Hear sound building hanging teen weapon york frequencies install mosquito

People in that circle could hear the water, but people a few feet away could not. This concept is used in shopping malls to lure shoppers. The focused sound technology was successfully used at checkpoints in the Middle East to stop approaching vehicles far back from where guards were stationed.

The device deterred suicide bombers and gave the checkpoint forewarning that a vehicle was not responding to orders to stop. The garage inventor formed a company LRAD and designed sonic and ultrasonic weapons that can incapacitate, injure, or kill. Law enforcement and the military now use their new long-range acoustic device LRAD as a directed beam weapon to control crowds and deter pirates or insurgents from attacking ships at sea.

It emits a 2. This can cause nausea, discomfort, disorientation, reduced sensory-motor functions, or severe pain. By transmitting at an ultra-high frequency, an LRAD blast can cause eyeballs to vibrate generating unease and visual apparitions. The European Space Agency has a sonic weapon that can generate dB sound energy using four giant acoustic orifices.

This device can burst eardrums. Increase the loudness to dB and it can cause an air embolism in the lungs or explode the heart. Whales produce the loudest low frequency sounds on earth — at around dB 17 to 30 Hz.

Close up, the high-intensity calls by blue and fin whales can collapse the lungs and cause death to other living creatures. A car stereo made a world record by pumping out dB of sound that could instantly cause hearing loss.

Acceptable exposure time was in seconds. Sound waves can cause internal bleeding and stop a human heart with a frequency that resonates with the organ.

Experts have used sonar in oceans to detect and kill hostile divers by destroying organs and bone. Exposure to high intensity dB ultrasound frequencies from kHz to 3. Try this cool hearing test by Bright Side and find out if you are superhuman or worse than average:.

What if we use sound for protection? Will you agree? What are your thoughts on sound as a defense weapon in survival or SHTF? Let us know your thoughts about it in the comments section below! A wacko creepy woman named Peggy Bittner Westby has been tormenting me for years with her unsound alike daughter Kat Westby using infrasonic generators aimed at my unit.

She lives one minute away from the condo where the generators are. She is arrogant and has admitted to be using the generators. Alexander and Katherine have threatened me as well. The whole family is nasty and abusive. Peggy Westby has been pretending to be living alone in the condo only one minute away from the homesteaded mansion in Bay Hill and her husband -she claims to be close to him Professional data pinpoints weapon source is Westbys condo and the constant 9HZ has started with Westbys threats and has been nonstop.

Peggy Westby pretends to go to condo at night but her creepy husband has been seen picking her up to bring her back to the mansion in Bay Hill. It is just a front to cover up the infrasonic weapon torture. These people are sadistic and sick! They have cameras pointed at my unit and Peggy even knows when I spit on the ground and watches all I do. She has literally been tormenting me and stalking me for years. Peggy Westby must be stopped, she is deceitful, harmful and dangerous!

What she is doing is sneaky and evil and it is basically assault and battery and attempted murder since she is acting on her threats. Abuse of power of the rich and powerful and domestic terrorism! I hope and pray this evil creepy abusive woman will be stopped once and for all! God bless! Unless you are also a redneck or saleout african american hater!

People receiving heart attacks or fractures out of nowhere? There is a mosque in Malaysia using high frequency speakers. I hope somebody can help. Please help us universe as sound can prove effective in warfare. There are children ,infants and animals That will fall victims. Thank you universe. This piece of writing is in fact a good one it helps new net visitors, who are wishing in favor of blogging.

Spot on with this write-up, I truly think this website needs much more consideration. Nice post. I learn something more challenging on different blogs everyday. It will always be stimulating to read content from other writers and practice a little something from their store. Natually I? Thanks for sharing. An impressive share, I just given this onto a colleague who was doing a little analysis on this. And he in fact bought me breakfast because I found it for him..

