posted 07-25-2001 08:01 AM            

A mysterious hum, similar to one reported in Taos nine years ago, has turned up recently in Kokomo, Ind., where dozens of people say it is making them sick.

Like the Taos hum, the Kokomo one has produced a cluster of people who say they are bothered by unexplained, low-frequency vibrations.


People elsewhere in the United States and in other industrialized countries have complained about similar vibrations.

"Yesterday, it had me completely knocked out," Winona Whitted of Santa Fe said on July 16. "All I could do is just (lie) there in a microwave coma."

Like many other hum hearers, Whitted participates in Internet discussions where theories about the source of such hums range from UFOs, military-industrial plots, secret experiments, electric-power plants and cellular telephones to natural phenomena, hysterical paranoia, drug use, hypochondria and differences in how we perceive sound.

In June, the Kokomo Tribune ran a five-part series plus an editorial based on interviews with about 40 locals who said they began hearing or feeling "a low-pitched droning" about two years ago.

Steve Kozarovich, a Tribune assistant editor whose wife wrote the series, said that since publication, others have called to say they too hear a low-pitched sound.

"Almost immediately after the noise began, nearly every resident reported having chronic and severe headaches, were awakened several times at night and were fatigued," wrote Lisa Hurt Kozarovich, a free-lancer. "About 30 residents said they were also nauseated and had other symptoms - the most common being pressure or ringing in their ears, chronic joint pain, dizziness, depression and diarrhea."

One of those interviewed for the article was Kathie Sickles of Greentown, Ind., a city of 45,000 located 10 miles east of Kokomo, who said she began feeling a low vibration in late 1999.

"When the paperwork (documenting the vibration) was first brought to me and I read it, I knew immediately what had plagued my house," she said in a recent interview. "You can feel it here. We have bedrooms that vibrate. We have people with patios that vibrate by the back door."

Sickles has formed a group called Our Environment to investigate what she believes is an environmental condition from heavy industrialization in north-central Indiana.

"Some people think they (people troubled by the vibration) are crazy," she said.

The Kokomo hum, which Sickles said has been measured at 10 to 30 hertz (or cycles per second), appears to cause maladies worse than the sleep deprivation and irritability reported in New Mexico almost a decade ago.

In the summer of 1992, a half dozen Taoseños said a low-pitched buzz was keeping them awake at night. Bob and Catanya Saltzman, who lived south of Taos, hired an acoustical engineer who reported a tone of 17 hertz with a harmonic rising to 70 hertz near the area. The low range of human hearing is 20 to 30 hertz.

Bill Richardson, a Democratic U.S. congressman for Northern New Mexico at the time, stirred up speculation in early 1993 when he said the hum could be defense related. Two months later, U.S. Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said the Pentagon had assured him there was no defense involvement.

Scientists and engineers organized by the University of New Mexico set up acoustical, seismic and electro-magnetic instruments near the Saltzmans' home in May 1993. But the report issued that August failed to pinpoint any source or isolate the exact vibration, which was said to be between 30 and 80 hertz.

The study estimated that two percent of Taos County's population heard the vibration.

The Taos hum became an instant news story, drawing such diverse media as the Wall Street Journal and the cable-TV show Sightings.

Nevertheless, publicity about the hum died out, and it became a joke around Taos. A California rock band took the name - the Taos Hum - and the Range Cafe in Bernalillo named a dessert for the phenomenon.

Taos residents who first complained of a hum have left the area or simply stopped trying to solve the mystery.

Bob Saltzman, an art photographer, and his wife, Catanya, a professional dancer, moved the next year to Baja California where, they said, they did not hear a hum.

Another couple, Paul Loumena and Alexandra Lorraine, sold their Laughing Horse Inn in Taos and also moved away.

Taos-hum hearer Sara Allen, an engineer with KTAO radio in Taos, says she continues to hear it but suffers no severe symptoms and no longer tries to do anything about it.

"We didn't get any real satisfaction or any real interest," Allen said. "I have my own theories about it that I've expounded on many times, and I still believe them. I think it affects people who don't sense it, too. They're just lucky."

She believes the hum is from military-communication signals.

