Popular Science: The Noise Issue

Unexplained hums, rings, and rumbles. Space screams, crying babies, and a lot of explosions. Howling monkeys, off-the-charts amplifiers, and the rowdiest dang frog on earth.

For the Noise issue, we searched this planet and the far-out universe—and right under our noses—for the most awesome sonic phenomena, a reality living right alongside our own, screaming for attention. It has ours now.

- Editor-in-Chief Joe Brown

Before we get into the stories, have a listen to our Table of Contents. The sheet music and methodology can be found in your printed Noise issue.

The Stories:

Hidden hearing loss is hitting people of all ages. Neuroscientists are still debating why.
Those affected can hear all right, but when it’s noisy, they can’t understand.
Sarah ScolesJanuary 21, 2020
Three options for adding surround sound to your home theater
The immersive experience makes a big difference.
Stan HoraczekJanuary 15, 2020
This frog’s signature chirp can be heavenly or hellish
As the coquí invades new states and islands, it brings its rowdy evening soundtrack with it.
Eleanor CumminsJanuary 15, 2020
The Sims’ language has surprisingly scientific origins
Robi Kauker helped improvise a nonsense vocabulary for the popular game. The process was ‘stupid hard.’
By Marion RenaultJanuary 13, 2020
Inside the extraordinary experiment to save the Stradivarius sound
An entire town went quiet so the world’s most iconic violin could be immortalized.
By Chuck SquatrigliaJanuary 10, 2020
Humans have been recording sound since before they could play it back
It’s taken us quite a few years to learn how to capture audio accurately.
Eleanor CumminsJanuary 9, 2020
Four whistles and instruments you can use to call wildlife
Classic options will still work wonders for summoning deer and fowl.
By John KennedyJanuary 7, 2020
I built a room so quiet you can hear your own blood
Steve Orfield tests products in a super-insulated, reverb-free chamber to understand how loud the world is.
Eleanor CumminsJanuary 6, 2020
Excellent earplugs for everyday situations
Know what you’re squishing into your holes.
By John KennedyJanuary 3, 2020
Unlocking the mysterious ecstasy of ASMR—and its agonizing cousin
The seemingly opposite conditions of autonomous sensory meridian response and misophonia could have quite a lot in common.
Eleanor CumminsDecember 18, 2019
Essential gear to start your own podcast studio
Now is a perfect time to test the power of your voice. Here are four must-haves to make it sound great.
Jason LedermanNovember 22, 2019
Meet the man who restores old music to its original glory
Pete Hutchison’s Electric Recording Co. uses era-specific gear to reissue records the way they were meant to be heard.
Stan HoraczekNovember 22, 2019
Why you’re powerless to ignore a crying baby
Infants can hijack their parents’ brains with every scream (for survival).
Sara ChodoshNovember 21, 2019
What we learn from noisy signals from deep space
There’s an art to finding insights in cosmic static—and the experts at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory are perfecting it.
Ryan BradleyNovember 21, 2019

Stories will be added to this page as they are published online. Keep checking back!