AAW02 The Mystery Hum Did We Come From Mars

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NASA Thinks Alien Life on Jupiter s Moon Europa is Likely geological evidence of subsurface oceans on Saturn s moon Titan has some NASA scientists convinced that the conditions necessary to create and sustain alien life could be present on the frozen moon More exciting is the news coming out of the study of Europa a tiny ocean-covered moon of Jupiter NASA has discovered a wealth of data about conditions on Europa that has some astronomers speculating that Europa s cold deep oceans might harbor life near the moon s warm core Senate Bill to Stop Bigfoot Hunting A senator from New Mexico has drafted and sponsored a bill to make it illegal for public funds to be used in the hunting of Bigfoot The bill is in response to a trip taken by attendees of a University of New Mexico conference who explored the local wilderness seeking bigfoot The professor charged nearly 7000 to the university for this field trip Did we Come From Mars Grant and Matt Discuss the Possibility that our life as we know it started on Mars The Hum The Hum is a phenomenon or collection of phenomena involving widespread reports of a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming rumbling or droning noise not audible to all people Hums have been widely reported by national media in the UK and the United States The classic description is that the Hum sounds like a car or truck engine idling outside your home or down the block Some people describe it as a low rumbling or droning sound It is louder at night than during the day and louder indoors than outdoors The sound can usually be masked by background noise such as a fan Reports in Kokomo IN In 2000 one hum-afflicted Kokomo resident hired an acoustic engineer to test for low-frequency noise The engineer Angelo Campanella who runs his own acoustic consultancy firm and holds a doctorate in physics and electrical engineering found a low-frequency noise in the woman s home but at a relatively low level The level that is there is right at the threshold of perception around 60 decibels Campanella says The vibration Campanella detected would be considered a borderline problem according to some scales and on other scales would be below problematic levels says another acoustic engineer Paul Schomer who reviewed the data In the case of Kokomo Indiana a city with heavy industry the origin of the hum was thought to have been traced to two sources The first was a 36-hertz tone from a cooling tower at the local DaimlerChrysler casting plant and the second was a 10-hertz tone from an air compressor intake at the Haynes International plant After those devices were corrected however reports of the hum persisted Tinnitus A suggested diagnosis of tinnitus a self-reported disturbance of the auditory system is used by some physicians in response to complaints about the Hum Tinnitus is generated internally by the auditory and nervous systems with no external stimulus However the theory that the Hum is actually tinnitus fails to explain why some hearers report that the Hum can be heard only at certain geographical locations While the Hum is hypothesized by some to be a form of low frequency tinnitus such as the venous hum some sufferers claim it is not internal being worse inside their homes than outside However others insist that it is equally bad indoors and outdoors Some people notice the Hum only at home while others hear it everywhere they go Some sufferers report that it is made worse by soundproofing e g double glazing which serves only to decrease other environmental noise thus making the Hum more apparent Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions Human ears generate their own noises called spontaneous otoacoustic emissions SOAE Various studies have showed that 38 60 of adults with normal hearing have them although the majority are unaware of these sounds The people who do hear these sounds typically hear a faint buzzing or ringing especially if they are otherwise in complete silence Researchers who looked at the Taos Hum considered otoacoustic emissions as a possibility and eventually concluded that this was likely the case Fish One of the possible causes of the West Seattle Hum considered was that it was related to the midshipman fish also known as a toadfish A previous hum in Sausalito California also on the west coast of the United States was determined to be the mating call of the male midshipman However in that case the hum was resonating through houseboat hulls and affecting the people living on those boats In the West Seattle case the University of Washington researcher determined that it would be impossible for any resonating hum transmitted via tanker or boat hulls to be transmitted very far inland certainly not far enough to account for the reports The Scottish Association for Marine Science hypothesised that the nocturnal humming sound heard in Hythe Hampshire in the UK could be produced by a similar sonic fish The council believed this to be unlikely because such fish are not commonly found in inshore waters of the UK As of February 2014 the source had not been located although the sound has now been recorded Click here to visit this podcast episode