Sigh. I've coded too much this week. My brain just immediately went to: comment out half the city at a time and binary search the source. Guess you can't really do that.
I wonder if the hum persists during a power outage.
There's a Persistent Hum in Windsor, Ontario, and No One Knows Why
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Re: There's a Persistent Hum in Windsor, Ontario, and No One Knows Why
#12It seems like a sensor array across the city of just a few sensors could help detect the source. Using microsecond differences in the arrival of the sound, you could at least tell what direction it is coming from.
Re: There's a Persistent Hum in Windsor, Ontario, and No One Knows Why
#13And trust me it's damn annoying, it's nothing ear plugs can't take care of but damn if it isn't enough to slowly drive you insane
Can you located it -- it's coming from the ground? air? direction?
Wikipedia says that it is in fact Zug Island:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zug_Island#Noise_and_vibration
Re: There's a Persistent Hum in Windsor, Ontario, and No One Knows Why
#14Earlier quoted context omitted.
Too low frequency to localise ... think heavy bass
Has there been an attempt to trilaterate/triangulate the sound? Should be fairly simple to rig up several recording devices in sync around, and use timing/loudness to get an idea of origin, despite the large wavelength.
Re: There's a Persistent Hum in Windsor, Ontario, and No One Knows Why
#15Shouldn't this be "relatively easy" to track down? Just place a few microphones and triangulate? EDIT: Thanks to ocdtrekkie for digging in further on this: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16424617
Yes -- if it's real.
Re: There's a Persistent Hum in Windsor, Ontario, and No One Knows Why
#16Sorry for this I am not experiencing it so maybe I'm completely wrong but these people seem to be overblowing this a lot. Health effects? I mean, it's a hum. Sure you can't find the source but heaters hum, ACs hum, cars going past hum, bass hums. Like how is it possible that it's this huge of a problem? When a humming stops I tend to actually miss it because it becomes too quiet. I tend to hear the air conditioners o…
The article addressed that. Infrasound can affect quality of life and different people respond to it differently.
Re: There's a Persistent Hum in Windsor, Ontario, and No One Knows Why
#17Sorry for this I am not experiencing it so maybe I'm completely wrong but these people seem to be overblowing this a lot. Health effects? I mean, it's a hum. Sure you can't find the source but heaters hum, ACs hum, cars going past hum, bass hums. Like how is it possible that it's this huge of a problem? When a humming stops I tend to actually miss it because it becomes too quiet. I tend to hear the air conditioners o…
[deleted]
Re: There's a Persistent Hum in Windsor, Ontario, and No One Knows Why
#18Earlier quoted context omitted.
You live there? What are the leading theories of what it could be? The article didn't seem to lock in on anything.
I live there ... I was away for many years and saw a few stories in the news and kinda laughed it off ... now not laughing so much The leading theories are it has something to do with this mordor like place https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zug_Island
According to Wikipedia, that is definitely the source of the him:
Noise and vibration[edit] In 2011, the Zug Island area was identified by Canadian scientists and Ontario's Ministry of Natural Resources as the source of mysterious rumblings and vibrations that have plagued hundreds of area residents with cyclical vibrations reportedly being felt in the ground up to fifty miles (eighty kilometres) away.[3][4][5]
The city of River Rouge reported in the Star that it cannot afford to spend any more money on investigating the hum. They claim the City Council had already spent over $1 million to help Windsor and Ontario find the source of the noise. However, they say it likely comes from the steel mill facilities on the island.[6]
As of April 2013, a Canadian scientist is using sound-level meters and a portable "pentangular array" of cameras and microphones to try to precisely identify the source of the sound, in order to know whom exactly to ask to fix it.[7]
Another report released on May 23, 2014, confirmed that Zug Island was the source of the hum.[8][9]
[3] Schmidt, Doug (September 21, 2011). "Zug Island likely culprit of Windsor hum". The Windsor Star. Postmedia Network Inc. [4] "Mysterious noise escalates in Windsor, Ontario". CBC News. January 30, 2012 [5] Ashifa Kassam (June 7, 2016). "The 'Windsor Hum': where is the noise plaguing a city of 210,000 coming from? | World news | The Guardian" [6] "River Rouge calls off search for Windsor Hum". CBC News. November 7, 2011 [7] Tingley, Kim (June 24, 2013). "The Sound and the Fury". OnEarth.org. NRDC [8] "Mysterious Windsor Hum traced to Zug Island, Mich". CBC News. May 23, 2014 [9] Colin Novak (May 23, 2014). "Summary of the ‘Windsor Hum Study’ Results"
Re: There's a Persistent Hum in Windsor, Ontario, and No One Knows Why
#19Three people so far have suggested in the comments here it should be "easy" to triangulate it. Note that according to Zug Island's Wikipedia page, "As of April 2013, a Canadian scientist is using sound-level meters and a portable "pentangular array" of cameras and microphones to try to precisely identify the source of the sound, in order to know whom exactly to ask to fix it" and that "the City Council had already spent over $1 million to help Windsor and Ontario find the source of the noise".
I think there's a bit of armchairing going on here, in that people are definitely trying the obvious already.
Re: There's a Persistent Hum in Windsor, Ontario, and No One Knows Why
#20Three people so far have suggested in the comments here it should be "easy" to triangulate it. Note that according to Zug Island's Wikipedia page, "As of April 2013, a Canadian scientist is using sound-level meters and a portable "pentangular array" of cameras and microphones to try to precisely identify the source of the sound, in order to know whom exactly to ask to fix it" and that "the City Council had already sp…
They can triangulate it unless... (puts on tinfoil hat) ... the hum is coming from under the city.