What Is 10 Trillion Times More Powerful Than A Heartbeat? • Hacker News Board

Re: What Is 10 Trillion Times More Powerful Than A Heartbeat?

#11

Post by Groxx » Thu, Jul 18, 2013, 6:29 PM UTC

ihsw wrote: post #8

rorrr2 wrote: post #4

Doesn't that permanently damage the hearing?

It's permanently damaged in the sense that a bridge is permanently damaged by people walking over it -- simply put, hearing sound erodes your ear drums regardless of how minute it is. Now, whether listening to really loud things escalates the hearing loss is probably what you were asking. If a million people were shuffling along a bridge and they all walked gently then the bridge will be damaged minimally, but if a h…

This would be a valid comparison if the bridge healed itself. Similarly, walking damages your leg bones due to the impact / stress of gravity - but your bones actually strengthen due to use, as they are continuously being rebuilt, and they adapt to such changes. Too much can definitely cause permanent damage, but below that point it's not necessarily cumulative.

Re: What Is 10 Trillion Times More Powerful Than A Heartbeat?

#12

Post by incision » Thu, Jul 18, 2013, 6:33 PM UTC

I have an associate who's big into these competitions. I've never checked one out, a mutual friend did though. He said it freaked him out, that the force of sound was so powerful he felt like he couldn't breath.

Re: What Is 10 Trillion Times More Powerful Than A Heartbeat?

#13

Post by blhack » Thu, Jul 18, 2013, 6:38 PM UTC

>The Kiss concert in Ottawa was, says David, "17,000 times louder and ten trillion times more powerful than a heartbeat."

Can anybody convert this to libraries of congress for me? Or perhaps elephants standing on a postage stamp?

Re: What Is 10 Trillion Times More Powerful Than A Heartbeat?

#14

Post by peterkelly » Thu, Jul 18, 2013, 6:39 PM UTC

My first thought when I saw that headline:

Prejudice

Re: What Is 10 Trillion Times More Powerful Than A Heartbeat?

#15

Post by shin_lao » Thu, Jul 18, 2013, 6:40 PM UTC

vanderZwan wrote: post #10

ihsw wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's permanently damaged in the sense that a bridge is permanently damaged by people walking over it -- simply put, hearing sound erodes your ear drums regardless of how minute it is. Now, whether listening to really loud things escalates the hearing loss is probably what you were asking. If a million people were shuffling along a bridge and they all walked gently then the bridge will be damaged minimally, but if a h…

> It's permanently damaged in the sense that a bridge is permanently damaged by people walking over it -- simply put, hearing sound erodes your ear drums regardless of how minute it is. Except that bridges aren't self-repairing organisms, so the analogy is flawed in that sense too.

The damaged nerves in the ears do not heal.

Re: What Is 10 Trillion Times More Powerful Than A Heartbeat?

#16

Post by sz4kerto » Thu, Jul 18, 2013, 6:57 PM UTC

"that's roughly the sound of the volcano that erupted in Karakatau, Indonesia in 1883 and was heard 3,000 miles away. In these drag races, the sound is trapped in the automobile."

Wrong. This all depends on how far are you standing from the sound source. Probably the car audio is much less powerful than the volcano, only the mic is closer.

Re: What Is 10 Trillion Times More Powerful Than A Heartbeat?

#17

Post by malditogeek » Thu, Jul 18, 2013, 6:59 PM UTC

Odd sport the "dB drag racing". Made me remember of this Gavras video http://vimeo.com/9357434

Re: What Is 10 Trillion Times More Powerful Than A Heartbeat?

#18

Post by mikeweiss » Thu, Jul 18, 2013, 7:13 PM UTC

ihsw wrote: post #8

rorrr2 wrote: post #4

Doesn't that permanently damage the hearing?

It's permanently damaged in the sense that a bridge is permanently damaged by people walking over it -- simply put, hearing sound erodes your ear drums regardless of how minute it is. Now, whether listening to really loud things escalates the hearing loss is probably what you were asking. If a million people were shuffling along a bridge and they all walked gently then the bridge will be damaged minimally, but if a h…

I stopped reading at "Sound erodes your ear drums", you obviously wrote all this but have no clue about how the ear actually works. Its not the ear drum that gets damaged over time, its the hair cells inside the cochlea that eventually die.

Re: What Is 10 Trillion Times More Powerful Than A Heartbeat?

#19

Post by ctdonath » Thu, Jul 18, 2013, 7:20 PM UTC

Everlag wrote: post #9

I was at kiss within the last two weeks and you didn't hear the music, you felt it as your hearing slowly failed. I forgot to bring earplugs, something I would never recommend, and I could hear not a thing at the end of the concert. Thinking of something so loud that it makes objects move.... nope.

248 dB: Hiroshima bomb, blast center.

320 dB: Tambora Volcano. Ejected 36 cubic miles of dirt.

http://www.makeitlouder.com/Decibel%20Level%20Chart.txt

Re: What Is 10 Trillion Times More Powerful Than A Heartbeat?

#20

Post by chiph » Thu, Jul 18, 2013, 7:23 PM UTC

Everlag wrote: post #9

I was at kiss within the last two weeks and you didn't hear the music, you felt it as your hearing slowly failed. I forgot to bring earplugs, something I would never recommend, and I could hear not a thing at the end of the concert. Thinking of something so loud that it makes objects move.... nope.

The loudest concert I ever went to was Rush in 1990 at the Charlotte Coliseum (the "Presto" tour with the inflatable rabbit). Even though I wore earplugs, my hearing still rang for 3 days afterwards. No more indoor concerts for me!