Mosquito buzz

Update: I heard the buzz this morning - the mosquitone is in the news. It wasn't as annoying as I feared it would be (maybe I can only hear the pleasant part). So listening to all that rock'n roll didn't have an adverse effect after all...


Read this in the news. A company invented "an ultrasonic teenager repellent, an ear-splitting 17-kilohertz buzzer designed to help shopkeepers disperse young people loitering in front of their stores while leaving adults unaffected." Of course, this was quickly inverted and became a ringtone (the mosquitone) that can be downloaded to your cellphone. Teenagers can then get keep their cellphone turned on because all the students, but, presumably, no teachers, can hear it.
This is based on the fact that as we age, we experience hearing loss in the higher tones of the spectrum.

(quote from June 12 New York Times)