So let me reword that: Thnx for the treat! But yeah Thnkx for spending the time to discuss this, I feel strongly about it and love reading more on this topic. If possible, as you become expertise, would you mind updating your blog with more details? It penetrates to the core of my brain and it really hurts. Good deterrant, but a better solution would be a total societal change and complete removal of the whimsical political correctness and the unbalanced form of human rights that gives troublemakers the right to sue an honest man or woman that should give the troublemaker a well deserved and long overdue kick in the ass and clip around the earhole, then demand full restitution.

Sooda It gives me a bad headache! Allie "I wish I could hear it"? You better not. I am 24 years old and I've long ago found out that I am very susceptible to high frequencies - 16kHz and above. To me, this sound is sheer torture and you bet I'd run from any place with this thing around just as fast as I can! Ellie Cant hear a thing, must just be me Anthony it probably depends on how good your ears are. A teen Annoying, but usefull.

I can hear it, and it gets me a headache, but the teachers can't hear it: When I get a cellphone, I'll use that as my ringtone. Christine I can't hear it and I just turned 14 last september. I wish I could hear it. I couldn't hear anything but my ears felt a bit werid and hurt a bit while I was listening to it.

Brandon ive heard this sound at the mall and at a couple of stores and now ive heard it one million times on the internet. I was wondering why some people can hear it and some cant. How come some you teens can't hear it?? I agree with ryan Yes, if someone tried to put that up somewhere in my neighborhood, I would be more inclined to vandalize that place, especially since that noise doesn't bother me because I've had to deal with it from my old tv for years.

A feeble attempt to keep away us teens. Tiffany 16 i didn't hear it in the the demostration above but i have heard it before i'm not sure if it's the same thing. Athena it's really cool, my mom can't hear it, but all my friends and my younger sisters and i can hear it. Prejudice happens every day mate. You clearly do not own a shop do you? You will undertand the problems caused by youths hanging around premises when you actually own one.

Try asking THEM why they are there and sorting out their family problems for them. Maybe build a local swimming pool for them to go to because they have not got any local amenities. This is usually beyond the powers of a corner shop owner.

Gavin for Prime Minister. Saba I think that its a terrible idea , young people have rights too!! Not everyone goes around vandalising and terrorising old ladies. Young people have just as much right to be there as adults. We might not like young people hanging araound, but its the life cirlce we all live in, we were all young once. Mike It hurts my ears and my head Gabrielle Saunt Top one! I want that noise! Sadly these things cost a fortune. Daniel McVicker i think it is a great idea and is there one to make dogs shut the hell up coz there are some dogs that dont stop barking and i herd if u get the frequnecy right than it shuld deter the dog away and even make it stop barking Brandon um I can make that exact sound with the gap in my teeth.

As for the sound it is annoying , but tolorable , I would not want to be threr for long. A Lawyer a. Use of this sound is Not Illegal. It is not being used as torture c. Loitering is an offence take note! That said, I believe this should be used only as and when needed, not constantly. Big D my teacher turns that on his cell phone to shut us up.

Garrett I can hear it, but I hear it all the time from eletronic devices, it doesn't bother me one bit. Chris 15 teachers if you think usin this in your room will work it wont we use it ourselves sorry to put ya down. Willow 15 I can hear. High pitched sound. But so can my 46 year old mother It doens't bother me in the slightest.

I'ts just a little bit irritating. Rachel- 20 I used to have a saturday job in a shop and although there were some young shoplifters most of them were older people who took their kids with them to make them look innocent while they shoplifted and some young shoplifters were influenced to do it by their parents so it's kind of unfair. I heard it and it would annnoy me if i listened to it long enough.

Natalie 27 years old I could hear it, after that length of time my ears were beginning to hurt a little. I wouldnt want to stay and listen to that for too long. Good deterant! Ande Holy!!! I'm 52 years old, have a cold and stuffed up eustachian tubes and that sound hurts! That's cruel and unusual punishment to use against anyone, let alone kids. Emma i am 14 and i cant hear it!! Debbie I am 30 and I can hear it. And I definitely would not shop anywhere that I could hear that sound.

