These spring-loaded screws turn your entire drywall into a sound deadening structure that can reduce perceived noise levels by nearly half. They’re pricey for screws, says the Swedish scientist behind them, but very cheap for sound insulation. Known as the Revolutionary Sound Absorbing Screw (or the Sound Screw for short), the device was created by a team at Malmö University, led by senior lecturer Håkan Wernersson. It consists of a threaded section at the bottom, a coil spring in the middle, and a section with a flat head at the top.

Nobody likes hearing their neighbors’ music, TV shows or loud conversations. Soundproof wall materials, however, can be quite thick and expensive. Swedish scientists have developed a thinner, less costly alternative, in the form of a spring-loaded sound-damping screw.

Known as the Revolutionary Sound Absorbing Screw (or the Sound Screw for short), the device was created by a team at Malmö University, led by senior lecturer Håkan Wernersson. It consists of a threaded section at the bottom, a coil spring in the middle, and a section with a flat head at the top.

The screw is inserted into a hole drilled through a drywall panel and into the underlying wooden joist. It is then turned until its threaded section is all the way into the wood, and its head is sitting flush against the outside surface of the drywall. The spring forms of a gap of a few millimeters between the joist and the drywall’s underside.