Skeptics Stack Exchange
Skeptics Stack Exchange

Questions tagged [sound]

A mechanical wave that is an oscillation of pressure transmitted through a solid, liquid, or gas, composed of frequencies within the range of hearing and of a level sufficiently strong to be heard, or the sensation stimulated in organs of hearing by such vibrations.

29 questions
9
votes
0 answers

Does "reverse sound technology" make headphones safer?

Purebuds Earphones claims that their use of "Reverse Sound Technology" makes their earbuds safer, preventing hearing damage. I searched for a scientific study of this technology, or at least a good explanation of it, but couldn't find much. From…
Jeff Caros
  • 191
  • 4
8
votes
0 answers

Are blind listening tests flawed?

Blind listening tests are strongly critiqued by Robert Harley in this editorial, published in The Absolute Sound. Harley seems to think the tests prove nothing. Every few years, the results of some blind listening test are announced that…
StackExchange saddens dancek
  • 3,829
  • 1
  • 25
  • 37
8
votes
1 answer

Does the sound of the Sun oscillate around 528 Hz?

There are some people that believe that a 528Hz tone has healing properties, for instance this website and this one. One of the claims behind this frequency is, from the first source: NASA scientists recorded the sound of the sun, that can be heard…
Jeff Lambert
  • 1,505
  • 1
  • 14
  • 22
8
votes
0 answers

Does low frequency sound cause people to see apparitions?

There are claims like this and this that low frequency sounds can cause people to see apparitions. In certain individuals, low-frequency sound is claimed to induce feelings such as fear, dreadfulness or depression and animals are also claimed to…
pericles316
  • 22,676
  • 2
  • 84
  • 161
7
votes
1 answer

Can birds scream as loud as a jet engine?

I'm moving into an apartment with my cockatoo, and in thinking about sound level I realized I've never actually seen a source for the claim I've heard quite often and passively believed myself: Cockatoos can scream as loud as a jet engine! You can…
GManNickG
  • 170
  • 1
  • 7
5
votes
0 answers

Is the cause for the Berkeley Boom "unknown"?

Articles about the unsolved mystery of the "Berkeley Boom" claim that the loud noises that can be heard throughout Berkeley, California, and in neighbouring cities, might be caused by fireworks, cops, oil companies, nuclear testing, car engines,…
MicroMachine
  • 211
  • 1
  • 7
4
votes
0 answers

Can blocking the aperture of a mobile phone speaker cause damage?

A friend was sitting near another's ringing mobile phone, stoically ignoring the noise. When I advised him to cover the dynamic with a finger, he replied that it may break it. Is it really so? I think the energy should be dissipated in finger/casing…
Vi0
  • 141
  • 4
4
votes
0 answers

Does the "Sono" system for noise canceling on a window work?

“Sono” is supposed to turn your window into an advanced noise canceling system that allows you to eliminate and/оr control the sounds that pass through: Gajitz writes: Created by industrial designer Rudolf Stefanich, the Sono sticks to glass…
asmaier
  • 475
  • 3
  • 9
3
votes
1 answer

How powerful are air cannons?

I wondered how powerful air blasters are. Is it possible for one to be so powerful that the shock wave passes through walls, floors and ceilings? Could it make bumps on metallic surfaces or at least an audible noise, like a pebble falling on it? The…
Raskolnikov
  • 155
  • 6
3
votes
1 answer

What is the source for the supposed "sound of hell"?

I found this suspicious claim on Facebook. Apparently some "scientists" recorded sound 15km under the surface and it sounds like ...hell. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XSEBkmRQpG0 This is the claimed story of the video In the 1980's a drilling…
Sklivvz
  • 78,578
  • 29
  • 321
  • 428
3
votes
0 answers

Is anything about the 1999 NOAA "Julia" recording prevented from publication as being classified?

The unexplained "Julia" sound is described as: Julia is a sound recorded on March 1, 1999 by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). NOAA said the source of the sound was most likely a large iceberg that had run aground off…
Brian M. Hunt
  • 17,999
  • 13
  • 99
  • 176
2
votes
2 answers

How useful are online hearing frequency tests?

There are several online hearing frequency tests. Here is one example with over 10 million views: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-iCZElJ8m0 The idea is that the recorded audio consists of a pure sine wave with frequency ranging from some small…
user1008646
  • 683
  • 1
  • 6
  • 9
1
vote
1 answer

Does different sampling rate make a difference human can hear?

According to the Wikipedia article about sampling rates a simple CD uses a sampling rate of 44,100 Hz. Is there a notable difference (with ordinary speakers) to the sound quality if I have a bigger sampling rate? This would in mean that the quality…
varantir
  • 113
  • 4
1
vote
0 answers

Does a carpet made from wool have better acoustic properties than a synthetic carpet?

This PDF document is claiming the following: Wool carpets may have some advantages over nylon carpets in this respect, particularly for low frequency noise, as is demonstrated in Figure 1. Is this indeed true? Will 2 carpets that differ…
BaGi
  • 1,275
  • 3
  • 12
  • 24
1
2