So if the plan is to get rid of customers, than I would say keep it up. Elizabeth 15 Andy 12 only heard background noise of ppl tlkin and silence so it doesnt work us either. Rob, 18 the sound clip is quite quiet and the kids hanging about making noise in the background may cover it a bit but i could here it quite clearly when i turned up the volume a bit despite the other sounds, i understand how it would deter people, but it is unfair.

Nicky I know some 30 and 40 year olds who are equally or more troublesome than some young people. But nothing seems to be done to move them on. I have two young girls 7 and 11 and we love shopping together. However, this sort of deterrent not only drives away the youngsters but also their parents - you know the ones with the money!

I know there are some trouble makers but calling all young people "yobs" and assuming they are a problem will only make matters worse. There are some very decent and responsible young people out there. Alienating them at such a young age will only breed resentful adults. Kayla, 21 I can hear it, I can actually hear the sound wave up to I need to get this ring tone.

Although, I think my ears may be bleeding. Tina I am 21 years old and this noise is terrible. Dustin 14 i listened to it for like 5 minutes and i'm fine i wanted it for a ringtone but my cell dosn't have internet. Karl i can hear it it would be good for a ringtone at school!!!

Antony 14 Years old If these are put up where i live they wont last a week. Kenan from belgium it's awfull I have some shivers everywhere and I feel upset!! It's very crap that adult are doing that to teen We will become adults then we have to be consider like person and no dogs who has to be eject.. Sorry for my english but I do what I can Carla 33 I can hear it, and it's really unpleasant and annoying - could only manage a few seconds. Btw, I'm a piccolo player so have had an awful lot of exposure to loud high pitched sound over the years.

Jimbo I'm 72 and can hear from to 20, Olly 12 Years Old All I could here was the square in the backround. Google this and play it really loud and its better. The place I got it off was Digg. Phill yrs old Didn't hear anything. Diana Ok im 11 years old! N im 16 and have heard this noise for years and never knew what it was.

I could hears tv and things from many meters away. But when we got a new big screen tv it drove me insane so as a teen ive just had to deal with it and take alot of headache medication. Richard, age 17 OMG!!! I feel so special!!! I can hear it!!! I am upset now because I think that I have something wrong with my hearing Jamie 13 years old I didn't hear one thing.

I was hoping to hear it but i didn't. Ed 28 I suffer from tinnitus and find the noise excruciating. If I encounter one of these devices I'll be sorely tempted to sue the owner. Jason, 34 Yep, I hear it. On and off at short intervals. At first I thought no big deal, then I listened to it a few more times. About 5 minutes after I listened to it the last time, my ears were still ringing.

Eva- 16 My father 56 years old can hear it!!! Ryan, 14 im 14 and i cant hear it??? Cath I am 36 years old, I still can hear it now after I stopped i still hear it ringing in my head, sort of a old monitor sound, I work everyday with music and produce tracks but this not damaged my ears very much..

John Picture this scene:: Mom: Lets go to that store and spend 35 trillion dollars! Kid: Ouch my ear hurts! Mom:Well i gues we have to go home Mike I am 13, have a program called audacity and it only generates noise up to Hz. If there is such an annoying noise which I hear by the way , why are those young girls laughing in the backround? Shouldn't they be running for their lives - er - ears?

It is just me Nevermind everybody, I do hear it after all. There was no noise in the "BBC Radio Swindon feature" version of the noise, but if you click "Listen to the soundwave" you should be able to hear it. I did and its the same one my friends used at school. Some kids didn't hear it, so don't feel bad if you don't. Feel good in fact that people won't be stopping you from putting up some graffitti. Is it just me? Most of these people that put comments here said they couldn't hear it, and I can't either I'm 14 by the way If adults put this sound on here then how would they know if there was something there or not if they can't even hear it?

