Can you hear it?

I love mysteries ... thought I would share this article. ? I had to turn up the volume before I heard it - it sounds to me a bit like there are several blocks of wood leaning against a fridge freezer and vibrating along with it. ?You have to go onto this website to hear it. ?http://www.smh.com.au/audio/hum.mp3 ? ? ?:-/

Mystery noise is a real humdinger
26 October 2006 ?
by STEPHEN HUTCHEON
Sydney Morning Herald

Scientists investigating a strange humming sound in Auckland believe they have pinpointed the frequency. The source of the noise, however, remains a mystery.

According to Dr Tom Moir, a computer engineer at Massey University's Institute of Information and Mathematical Sciences, the low level drone is almost certainly hitting the scales at a frequency of 56hz. He has tested three people who can hear the noise and they all come up around that frequency. A fourth person who was tested returned an inconclusive result.

Although 56hz is within the standard range of human hearing - which can range from 20 to 20,000hz - it is too low for most people to pick up. That however, has not brought the sleuths any closer to pinpointing the source of the hum which they have dubbed the Unidentified Acoustic Phenomena.

Dr Moir rules out geological factors. "It's more likely to be things like pipes under the ground - you known, gas pipes, sewerage pipes, factories in the distance." But for those who can hear it, the sound is the bane of their lives, driving some to distraction and others to take drastic action.

Dr Moir said one sufferer, a man, was so desperate to stop hearing the sound that he deliberately tried to damage his own hearing by cranking up a chain saw close to his ears. "He said it was so bad, he couldn't stand it. It was driving him mad." Another victim of the hum says it can prevent her from sleeping at night.

Since a woman living in the North Shore suburb of Brown's Bay first contacted Dr Moir and his colleague Dr Fakhrul Alam in mid-August, the scientists have been approached by about 30 sufferers, all from areas in Auckland's north. "These people who pick [the hum] up have a very low threshold for hearing at low frequencies - don't know why, but they do," says Dr Moir. Some have been reticent to give away more details of their predicament for fear that reports of persistent humming could adversely affect the resale price of their homes.

With the help of one of the sufferers, Dr Moir has developed a simulation of the sound. "The real thing," he says "is more like the drone of an aircraft and it comes and goes," he said.

The affliction appears to be similar to tinnitus, a condition in which sufferers hearing a constant, high-pitched ringing sound. In severe case it can affect sleep and normal daily routines. A number of high profile musicians are said to have suffered from tinnitus including Beethoven, Bono and Eric Clapton.

Complicating the investigation is the fact that neither Dr Moir nor his colleague can hear the sound so with each sufferer they visit they must first run tests to rule out psychosomatic factors and any other obvious causes. Fortunately, Dr Moir discovered on the weekend that his wife, who accompanied him on a visit to one of the affected homes, was able to hear the hum.

This is not the first incidence of humming in New Zealand. In 2005, New Zealand author Rachel McAlpine wrote a book called The Humming. In her novel set in small town, an artist called Ivan and a number of the townsfolk are plagued by a low frequency humming noise. The book was largely inspired by the author's own experiences in the seaside town of Puponga on the northwest tip of the South Island which was itself at the centre of a humming mystery some years back.

Listen to a simulation of the sound (most people won't be able to hear it, but if you play it in something like Windows Media Player and turn on the visualisation you will "see" the sound waves).

I can't get the link to work. Went directly to the website and tried from there too, but that doesn't work either :( I love mysteries like this and was dying to hear it too!

Hi Welshgirl,

Have tried it again and it does work (for me anyway)! You'll have to get Taffy to provide you with a decent PC!!! [smiley=icon_lol.gif]

Hmmm, strange - I just get a little red cross up in the corner of the screen ?[smiley=eusa_think.gif]

Oh well, I'll see if he can sort it when he comes home from work (he's designing novelty underwear today ?[smiley=eusa_snooty.gif] - don't ask ?[smiley=icon_rolleyes.gif] )

I can't get into the site either, but I'll make no comments about the stability of my PC as it has a bad reputation on here (although I'm sure many of my problems are down to Omantel's shonky Internet service ::)).

Would it have anything to do with the .mp3 bit at the end of the link? Perhaps you have to have some facility downloaded to be able to read items like this. Never seen anything ending in .mp3 before. :-/

....... (he's designing novelty underwear today [smiley=eusa_snooty.gif] - don't ask [smiley=icon_rolleyes.gif] )

As long as he doesn't come home wearing a sample. :D I don't want the neighbours talking about him. ;)

Forgot to mention that, when I first saw the title of this thread, I had visions of you being plagued by your mate Ravel and his Bolero again. ? :D

Funny what inspires some people to write music:
'The inspiration for the Bolero is said by some to come from a sawmill near a room Ravel had stayed in once. It starts with the people arriving and beginning work and ends with the big saws cutting the wood.'

The link worked for me but I had to turn my speakers up to max to be able to hear the humming noise...!!!! :D

Oh, the link has suddenly worked for me. I could hear it quite loudly and our sound was only on about medium. Perhaps that's more to do with the different sound cards in our PCs than whether we're more susceptible to hearing the noise.

It's like a vibration noise and pulses slightly. Hubster's saying that it's like the feedback from a speaker system. Perhaps someone's left a public address system switched on loud and there's noise coming from that. Could be issuing from a football ground or similar and is 'broadcasting' around the area.

Well, it's a suggestion....... :D

I could hear it, though it was rather quiet. It does sound rather electronic, or possibly a low mechanical hum. It couldn't have anything to do with a sonic ray from space aliens, could it?

The NZ Hum complete with actual recording. ?Hope it?s not caused by something sinister rumbling away under the earth?s crust. ?