You Can’t Always Hear What Hertz You

Worse Than Rap Music
Infrasound and ultrasound have been in the news, most recently posited as the cause of strange symptoms at the Cuban embassy. The next time you hear about this, it could be much closer to home as researchers have discovered many speakers can be coaxed into producing harmful, undetectable sounds be they smart or dumb. In some cases they speakers can be subject to electronic overload and start to melt.
The Inquirer lists headphones, a vehicle-mounted PA system, smartphones, laptops and smart speakers as being vulnerable though thankfully not all could be manipulated remotely. Sounds that are undetectable and yet can permanently damage your hearing are not science fiction, and though we are not going to see Spider Jerusalem’s bowel disruptor any time soon it might be time for manufactures to ensure speakers can’t produce noises that far beyond the range humans can actually hear.
The researchers were able to take on a bunch of devices including headphones, a vehicle-mounted PA system, smartphones, laptops and smart speakers, though Wixey has sensibly refused to reveal exactly which models he had success with.
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