with the aims of maximizing the band gap and extruding the specimens in the third dimension while keeping the absorption properties almost unaffected.

Prêt-à-Manger: why the French have their cake and eat it, too.

Even if you weren't aware of the rising intensity of debates over food politics in recent years, the face-off between Sarah Palin and Michelle Obama probably caught your attention. One of Michelle Obama's most high profile acts as First Lady was to plant an organic food garden on the White House lawn—ironically later found to be contaminated by sewage-sludge-based fertilizer, rendering the lovingly grown vegetables off limits. The launch of the Obama Foodorama (the First Lady's foodie blog) and "Let's Move" (Obama's cause célèbre child anti-obesity campaign) soon followed.