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List of Unexplained Sounds

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Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#61

Post by kaybe »

martinkallstrom wrote: post #58
evolve2k wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

"Also, the 1420 MHz signal is problematic in itself in that it is "protected spectrum": it is bandwidth in which terrestrial transmitters are forbidden to transmit due to it being reserved for astronomical purposes." Wait... what?? If this has been enforced on Earth, then clearly other civilizations might make the same choice and not broadcast anything on that frequency. Does anyone know if we are broadcasting anythi…

This frequency is protected because there is a gap in the absorption spectrum of our atmosphere. This is not the same for every atmosphere, so other planets will have different gaps (unless the composition of gases is similar enough), and thus it won't make too much sense right now to single out this frequency for other civilisations. AFAIK we don't broadcast, because it would interfere with astronomic measurements.

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#62

Post by ZeroGravitas »

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.

These real life mysteries were probably part of the inspiration for Lost.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Numbers_station

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#64

Post by ZoFreX »

raverbashing wrote: post #54
ANH wrote: post #31

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 hav…

Maybe Or it is there (and maybe everywhere) but we can't hear it One thing that's noticeable when it's really quiet (and having lived in a place where it is silent at night) is that the threshold of hearing changes a lot. Something that's barely audible in normal conditions can "scream" at night Example: the sound of soda fizzing in your mouth.

If it's really, really quiet you can hear yourself blink!

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#65

Post by keithpeter »

ars wrote: post #21

These could be the underwater equivalent of the sound of wind in a cave. Powered by volcanic emissions instead of wind. Depending on the shape of the orifice and the size/shape of the chamber, it could make any kind of sound.

I was thinking of filtering of the random noise by features in the environment as well - perhaps thermal gradients in the water setting up reflections &c.

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#66

Post by JonnieCache »

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.

Everyone loves numbers stations. Here's a video of one of the actual devices used to generate those signals: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xkc_Ig87TnM

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#67

Post by JonnieCache »

mintplant wrote: post #43

"The Hum" [1] is the most interesting to me, because my dad claims he used to hear the exact same kind of sound -- like a diesel engine starting up -- in the mornings when he lived in an older house with my mother. [1]: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum

BBC Documentary about The Hum: (with Bill Bailey)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00773qg

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#68

Post by lifeisstillgood »

raverbashing wrote: post #56
lifeisstillgood wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Partly - the specific ones all seem NOAA originated, which iirr is the American oceanographer group. They along with Navy proper have very vested interests in identifing unusual ocean sounds. But just as you can find parrots that say good morning, given enough fish swimming past enough deep seamicrophones, eventually one ofthem will sound like they are whistling a braoadway tune sorry folks, fun, creepy but in the en…

"Skeptical thinking" at its best I'm really hoping you are a troll, because otherwise you're in "youtube commenter" category of intelligence "eventually one ofthem will sound like they are whistling a braoadway tune"" Yes, please explain how a school of fish can create a sound with that power and spectrum, because you obviously know so much about mathematical wave properties and the laws of conservation of energy. "N…

I do hate it when someone on the Internet thinks I am a troll.

Firstly, yes I am sure I should have phrased my position better. So lets try that

- If you listen to hundreds of hydrophones over hundreds of hours, and hear only a handful of unexplained sounds, and promote only half a dozen, it is unlikely what you promote is of scientific interest. It may be interesting but not of interest.

And thats it. NOAA has done no more then say some of its findings it cannot explain ... and then self-selected a few that sound a bit weird.

This does not make them important, relevant, repeatable, or admitting of no explanation whatsoever. Just not explained now. And later they could explain some (Upsweep being a volcano that was thought extinct)

And 'we' then anthropomorphize. Can we hear the word Julia? No we cannot. (go listen to the TED talk below - last 3 minutes)

I recognise there are many things in a deep ocean we have not seen or discovered (I liked Bill Brysons analogy that we had explored the Oceans depths as if we explored Central Park using 5 guys on tractors, at night with torches). But weird sounds that you have to squint at to find meaning in. Squarely in the Skeptical category of for me publication bias and anchoring.

I am unclear what is a mathematical wave property, but I am clear that it is reasonable to use fish singing broadway melodies as a stand-in for unusual events underneath the ocean waves. I was not suggesting that to be a literal explanation. (Even though it would be a good one to hear)

Oceanographer comment:

(NOAA- Yes, Oceanographers - measuring and mapping the ocean - with 3bn of their 5bn budget aimed at satellites, weather monitoring and plain old research, I am happy to categorise them as Oceanographers. Yes they do other important stuff too. But mostly they monitor the water/air co-systems on the planet.

links:

http://www.whaletrust.org/whales/whale_song.shtml http://www.noaa.gov/budget/ http://asia.cnn.com/2002/TECH/science/06/13/bloop/index.html

RIght -waaaay too long on a rebuttal that frankly is not detailed enough and will get flamed if anyone bothers reading it. Work now.

Re: List of Unexplained Sounds

#70

Post by raverbashing »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #68
raverbashing wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Skeptical thinking" at its best I'm really hoping you are a troll, because otherwise you're in "youtube commenter" category of intelligence "eventually one ofthem will sound like they are whistling a braoadway tune"" Yes, please explain how a school of fish can create a sound with that power and spectrum, because you obviously know so much about mathematical wave properties and the laws of conservation of energy. "N…

I do hate it when someone on the Internet thinks I am a troll. Firstly, yes I am sure I should have phrased my position better. So lets try that - If you listen to hundreds of hydrophones over hundreds of hours, and hear only a handful of unexplained sounds, and promote only half a dozen, it is unlikely what you promote is of scientific interest. It may be interesting but not of interest. And thats it. NOAA has done…

"- If you listen to hundreds of hydrophones over hundreds of hours, and hear only a handful of unexplained sounds, and promote only half a dozen, it is unlikely what you promote is of scientific interest. It may be interesting but not of interest."

The keyword here is "in tandem". Sure, in one hydrophone you'll hear a pebble dropping, in another, a fish drowning, but this is not it.

This is a loud sound, heard by an entire array of microphones simultaneously, pinpointed at 5000km away (or around 3100mi). (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloop )

"I am unclear what is a mathematical wave property, but I am clear that it is reasonable to use fish singing broadway melodies as a stand-in for unusual events underneath the ocean wave"

What I meant to say is that NOAA and others have looked at the sound spectrum (and power) and no good explanation has been found, but a "giant whale" (or a choir of fish) is as believable as "aliens".A crowd of people is loud, but an uncoordinated event only goes so far. Other known geological phenomena like ice falling apart have been ruled out more or less.

It's not promoted because "it's funny", it's promoted because there are not a good explanation for such events, and it's something scientifically significant (something that can be heard from 3000mi away is really loud)

"NOAA- Yes, Oceanographer" sure they are, but the comment doesn't do them justice. They are Oceanographers yes, but it's a little bit condescending given the work they do. Like saying the DOE makes your toaster work.

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