Scientists create sound so loud it instantly boils water and bursts your heart and lungs
SCIENTISTS have created the loudest possible underwater sound – and it’s so noisy it could burst your organs.
Created by firing powerful lasers into water jets, the ear-splitting racket was twice as loud as a Motörhead concert.
It was so powerful that it can boil water, and if played through earphones would rupture your eardrums, heart and lungs.
The research was carried out at Stanford University in California.
High-powered X-ray lasers were blasted into a jet of water about half the width of a human hair.
The high energy rays, shot in short pulses, instantly vaporised the water molecules around them.
This sent a shockwave through the water jet, creating a sound pressure equivalent to 270 decibels.
That’s twice as loud as an airhorn set off next to your ear, and well over double the 120 decibels reached during the average Motörhead concert.
If you were to ever experience the sound directly, earplugs wouldn’t help as your eardrums would burst.
Fortunately for the researchers, the test was performed in a vacuum chamber, so they couldn’t hear it.
They say the noise sets a new record for how intense sound can be in water.
The study was published in the journal Physical Review Fluids.
TOP STORIES IN SCIENCE
In other laser news, the US military wants £225million to start testing satellite-mounted lasers.
No country currently has any official space-based weapons, but plenty have been theorised.
China has upgraded its space technology recently, with US analysts suggesting they already have laser-based weapons capable of crippling American defences.
Would you give the mega-sound a listen? Let us know in the comments!
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.