This is one of the fundamental questions that I have asked myself on several occasions in the past. Outside is noisy but inside is hot — should I close the window or burn to death in an inferno?

Luckily, according to a Gizmodo report, Seong-Hyun Lee of the Korea Institute of Machinery and Materials and Sang-Hoon Kima at the South Korea Mokpo National Maritime University have developed a window which reduces external noises while still allowing air to pass through.

If you want to see a detailed explanation of how the window works hit up the Technology Review link below, but according to Gizmodo:

“…The windows are made up of two plates of transparent acrylic sitting 40mm apart that work as a resonance chamber, diminishing the energy of sound waves passing through…”

50mm holes in the window allow for sound to pass through and be attenuated while still allowing air to flow. In addition to household applications there are many possible applications for this type of technology and it could play a major role in reducing noise pollution.

It isn’t clear when this window will hit market, if it ever will. But, still — is anyone excited? Let us know in the comments below!

[via Gizmodo, MIT Technology Review  image via Shutterstock]