I think they recorded some silent mosquito and some kids ran away to make them think it was working, because I couldn't hear a thing right now, and today at school I heard it just fine.

Sam It's not very nice but if it makes you feel better to punish an entire set of people for the actions of a few then go ahead. I mean, obviously ALL teenagers are bad news. Jesus, it's just cruel. Belle I am an audiologist and it is rubbish.

People lose their hearing usually by ageing and noise exposure. This attacks high frequencies first. In this age of personal music devices, more and more young people will lose this. Joe 16 Years old I heard silence and some background noise of the public street Justin - 15 years old As a first note, I listened to it for about 10 seconds and had to shut it off. Right now, over 30 minutes after playing it for only ten seconds, my ears are ringing and I have a sharp headache.

My eyes were literally watering when I was playing it. Teenagers are usually stereotyped as rebels and vandals, just because we have some bad apples in our age group does not make it fair for something to be targeted on all of us! I see this almost the same as racism. This is exploiting a weakness in a certain group, driving us out of places that we have a right to be in.

This effects most people with an age. Jonathan I would just like to say that although this is being used to detur kids from hanging around in large numbers.

It is also being used as a ringtone that only kids can hear, I'll leave imagining what that means in a school room up to you. Bod I'm 23 and this is very annoying. I'm thinking of using this in my classrooms to get my pupils to quieten down.

Michelle, 17 My highschool teacher asked all of us to put our heads down and raise our hands when we heard a noise. I waited. After a few seconds, the teacher called my name. As i lifted my head, every student's hand was raised except mine. I have perfect hearing, yet I couldn't hear it.

My teacher informed us that at about 2 students out of 30 in each of his classes couldnt hear the noise. Don't see how it works I'm 15, and yes I can hear it, but I hear the same thing constantly from TVs and other electronics so it doesn't make a difference to me.

Peter 34 I went to a hearing specialist and he says my hearing is as good as most ten year olds. Sound gets on my nerves. Other people can tune it out - I can't. The sound? I can still hear a ringing about 5 minutes later or perhaps it is being made by really faint crickets Eric, 34 for those of you who listen to the sound offered as an mp3 on this site, remember, this is a recording taken in a public place, that's what all the background noise and laughter is, people in public enjoying themselves.

It doesn't HURT the kids, or even drive them away screaming, it's just generally really annoying to have to listen to for more than a few minutes, if you can actually hear it. And yes, the underlying problems of society should be adressed, to help kids find better things to do, but that's not the responsibility of the stores that are being vandalized.

That's the parents' responsibility, or the responsibility of the leaders of the community By the time you hit about 20, maybe 25, most people have been listening to sounds which are far too loud for the health of their ears, and they can no longer hear such high-pitched sounds as this. I hear something, but an mp3 is a "lossy" compression, and I could be imagining it.

However there are sites on the web that offer these new "ultrasonics" as ringtones, and even allow you to test how high up your range goes. The site I found lets you listen to a pitch as high as I can here it, 12 years old It feels like a hammer in your head. I'm flippin sick of it Umm, it's kinda like a high pitched scream right?

Harry me and my friend ,we are 13 tried this at skool , i left it on and after a while our ears started hurting. Yoda I'm 12 but all I hear is an ocean sound with hammering in the background and someone laughing Amanda grrr I think it's a horrible idea and stupid old people should stop assuming that every teenager in the world is causing trouble I could though and my hears still hurt.

Mike I can hear all the way to 17 but barely it is awesome. I work hard for an organisation to make things better for young people and give them great opportunities. Adults should'nt stop youths hanging on street corners with preventive devices they should work why they hang out there in the first place i. Why use a device that is particularly targeted to discriminate against young people hanging out in one place? What is the world coming to? Society would'nt do it to any other social group so why target youths?

I want to know if anyone is as disgusted as me with these devices. Chris I can hear it but it isnt that annoying. I looped it for awhile and was fine. Sydney I'm 12 and i don't know if i just can't hear it but all i can hear is like a "ocean" sound not high piched noise. Diandra i'm thirteen and i didnt hear it. Alex I could hear it but it didn't really annoy me My dog doesn't seem to notice it.

