IRENE - Image, Reconstruct, Erase Noise, Etc.

This month’s Nature Audio file features a device, IRENE, designed to:

acquire digital maps of the surface of the media, without contact, and then apply image analysis methods to recover the audio data and reduce noise.

IRENE stands for Image, Reconstruct, Erase Noise, Etc. and was named after one of the first reconstructed audio recordings: “Goodnight Irene”, written by H. Ledbetter and J. Lomax, performed by the Weavers (1950). This earns IRENE the much prized pre-hoc classification.

Here more about IRENE here.

SQUID - Superconducting QUantum Interference Device

SQUID - Superconducting QUantum Interference Device - came to my attention from a recent Nature magazine TOC featuring a News & Views piece, Quantum physics: An atomic SQUID:

“When a magnetic field needs to be measured with the utmost precision, a superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) is the instrument of choice.”

I’m not aware that cephalopods are particularly good at quantum physics nor precise measurements of magnetic fields, so this one is rated ad hoc.