Shatzie Hubbell, who lived on Canyon Road in Santa Fe, where, she said, she was bothered by a vibration, moved to a ranch near Fort Worth, Texas. There, she added, she no longer sensed it. Hubbell has posted a map on a Seattle-based Web site (eskimo.com) showing the locations of 368 hum hearers, grouped generally on the East and West Coasts, the Rocky Mountains and upper Midwest.

Low-frequency sounds also have been reported in other parts of the world, including one case in the early 1960s and again in the late 1980s in southern England, as well as in Sweden, South Africa and Australia.

That's no comfort for those who live with the sound.

"It's horrible. It's killing me," said Whitted, who lives on Airport Road in Santa Fe. "I went to see my doctor about a year ago, and I told him that I just couldn't make it any longer. I'm just in so much pain. And he gave me a prescription for an antidepressant, not for its antidepressant qualities, but because it helps with what they call undefined pain and a lack of sleep."

David Deming, an associate professor of geology at the University of Oklahoma, said he believes the hum is caused by ELF, or extra-low-frequency radio signals, used for communications between submarines and aircraft.

The signals use antennae buried in the upper peninsula of Michigan and in Wisconsin, though Deming said its headquarters are at Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City, about 20 miles from Norman.

Deming said when he began sensing the low-frequency vibrations in 1994, he thought it was something in his neighborhood. But, after he and his wife moved to a new house a few miles from Norman, both began hearing it. He said it often is at its worst late at night, just before he hears the engine sounds of an airplane overhead.

After the Norman Transcript published an article about their experiences, Deming said, they heard from dozens of other people bothered by the same thing.

"I'm normally not a person who is worried about that sort of thing," he said.

"I live underneath power lines. I use a cell phone all the time. But at times when it's most intense and painful, what scares me is the ignorance. We don't know what causes it and what the effects are."

But Deming said he had stopped participating in the Internet discussion groups because "it attracts the misinformation people - the kooks."

posted 09-09-2002 03:31 PM            

I've been in car audio for almost 20 years...and put together many systems that had a resonance frequency in the 20 to 60 hertz range...

and you've obviously been a "richard noggin" all your life...apparently...

a brief tutorial on sound...

humans can hear sounds from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.... any sound that has a frequency below 20 Hz is called infrasonic...any sound that has a frequency above 20,000 Hz is called ultrasonic....dogs can hear sounds up to 50,000 Hz...bats can hear sounds up to 130,000 Hz...20 is more of a feel...

if that does not burst your bubble here's a nice sony deck with a frequency response of 10 to 20,000...a little pricey though...

http://www.speedsound.com/sonycdreceivers.html

get your facts straight...bub...

posted 09-09-2002 03:43 PM            

doing the backstroke again eh theta......oh and btw, if you continually keep sticking your foot in your mouth....your going to get athelete's tongue !

one more time theta...

>>>>humans can hear sounds from 20 Hz to 20,000 Hz.... any sound that has a frequency below 20 Hz is called infrasonic...any sound that has a frequency above 20,000 Hz is called ultrasonic....dogs can hear sounds up to 50,000 Hz...bats can hear sounds up to 130,000 Hz...20 is more of a feel...<<<<

sheesh...

posted 09-09-2002 04:12 PM            

quote:

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doing the backstroke again eh theta......oh and btw, if you continually keep sticking your foot in your mouth....your going to get athelete's tongue !

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Seeker, your empty claims didn't mean anything two weeks ago, and they don't mean anything now. Now, if you would care to comment on the relevance of sensory adaptation, I'd be glad to hear it. ROFL. Until then you can save your shallow proclaimations and pseudo-science.

quote:

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20 is more of a feel...<<<<

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pseudo science

posted 09-09-2002 04:26 PM            

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But, these levels aren't constants. What a human perceives as loud or soft depends on the frequency as well as the intensity of the sound. The graph below displays intensity levels compared with the frequencies for sounds of equal loudness for humans. The bottom line is the threshold of hearing. At a 1 kHz frequency, the hearing threshold is 0 dB, but at 60 Hz the decibel level is 50. Only one percent of all human beings can hear sounds this low, so, the lower line is mainly for those with very good hearing. The next line up is the hearing threshold for the majority of people. The top line is the pain threshold. Other than at one point, about 4 kHz, this line varies little. All of the other lines also dip down at 4 kHz. We can gather from this graph, then, that the human ear is most sensitive at about 4 kHz.