Julie I can hear it even over the ambient sound ESH Wow, I couldn't hear a thing. Carlos Cabal Im using the same tecnology with my cellphone, I hear the sound but my teacher dont. It is great, downloaded it by the name "mosquito ringtone".

Frank I actually like the sound. Maybe I'm weird Luke Hello I'm 27 years old, I can hear it. To me it sounds like a pulsating hearing test frequency.

However I understand why you are trying to this but I believe this device is damaging to your ears. It's not good to make someone lose their hearing more quickly.

Also if you want the crap the kids are doing to stop, you should simply just be more enforcefull on their punishments, let them stay in prison a while longer. Instead of a little slap on the wrist and sent home. Matt I'm 24 and could only hear a slight ringing in my ears. The other link tho I could hear loud and clear.

Jason My mum is 48 and she can still hear the high pictched noise. Ashley I'm 17 and I can hear the most annoying high pitch sound that would drive me crazy. I would not step foot in such a store, nor recommend it I feel this is not an answer to the problems found in such towns because I myself am a civilized person and I feel I should not be discriminated against due to the number attached to my life span Harsh i am 17 but i cant hear anyting???

El Yeah its an annoying noise Gavin The illegitimate discrimination against a given subset of a population's demographic through a sonic means of repellant; is no different from any kind of racial, religous, or sexual discrimination. When target sections of a population are singled out for discrimination and subjugation under another, this is birth of fascism. When will they next stop? Perhaps when the entire youth population is imprisoned in a seperate locale, much like the ghetto's of Nazi Germany.

Matthew Im fifteen, me and my 11 year old brother can hear it but not my mom, it is really annoying though not when your listening to it but it makes my ears ring still after its over thats the annoying part but the sound itself isnt that annoying. Abbey Im sixteen and i couldnt here it but my little sister could. Helen I'm 11 and i can hear it, but if it is turned up, my parents, 42 and 38 can hear it, which is strange, when you think that it is played REALLY lound in supermarkets!

Kate Yeah, i can hear it and it annoys me. Jonathan I'm 13 and I can't hear anything. Natasha My mother who is over 40 can hear it. This stuff does NOT work!!! Sam I cant hear anything Craig i can hear it, it is annoying and my mum and dad cant hear it!! Tina I cant hear anything but, it makes my head hurt. Daniella ive listen to a couple of diff.

James Hello again, I have sent the link to the Police, and to the Swindon Council, and to the relevent MP's and to the house of Lords, and to Amnesty Internation, and to the Association for the prevention of turture. As a direct contravention of the definition of their articles, which the UK has subscribed to. For the purposes of this Convention, the term "torture" means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity.

It is NOT illegal to be young. It is NOT illegal to wait outside a shop. It is NOT illegal to walk down the street. I urge every to write or email the mp's, police, sue them if you want. This is the thin edge of the wedge. What next? Maybe because your a youth with blond hair? If we dont stand up to this sort of behaviour, and tell them its NOT legitimate to do this. Believe me they will try this, and man other things. The price of freedom Remember V is for Vigilance.

Becca The sound is a good idea to drive away the deviant but now they have it on their mobile phones and use it as a message alert. It's driving me nuts in lessons! Alex I can hear it but doesnt hurt. John The people who are doing this probably really do believe that all young people are vandals and voilent gang members.

They probably were that way when they were youngm and naturally assume that young people today are exactly like them. Jim I'm 38, and the noise is still annoying. I synthesized a longer continuous 15kHz tone, and it was extremely painful, and I suspect, damaging at high volume over a prolonged period. Not being in the habit of causing criminal damage, nor harassing older passers-by, I would find the continuous use of a device like the one described to be annoying to the point of persuing the operator through the courts on the basis of noise nuisance.

