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Acoustics

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Researchers at Flinders University in Australia use sound to study soil health.
insects

How Can You Tell If Soil Is Healthy? Just Listen to It.

Ground-breaking "ecoacoustics" use underground critter concerts to monitor a hidden ecosystem.
Ayurella Horn-Muller September 9, 2024
There’s something ill-sounding about the Philadelphia prison’s corridors.
abandoned

Bump in the Night: The Rackety Reason People Think This Prison Is Haunted

Sound and electricity play all kinds of tricks at Eastern State Penitentiary.
Fayge Horesh October 4, 2023
Bambu wall
Mexico City, Mexico

Audiorama Parque España

This tiny garden was built specifically to provide a place of peace and serenity away from the busy city streets.
Video

Inside a Domed Pyramid With Astounding Acoustics and a History of Miracles

4:16
Thurgoland Tunnel.
Thurgoland, England

Thurgoland Tunnel

A repurposed railway tunnel with otherworldly acoustic characteristics.
Video • PinDrop

Step Inside the Geometrically Stunning Fingal's Cave

1:44
The Antherina suraka moth, safe under its furry coat.
science

Moth Fur Is the Ultimate Acoustic Armor

It muffles the clicks of ravenous, echolocating bats.
Matthew Taub November 9, 2018
Shell pulpit.
New Orleans, Louisiana

Scallop Shell Pulpit

The oldest operational cathedral in the U.S. has one shell of a way of projecting speakers' voices.
The song of a sacred bird echoes up the stairs if you clap your hands.
Chichen Itza, Mexico

Chichen Itza Chirp

Clap your hands at the base of the pyramid, and the song of a sacred Mayan bird will echo through the air.
The Colossi of Memnon, battered by time and accidental Roman damage.
Luxor, Egypt

Colossi of Memnon

These Egyptian statues have survived for 3,400 years and were an acoustic wonder of the ancient world.
Piazza Mercanti Milano, with the loggia on the right.
Milan, Italy

Loggia dei Mercanti Whispering Gallery

The secret medieval communication system will whisk your words above the noise of the crowd.
The Odeon of Herodes Atticus at the Acropolis of Athens.
science

Can You Really Hear a Coin Drop From the Back Row of an Ancient Greek Theater?

An acoustic study sparks a classical kerfuffle.
Natasha Frost October 20, 2017
Gwennap Pit
Cornwall, England

Gwennap Pit

The excellent acoustics of this natural amphitheater made it a popular preaching spot for the founder of the Methodist Church.
The Power Station.
New York, New York

Power Station

One of the last full-orchestra recording studios in New York City and an acoustical marvel.
Highland, Scotland

Inchindown Oil Tanks

This abandoned oil depot produces world's longest echo in a manmade structure.
The Whispering Arch
St. Louis, Missouri

Whispering Arch at Union Station

Speak to a companion on the other side of the room loud and clear through this architectural anomaly.