This morning, the New York Times reported that scientists have caused Helium to whistle. They cooled it to -456 degrees F and pushed it through a grid containing 4.225 holes. Listening with headphones, an experimenter “…heard a pure clear tone like a pennywhistle, with the pitch changing with the pressure applied…”
There are practical applications – gyroscopes, measuring the earth’s wobble, etc.
The article in the paper refers you to the online Times article to hear the whistle but which then provides this link where you can read more, and actually hear the helium doing its stuff. So, if you’re not registered with the NYT, you may go directly to
No, only kidding about the “No spoilers!” and no again, I have never before used that phrase. It was just something inane to say about a topic of which I had zero comprehension.