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posted 09-09-2002 04:40 PM            

>>>there is no such thing as 20 hertz<<<

and then :

>>>>I agree that the hearing threshold is around 20 cycles per second (or hertz <<<<

good...glad you learned you lesson...

thermit...where do you get these people ?

posted 09-09-2002 04:50 PM            

Seeker = OWNED

You see there really is no such thing as 20 hertz. Most pseudo scientists, like yourself, believe that the lower end of the spectrum is measured in hertz. The only reason I provided a reference in hz is so your feeble mind would be able to comprehend what I was saying. But that's obvious. And it's also obvious that it went right over your head. Not suprising. Seeker, get an education. ROFL.

posted 09-10-2002 01:53 AM            

serious audiophiles and *older folk* know what I sayin'...

tubular bells anyone ?

posted 09-10-2002 03:03 AM            

OK, I'm going back on topic.

Alpha did provide a link to the Kokomo Tribune and one article did get my attention.

Low frequency can kill

Publication date: Sunday, June 24, 2001

By LISA HURT KOZAROVICH

Kokomo Tribune

If the idea that low-frequency sound waves can make you sick seems a little farfetched, consider this -- the U.S. military has already built prototypes of weapons that use sound waves to injure and kill, according to an in-depth report on the so-called "non-lethal weapons" in the July 7, 1997, edition of U.S. News and World Report magazine.

"Acoustic or sonic weapons can vibrate the insides of humans to stun them, nauseate them or even 'liquefy their bowels and reduce them to a diarreahic mess,'" the report says, attributing the quote to a Pentagon briefing.

And in 1998, the Discovery Channel aired a show titled, "Shoot Not to Kill - Non-Lethal Weapons," that discussed how federal law enforcement agencies were developing similar weapons to be used for crowd control.

In fact, there's even a disease named for illnesses caused by intense low-frequency noise. Vibroacoustic disease can contribute to fatigue, headaches, dizziness, heart disease, ulcers, seizures and hearing loss and psychiatric symptoms including noise intolerance, verbal and physical aggressiveness and even suicide. Often times, aviation workers, even flight attendants, end their careers disabled by the disease.

In other words, there's no debate that noise can cause serious and even deadly effects if it's intense enough. What's not well understood is the health effects caused by low- intensity sound.

Low-frequency sound is all around us, in natural forms such as earthquakes and waterfalls and in man-made forms through vehicles, aircraft, industrial machinery and explosions.

While it may sound somewhat harmless, it's considered the "superpower of the frequency range [because it is] less attenuated by walls and other structures; it can rattle walls and objects; it masks higher frequencies more than it is masked by them; it crosses great distances with little energy loss; ear protection devices are much less effective against it; it is able to produce resonance in the human body; and it causes great subjective reactions [in the laboratory and in the community studies] and to some extent physiological reactions in humans than mid- and high-frequencies," according to a May 1996 report by the Acoustical Society of America.

"These features dictate that the effects of low-frequency noise deserve independent attention," the report concluded.

Dr. Ryszard Panuszka, a visiting professor at Purdue University and an expert in the field of low-frequency noise, couldn't agree more.

"Low frequency sounds can cause headaches, tiredness, neurological disorders, ear ringing, heart palpitations, shaking hands É it can affect pacemakers É and if someone is already ill, this can be more dangerous for them," said Panuszka, a professor of vibroacoustics at Staszic University in Krakow, Poland. Currently, Panuszka is conducting further research into how low-frequency waves can alter brain waves and impact the central nervous system.

"My research shows that most biological effects on humans are from below 10 hertz," Panuszka said, pointing out that the majority of people can't hear the low-frequency noise until it reaches levels of about 20 hertz. "We need to take very seriously the effects below 10 hertz." Hertz is the unit used to measure frequency; one hertz means one vibration per second.

But scientists haven't reached an agreement on what levels of low-frequency sound it takes to cause health problems. Some report that the levels must be very intense, such as standing beside a jet engine for a period of time, while others say long-term exposure to very low levels can cause serious damage. There are studies dating back at least 25 years, but the evidence remains sketchy and debatable.

It has only been in the last decade that sophisticated equipment to test very low-frequency sounds has been developed, leading to more of an interest in studying the issue, Panuszka said.

