DEFY S. McQUAID! #72: Killer Sound

The Question

Meghan asks:

Can sound kill?

The Answer

Yes! Sound can indeed kill. And here’s how.

Let’s talk about the different kinds of sonic weaponry. One of the prevailing sonic weapons that people hear about are the kind that generates an extremely low frequency reverberation, which is called subsonics. This weaponry generates a sound wave of less than 20 Hz, which is in tune with the resonant frequency of the organs in the human body and can cause them to vibrate. Intensify the energy of this sound wave, and you’ll get nausea, pain, loss of balance, and other severe discomfort. Intensify it enough, and there is the possibility that your organs could rupture.

It is known that the frequency of 0.56 Hz is the resonant frequency of the human eyeball, so a powerful enough emitter could cause your eyeballs to vibrate (blurred vision, general unease, etc).

Another type of sonic weapon is based on underwater sound waves. Generally, air is not a good enough conductor of sound to allow its use as a weapon. However, underwater, it’s a different story. It’s a known fact that running navigational sonar at high amplitudes can cause attacking frogmen to become disoriented, panicked, and deter them from an attack. Finally, the use of ultrasound to disintegrate solids in water is known, and could potentially be used as a weapon.

In general, the best practice is to stay away from loud, subsonic noises in the air, and away from attacking frogmen in the sea.