The world of sound is full of surprises! We often take what we hear for granted. But what if I told you that some of the strangest things you’ve heard about sound are actually true? Get ready to explore some truly mind-bending facts about the noises, music, and silences that shape our world. You might just find that reality is more astonishing than fiction!
10 Infrasound Hallucinations and Ghostly Experiences
Have you ever felt a spooky presence or seen something you couldn’t explain? Many people share these mysterious experiences. Some think it’s a ghost, while others look for a scientific answer. It turns out, science might have one!
Researchers have found that very low-frequency sounds, called infrasound (around 19 Hz), can actually cause feelings of anxiety, chills, and even hallucinations. These are the same feelings people often report during a ‘ghostly’ encounter. While this doesn’t mean all ghosts are just sound waves, it does suggest that infrasound can explain some spooky happenings. One professor, Vic Tandy, even found infrasound present at several supposedly haunted locations, offering a natural explanation for the eerie feelings people experienced there.
9 Your Brain Doesn’t Like Silence
Most of us have preferences when it comes to noise. Some love it loud, while others crave peace and quiet. But what happens if all sound disappears completely? It can be surprisingly uncomfortable.
Our brains are used to a constant backdrop of ambient noise, even if we don’t notice it. When that’s gone, our brains can get confused. This is very clear at Orfield Laboratories in Minnesota, home to an anechoic chamber designed to absorb all sound. People in this super-quiet room report hearing their own organs or experiencing sound hallucinations as their brains try to fill the void. No one has managed to stay inside for more than fifteen minutes because the total silence is so unsettling!
8 Headphone Volume Does Matter
Adults often warn kids about playing music too loud through headphones, and it’s advice worth taking seriously. Many young people assume that if headphones are sold widely, their volume levels must be safe. Unfortunately, this isn’t always true, and hearing loss from headphones and earbuds is a growing concern.
This issue particularly affects children and teens, leading to an increase in hearing problems in young patients. The good news is that there are easy solutions. The most important step is to simply turn the volume down. Setting a maximum volume limit helps too. While noise-canceling headphones and better quality products can be beneficial, nothing beats giving your ears a regular break from loud sounds.
7 Castration and the Boys Choir
This fact is quite shocking by today’s standards. The castrati were young boys in Europe, particularly from the 16th to 18th centuries, who were castrated before puberty. The aim was to prevent their voices from deepening, allowing them to retain their high, soprano-like singing voices into adulthood. This practice was unfortunately common because, at the time, women were often not allowed to sing in church choirs, and these altered male voices filled that role.
Evolving from older traditions, this became a way to create male sopranos. Today, we find the idea of castrating children barbaric and immoral. You might think this practice ended centuries ago, but the last known castrato, Alessandro Moreschi, died in 1924. He even made gramophone recordings of his unique voice before his death.
6 Prisoners Tortured with… Pop Music
During conflicts like the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, reports emerged about unusual interrogation methods. One particularly strange tactic allegedly used by the CIA involved using American pop music to torture detainees. Yes, you read that right—pop music!
Songs by artists like Britney Spears, Metallica, and even tunes from Sesame Street were reportedly played repeatedly at high volumes. While it might not sound as harsh as physical torture, experts suggest that music can be surprisingly effective. It can cause humiliation, sensory overload, and moral discomfort, especially if the music clashes with a prisoner’s religious beliefs. Imagine being forced to listen to a song you find offensive or simply annoying, over and over again. It’s a reminder of how powerful sound can be, for better or worse.
5 A Tiny Insect with an Insanely Loud Defense Mechanism
Meet the lesser water boatman, a tiny aquatic insect with a truly astonishing ability. Despite its small size (smaller than a pea!), this creature can produce an incredibly loud sound. It developed this skill as a defense mechanism to scare off predators, since it doesn’t have many other ways to protect itself.
How loud can it get? Researchers have measured its call at up to 99 decibels! That’s as loud as a newspaper printing press or a power sander. Proportionally to its size, it’s one of the loudest animals on Earth. What’s even crazier is how it makes this noise: the male lesser water boatman rubs a ridge on its penis against a ridge on its abdomen. Nature truly is full of surprises!
4 Where Are the Screams Coming From?
Scary stories often feature eerie sounds in the dark, particularly screams coming from the woods. Many tales tell of someone hearing what sounds like a woman or child in distress, only to venture in and never be seen again. These fears tap into something primal within us.
Fortunately, there’s often a natural explanation for these terrifying sounds. During mating season, female foxes make a shrieking cry that sounds remarkably like a human scream, specifically like a young child or woman in terrible pain. Even today, people are fooled by these calls. Authorities in various places have had to reassure residents that the chilling screams they hear are not from monsters or victims, but simply from foxes looking for a mate.
3 Plants Grow to Classical Music
Talking to your plants or playing music for them might seem a bit silly to some. After all, plants don’t have ears like we do. However, a surprising number of gardeners are convinced that music helps their plants thrive. And guess what? Science actually backs them up, to some extent!
Researchers, including the team from Mythbusters, have explored this idea. They discovered that the stomata—tiny pores on plant leaves that are crucial for taking in carbon dioxide and releasing oxygen—tend to stay open longer when classical music is played. This could potentially help plants with photosynthesis and growth. So, maybe those music-loving gardeners are onto something!
2 A Voice to Break Glass
We’ve all seen it in cartoons or comedies: an opera singer hits a high note, and suddenly, a wine glass shatters. Most of us probably dismiss this as a funny exaggeration, not something that could happen in real life. The idea of breaking glass with just your voice seems pretty far-fetched.
However, it turns out this is absolutely possible! Scientists and shows like Mythbusters have proven that if you can match the resonant frequency of a glass and sing loudly enough, you can indeed shatter it with an unamplified voice. The key is hitting that perfect pitch and volume. While it’s harder with high-quality glass that has fewer microscopic flaws, your friend could, in theory, sing your wineglass to pieces. Breaking much more than that, though, would likely require amplification.
1 Loudest Sound on Earth
In 1883, the volcanic island of Krakatoa, located in present-day Indonesia, erupted with unimaginable force. The explosion was so incredibly loud that it was heard thousands of miles away. People in Perth, Australia, about 1,930 miles (3,110 kilometers) away, heard it. It was even audible on Rodrigues, an island near Mauritius, some 3,000 miles (4,800 kilometers) distant!
The sound was estimated to be around 182 decibels at its source, and was still measured at a deafening 172 decibels 100 miles away. Witnesses described it as sounding like distant cannons. This cataclysmic sound wave is believed to be the loudest sound ever recorded in modern history. It circled the globe four times, causing tsunamis, choking the sky with ash, and leading to widespread famines due to its impact on the global climate.
The world of sound is truly fascinating, isn’t it? From ghostly whispers explained by science to the incredible power of nature’s loudest roar, these facts show us there’s so much more to what we hear than meets the ear.
Which of these sound facts surprised you the most? Do you know any other amazing sound phenomena? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
