Sound Facts

If you yelled continuously for 8 years, 7 months, and 6 days, you would theoretically produce enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

Sound travels about 4 times faster in water than in air.

Sound can't travel through the vacuum of space because there are no molecules to carry the vibrations.

The sound of a tiger's roar can travel a distance of up to 2 miles (~3 km).

Pain occurs when sounds are above 130 db.

Sound at the right vibration can bore holes through a solid object.

Sound travels fifteen times faster through steel than through air.

Some species of fish have voices!

A lion's roar can be heard from more than five miles away.

Scientists have been able to recreate conversations that were held behind a soundproof glass wall by recording the vibrations seen on a potato chip bag.

The blue whale's call reaches 188 decibels, making it one of the loudest sounds produced by any animal and can be heard over 1,000 miles away

Cats make over 100 different vocal sounds; dogs can make about ten.

There's a Japanese artist and designer who makes wedding rings embedded with the the sound waves for "I do".

The Pistol Shrimp can snap its claws together to create a sound of 218 decibels, louder than as supersonic jet at full speed. It only lasts for 1 millisecond. The snapping action also creates a bubble that is greater than 5000 Kelvin, close to the surface temperature of the sun.

A couple had their wedding rings engraved with a waveform of their own voices saying "I do."

The famous Windows start-up sound was composed using a Mac.

The iconic roar made by Godzilla was produced by rubbing a leather glove across the strings of a double bass.

Microsoft built a room so quiet it measures -20.35 dBA - well below the threshold of human hearing. The walls absorb everything. Your body fills the silence: heartbeat, breathing, stomach, the buzz of your own inner ears. Visitors lose their sense of balance. You become the sound.