Serica Im 17 and I can hear it God its anoying I dont understand why they think it will work though Andrew Hi im 13 and i hear it loud and clear James I believe this is illegal. The government, and the police and the shop keepers maybe damaging people's hearing.

And may well get sued. If the individual is not commiting a crime, then there is not reason for this. I will be reporting this to amnesty international.

This is just another case of civil liberties being erroded. I hope the youth of today, rise up, and take action against this. And start sueing the police. If a few thousand start sueing maybe the police, and government, better realise, that you cant justify this kind of action against people's freedom.

A Concerned UK citizen. Val I'm 29 and found it extremely irritating. Guess those concerts didn't do the damage I thought The mp3 on the BBC site above seems to have lost most of the tone when it was downsampled for the web. From New Zealand My kids are 11yrs, 8yrs and 7yrs and none of them could hear it, I'm not sure it works to well. Nick I'm 16, and I can hear it. It isn't terribly annoying unless you find crickets deathly irritating, in which case, don't download it. I find the clanging sounds superimposed behind it more annoying.

Although the sounds doesn't bother me, I find the premise of the system rather repugnant. This is rather stupid ageism on the part of the store owners, though; There are, after all, people under the age of twenty-five who work jobs and have a valid interest in shopping. How is it at all fiscally beneficial to attempt to drive this class of customer away?

Rachel THe soundwave on this site isn't as good as this other site Samantha Jefferis owwww that hurt who made that that should be deleated that resally really huurrrtt.

Punjabi Al Jabar I feel it makes my ears hurt and ui am only Loren I'm 28 and heard it perfectly and it was irritating to the point of being nauseous. The pulsing made it sound more like a cricket than a mosquito. I must say, if I was a teen age trouble maker I wouldn't hang around to listen to that. But I'm not. Interesting idea but obvioiusly not thought through or tested well enough. Blake I think this is all flipped backwards All the kids that r supposed 2 hear it cant and the 40 yr olds can?!!

On the video i didnt hear anything at all this is all a trick trying 2 make people think this thing is actually there. Bas OK, clear, it works for me. I can hear it, and it is annoying. The makers of the system claim that dogs don't bother the sound. I guess they used old dogs, but my almost 2 year old dog tried to break my speakers. I think he disliked it! Jon Just put it on my phone change to Could be useful.

Tasha Me and my twin sister could both hear it. After setting the sound up as loud as it would go, my Aunt who is in her 40's could only hear the people in the background.

Lost Johnny If you can't hear it, try turning your bass right down and the treble all the way up. Then turn up the main volume up more. I'm 37 and I can just about hear it. How is that possible? It sounds like the noise of the bats at night. Summer Well I'm 16 and I can't here anything. Mike Sounds like a very high oscillating half siren sound in the background. Kalika I'm 21 and listening to this sound has made me sick.

My head is throbbing and I'm this close to throwing up. God I feel ill. Amanda Berry I'm 47 can't hear much on this demo loop but I could hear a proper version I downloaded elsewhere. Saying that I can hear it in some media players and not others. I imagine It could also depend on the frequency reponse of speakers and software players. Even mobile phones could differ. I can normally hear high pitch sounds. So it dificult to tell whether I'm going deaf of just have poor a quality sound system LOL I have heard stange sounds outside shops and thought they were faulty strip lights or Aliens LOL ;.

They both couldnt hear it but my brother asked whats that noise. I just listened to it and it does work. I hate to see big groups of people just hanging around causing trouble coz it gives all teenagers a bad image!

To play it in public places could actually be a human rights violation to some people. It's unfair to the many people who find it hurts. Under fifteen I heard a muffled buzzing mixed in with some one laughing that's what it sounded like to me. Kasey I hear it and I'm I was playing it in a science video, everyone could hear it except for our teacher. Mazen I heard it really well, and it hurt my ears.

