Scientists use vibrating windows to block noise

A noise-negating method that thwarts vibration with vibration could be available for use in apartments, hotels and offices in five years.

"A window acts like a loudspeaker and a membrane. If you control the vibration of the window, you can control transmitted noise in such a way that it is not acting like a membrane or a loudspeaker," said Thilo Bein, head of the business unit for energy, environment and health at Fraunhofer Institute for Structural Durability and System Reliability LBF in Darmstadt, Germany.

To make windows work less like loudspeakers, engineers thicken the glass to double or even triple panes. But that can drive up the cost of construction. Ideally they'd like to stop the sound waves in their tracks.