# Is there really a Sound that Kills? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 28, 2006, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552 "2006-08-28T17:36:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Frelling\_Tralk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecc23a/32.png) [@Frelling\_Tralk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frelling_Tralk)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/21 "2006-08-30T17:47:29Z")
> [@](#): > > I seem to remember Brainiac (a UK show a bit like Mythbusters but not as kewl) playing “brown noise” that was supposed to make your bowel evacuate - they warned you first - I turned the sound off just in case (cite above example) apparently it did work and some people had to make a run for the loo That’s interesting; I remember Mythbusters doing the same test and finding no brown note among the various tones they tested. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/22 "2006-08-30T17:48:48Z")
A woman related the story of shagging a fellow up in his bedroom, when suddenly from down below in the foyer came the sound, “Honey, I’m home.” Poor SOB dropped dead of a heart attack right there. :eek: The answer is yes. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/23 "2006-08-30T17:55:24Z")
Quoth **glee** : > [@](#): > > I thought we were supposed to be fighting ignorance? > > ANY noise includes a whisper. But it’s not loud enough. > > Do you mean that any noise that kills you is loud enough and close enough? A whisper, if it were loud enough, would kill. The fact that most whispers aren’t loud enough does not invalidate this fact. Quoth **Jackknifed Juggernaut** : > [@](#): > > Based on the responses so far, it appears that it’s not the sound that kills, it’s the movement of air. What do you think a sound is, besides movement of air? ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/24 "2006-08-30T18:04:11Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > What do you think a sound is, besides movement of air? Perhaps I misunderstood the spirit of the question, but I thought that the question was about death possibly being caused by the sensory overload from a loud sound. Thus, it would be impossible for a deaf person to die this way because he can’t hear it. ---
**Author:** ![NicePete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ee7513/32.png) [@NicePete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NicePete)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2006, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/25 "2006-08-30T21:29:21Z")
A sound that kills? Of course there is. Just read this to a German speaker: _Wenn ist das Nunstruck git und Slotermeyer? Ja!.. Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!_ ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/26 "2006-08-31T07:37:14Z")
> [@NicePete](#): > > A sound that kills? Of course there is. Just read this to a German speaker: > > _Wenn ist das Nunstruck git und Slotermeyer? Ja!.. > Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!_ AAAhhhh… _Dies laughing_😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 9:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/27 "2006-08-31T09:14:49Z")
According to the _Iliad_, Stentor died in a shouting contest with Hermes. Now I suppose someone will tell me _that’s_ a myth as well. ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/28 "2006-08-31T09:45:23Z")
But didn’t Stentor die from exhaustion, instead of the loudness of sound? ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 12:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/29 "2006-08-31T12:06:52Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > The Mythbusters caused structural damage to a car made of steel with around 160 dB. I have no difficulty at all in believing that a soft and squishy human can be physically damaged by sufficiently loud sound. Eh, if you call having the sunroof pop off its track as structural damage. The myth was busted on that episode. High decibals can’t make a car explode, high decibles didn’t even break the windows. ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2006, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/30 "2006-08-31T12:15:33Z")
> [@constanze](#): > > But didn’t Stentor die from exhaustion, instead of the loudness of sound? He did, but that rather invalidates my post. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/31 "2006-09-03T18:05:01Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Quoth **glee** :A whisper, if it were loud enough, would kill. The fact that most whispers aren’t loud enough does not invalidate this fact. My point was that saying ‘any sound can kill you if it’s loud enough and close enough’ does not provide any information. ‘Anything that kills you can kill you’ is not helpful. I don’t want to make too much of it, but are you serious that a whisper can kill? Given that a whisper is ‘barely audible’ or ‘a very soft sound without vibrating the vocal cords’, how would you die? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2006, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/32 "2006-09-03T18:59:28Z")
[QUOTE=Lobelia Overhill] I seem to remember **Brainiac** (a UK show a bit like Mythbusters but not as kewl) playing “brown noise” that was supposed to make your bowel evacuate - apparently it did work and some people had to make a run for the loo [/QUOTE] I wouldn’t take anything on Brainiac too seriously. For example that epidode is called [Brown Noise](http://www.g4tv.com/brainiac/episodes/4578/Episode_15_Brown_Noise.html). [Brown Noise](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_noise) is something completely different. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/33 "2006-09-04T00:00:03Z")
[QUOTE=Will Repair] [Another list.](http://www.makeitlouder.com/Decibel%20Level%20Chart.txt) [/QUOTE] Now _that_ is Kook Science at its best. Crazily wide-ranging, sketchily referenced, and single-spaced. Still, it’s handy knowing that a Formula 1 race car can be heard 6 miles away on a calm morning. ---
**Author:** ![SlickRoenick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@SlickRoenick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlickRoenick)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2006, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552/34 "2006-09-04T00:42:38Z")
[QUOTE=commasense] Do you suppose that it’s just a coincidence that Cecil cites the 200 dB figure and then the same number appears on _Mythbusters_, whose newest researcher is our own **Q.E.D.**? Even if **Q.E.D.** was not directly responsible (chances are that episode was produced before he started with them), it’s obvious that the MB research staff reads SD. [/QUOTE] When did Q.E.D. start doing that? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-really-a-sound-that-kills/370552.md?page=1)