But my mom heard it too, and she's Tore I just now saw that some BoingBoing reader has added a comment to the story where I first read about this saying that he had measured the high tones of the mp3 as being between 15 and 17kHz.

The real teenage-repellent sound should be between 18 and 20kHz as far as I can remember reading. So this may explain why so many of us old people can hear the siren in this mp3 sample.

In any case I'm sure that sound frequencies will affect store employees even if they cannot clearly make them out. Since they have to spend their entire day in their teenager-free stores, it would be sweetly ironic if they themselves were to suffer some long term effects. It really hurts my ears. I heard that teens started downloading this for their ringtones so only they could hear their phones ring in class. Caitlin I'm 18 and I couldn't hear the one on the radio show but with the second link I definitly heard it and yea it's pretty annoying and my mother heard nothing.

Hew I don't think thats the real sound because I am 56 and could hear it fine. I have a copy of sound from another site, and I can't hear it, but it drives my 15 yo son out ot the room. I checked the wave forms, and they are very different. Gigashadowwolf I am 19 I listen to the sound I hear it. But it does not bother me.

The sound is not irritating. Its a little high pitched but it sounds to me just like a common noise i hear a lot. H I'm 29 and i can hear it fine, as can most of my coworkers who range from An now i only listened to it 4 20 secs and the place under my ears aches Tore I'm I can hear it but unless I crank up the volume a litle it is more like a pressure sensation in my head than a clear sound.

Annoying, yes absolutely! Until I turned the volume up I wasn't sure if the sound was really there or if it was my imagination playing a trick on me because I had read about a sound supposedly being there. Sound has been used throughout history as a way of exerting power and control. Room40 boss and experimental musician Lawrence English explores the phenomenon and explains the impact sound has on all of us. But there is little doubt that listening plays a critical part in how we navigate and understand our environment.

Historically, our ears, not eyes, revealed what lay beyond the light of the campfire. And importantly, our ears helped us recognise what lay behind us, out of sight.

Sound has the profound ability to haunt, shock and terrify. It has a primordial quality that reaches deep inside us. Recently, in preparation for Riverfire, an annual fireworks display in Brisbane, a pair of FA Super Hornets throttled directly over my house. My two-year-old son was in the yard and, as I stepped outside to look at the planes, I saw him hurtling up our driveway, tears streaming down his cheeks.

But their unnatural volume and the coarse noise of their engines triggered a palpable and overpowering sense of unease and distress. Sounds heard without a visible source are known as acousmatic. To cope with them, we have created various narratives and myths.

In Japanese mythology, the Yanari — a word that references the sound of a house shaking in an earthquake — is said to be a spirit responsible for the groaning and creaking of a house at night. In Norse mythology, thunder was ascribed to the god Thor.

In recent years, the use of sound and music as a weapon has increased, as have our abilities to better exploit its potential. From Long Range Acoustic Devices used to disperse protesting crowds, to military drones that induce a wave of fear in those unlucky enough to be under them, to songs blasted on rotation at Guantanamo Bay, we are entering an age where sound is being repositioned as a tool of terror.

Sonic affect, in psychological terms, is created through the timbre of the sound and how we receive it through our mesh of social and cultural understandings. The volume, duration and actual material content of a sound all play a part in how it affects us. Broadly speaking, most of us hear audible frequencies between 20 Hz very low sounds and kHz very high sounds.

However, in certain circumstances, sound that exists above and below our hearing range can also be experienced. When considering the physiological impact of sound, the two critical aspects are frequency and volume. The sound we feel in our bodies is usually a low frequency sound. Infrasound is of such low frequency it cannot be heard with human ears, yet it still causes an unconscious physiological anxiety.

The Battle Of Jericho, as described in the Bible, is an apt place to begin an examination of how sound came to be utilised as a weapon. Though there is no historical basis to the tale, it recognises the physiological and the psychological implications of sound in warfare. Sound can be used at high volume to create powerful effects on objects. The Battle of Jericho also reminds us how sound can fatigue us.