List of Unexplained Sounds • Hacker News Board

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#31

Post by ANH » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 12:13 AM UTC

I lived in Taos, NM for about a year and never heard the eponymous Hum. Recalling the recent Hacker News item about anechoic chambers, it wouldn't surprise me if it has something to do with how quiet the place is.

On more than one occasion standing outside the house on the mesa outside of town, the utter silence of the place got to me enough that I had to go back inside and talk to somebody. Perhaps my mind would have eventually filled the gap with a hum.

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#32

Post by unimpressive » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 12:27 AM UTC

dudurocha wrote: post #29

dlsym wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The first sound is a (german) numbers station where a woman (i can't help my self and interpret the voice as a child's voice) speaks some testing numbers (i guess) it's 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,0 - the interleave signal is: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Rhapsody_No._1

Sorry for asking, but what is odd about this sound? I also don't know what a interleave is. But, anyway, this sounded to me as something we could find in a station from Lost.

Besides being a number station, I'm not sure there's anything particularly strange about that recording.

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#33

Post by TomGullen » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 12:57 AM UTC

In large bodies of water, do you not observe oscillating sounds? I can't explain it very well (I forget the official name) but it's like pushing a wave onto another wave at just the right frequency so it creates a huge wave, could the same thing not happen with sounds in water? It might explain the ones that build up and then gradually decrease. I don't know much about this and am probably wrong but it's something I've always wondered.

If you had enough random sounds going off in the water, given enough time some would group up together I imagine to create freak sound waves.

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#34

Post by stu_k » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 1:02 AM UTC

TomGullen wrote: post #33

In large bodies of water, do you not observe oscillating sounds? I can't explain it very well (I forget the official name) but it's like pushing a wave onto another wave at just the right frequency so it creates a huge wave, could the same thing not happen with sounds in water? It might explain the ones that build up and then gradually decrease. I don't know much about this and am probably wrong but it's something I'…

The effect is called superposition: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superposition_principle

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#35

Post by ryanwaggoner » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 1:03 AM UTC

It's never aliens. It always turns out to be a prank, or ice cracking, or some other boring natural cause. Why can't it be aliens!?

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#36

Post by maeon3 » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 1:09 AM UTC

Here is what Jupiter sounds like, (electromagnetically):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3fqE01YYWs

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#37

Post by el_zorro » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 1:10 AM UTC

toemetoch wrote: post #4

SDR (software-defined radio) enthusiasts also found something they can't identify: whistlers. You can see/hear them in this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Hv--BR0ddE also briefly addressed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuRcaxpbYCw edit: not on topic, should have refrained from posting as it's a VLF radio phenomenon and not a sound.

Actually, I work in a lab where I'm investigating ELF 'whistlers' that we've detected. It's really interesting stuff - we're not sure what causes them, but we've found some correlation between events and certain limits on the solar elevation angle. We think it might be ions getting trapped and moving along a field line.

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#38

Post by evolve2k » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 1:14 AM UTC

patdennis wrote: post #20

This may be a bit off topic, but when I get into looking at this type of (mysterious, interesting) of Wikipedia article, I usually end up back at my favorite of the category: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wow!_signal

Best quote ever: 'In his most recent writings, Ehman resists "drawing vast conclusions from half-vast data"'.

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#39

Post by anaheim » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 1:18 AM UTC

I remember reading a wikipedia article on the Bloop about half a year ago, and none of these other unexplained sounds were on it. Seems like NOAA fanboys dug up and wrote the others.

That being said NOAA fanboys are far more preferable to Apple fanboys. :)

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#40

Post by gavingmiller » Mon, Jun 18, 2012, 1:30 AM UTC

I live in Calgary, AB and used to hear something similar to the Hum approximately 4 years ago. At the time I was in a basement suite and would occasionally wake up and would hear a humming noise (unsure if I was waking due to the hum or not.) Eventually, the conclusion that I came to was that because I was "underground" the low frequency of a train yard not far from my house was the cause of the noise.

My wife frequently tells me that I have sensitive ears. And I've had to leave rooms because of feedback in a sound system that no one seems to be able to hear.