The researchers that developed that material have some big ideas about how their acoustic-silencing metamaterial could go to work making the real world quieter. “Drones are a very hot topic,” researcher Zhang says. Companies like Amazon are interested in using drones to deliver goods, she says, and “people are complaining about the potential noise.” Another area of application would be Magnetic Resonance Imaging machines (MRIs), shielding patients from the sound during the imaging process. Read more.