Very timely. So, after boycotting a certain manufacturer for more than a decade on account of their root kit debacle I finally relented and spent some money on a noise cancelling headphone. It works pretty good, the tech has matured and the difference between NC on and off is remarkable. Even a neighbour mowing their lawn or using a chainsaw disappears to the point that I can focus on playing an instrument or writing a piece of code or text.

This was a key element for me in overcoming my insomnia, I used to stay awake at night because it was finally quiet enough that I could concentrate. After identifying that as a key part of the problem noise reduction became a focal point. It has created a new problem: the headphones are so good at this that it is very easy to creep up on me and scare the bejezus out of me when I don't receive any other clue such as a changing shadow or something like that. I'll have to figure out some kind of early warning system for approaching people.

Whoever cracks this particular nut without headphones and manages to create a bubble of 2 cubic meters or so that is silent from outside interference will make a lot of money. The article lists one entrant that seems to be a move in the right direction but it does not look like that particular version will be ready for prime time in the near future.

My 'ideal' soundsucker (sonic black hole) is a ceiling mounted device that projects a cone of silence. One possible way in which it could work is by using a phased array of speakers to 'fake' a larger one. But that ideal will likely never be reached due to limitations in physics, imagine the problem as applied to a wavy surface of water: create a wave pattern that cancels out the wavy surface in one circular area without touching the water directly.

Edit: Another - unexpected - benefit is that all the fan noise and other ambient noise in the room I'm in (which I normally don't even notice) also drops by a very large factor with NC enabled.