Leaning from a low-flying helicopter to shoot a fast-moving military boat. Zooming in on a tiny bee equipped with a radio transmitter. Feeling the heat while snapping a car explosion just meters away. These are a few of the adventurous scenarios John B. Carnett has found himself in while on assignment for Popular Science.

Ever since Chuck Yeager blew through the sound barrier in his X-1 in 1947, residents living near testing ranges have been bombarded by sonic booms. The thunderous booms rattle windows and scare pets, and are one of the reasons the Concorde never flew across the continental U.S. In "Whooshhh!" a story that appeared in our July 2004 issue, writer Bill Sweetman described a recent experiment with a modified F-5 fighter jet suggesting that with careful engineering tweaks, the sonic boom intensity can be reduced to tolerable levels.