The fact that a rapidly increasing number of people from around the world -- in New Mexico, New Hampshire, England, Japan, Switzerland, Australia, to name a few -- have been complaining that low-frequency noise is making them sick has captured the attention of researchers. Most of the complaints are nearly identical to those being made by Kokomo residents.

The issue of just what damage low-frequency waves can cause has also been addressed in the courts and by Congress.

The most high profile case has involved demands by the government in Puerto Rico that the U.S. Navy cease bombing exercises on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques. A Puerto Rican government report said that 49 of 50 Vieques residents who volunteered for a medical study were found to have a thickening of the sack surrounding the heart, a symptom of vibroacoustic disease. The Navy disputes that the noise levels are harmful.

Currently, the Navy is facing a lawsuit filed by the Ocean Mammal Institute to stop using low-frequency communication sonar in the waters off Hawaii. The suit is based on reports that the intense levels of low-frequency sound being used underwater is wreaking havoc with marine life and severely injured at least one recreational swimmer.

Also at issue has been the Navy's Extremely Low Frequency Communication Systems, which transmits low-frequency waves from bases in Michigan and Wisconsin to submarines. In 1998, a Wisconsin senator asked Congress to close the facilities, saying they weren't necessary in the post Cold-War era and that for two decades Congress had received inconclusive data on how the project affected the health of residents in those states.

According to the Congressional record, in 1984 a U.S. District Court ordered the Wisconsin facility shut down because the Navy had paid inadequate attention to the system's possible health effects and violated national environmental policy. That decision was later overturned due to national security reasons.

posted 09-10-2002 01:26 PM            

You can rely on scientific reports exclusively from the public domain if that is your prerogative. I am not confident in doing so as there is no question a great deal of informatin has been suppressed and altered. Maybe you can't comprehend that. That's your choice and accordingly your ignorance. Tell me, Thermit, are you familiar with quaternion mathematics?

frequencies are measured Hertz which is equivalent to cycles per sec. variably. the first part of the scale are non-linear, asymmetrical waves, which are mistakingly called Hertzian by many people. You see, if you measure these waves in hertz, and true cycles per second, you will not come to the same conclusion. Try it for yourself. I already have.

conservation laws of physics.
In the 1960's the Hertz (Hz) replaced Cycles Per Second. Since, then everyone thinks that all electromagnetic waves are hertzian. Only the upper portion of the spectrum before Infra- red contains Hertzian waves. ELF and ULF are not; waves in biosystems and natural phenomena are not Hertzian in nature.

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Our brains operate on waves that are very low frequency (from one cycle per second) to about 50 cycles per second. A cycle per second is called a Hertz (Hz). Due to the wide range of different amplitudes and frequencies it has been more practical to induce various measuring units.

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It would be nice if all the measuring units could be done in feet or meters or whatever, but the range in size from the very tiny to the very large means that they use different measuring units. Just like you use different measuring units to get a quart of milk and 3 gallons of gas. The milk could be called a quarter-gallon but it isn't. In measuring frequency they use the following measuring terms:

1,000,000 cycles per second = Megahertz (MHz)
1,000 cycles per second = Kilohertz (KHz)
1 cycle per second = Hertz (Hz)

In measuring amplitude they measure the length of the waves with kilometers, meters, and centimeters. The very small waves are measured in angstroms, microns, and nanometers. What is an angstrom. A nanometer is one billionth of a meter. That is a very tiny fraction written as 1/1,000,000,000 of a meter or for short an nanometer.

Finally I don't need to question my own knowledge. I have verified most of this, empirically. I really don't care what you believe. What I am saying is the truth. You can respond by requesting a "CNN" link, or you can simply take my words out of context in attempt to manipulate perception, much like your good friend Seeker. I really don't care.

And as far as your good friend Seeker, his repeated trivialisation and antagonisation is apparent and speaks for itself. But you dare not question that, do you? Finally seeing some true colors shining through, eh? One CAN learn a great deal for what is NOT said, as opposed to what is. Perhaps something to be more cautious of in the future.

The FACT is that anything under 60 cycles per second is subject to sensory adaptation.
.

A-T: MS Psychology; University of Oklahoma; 2000

(I'd be happy to see your credentials, you too Seeker)

Perhaps some people are better off at just sticking exclusively to meteorological analysis of 'contrails'. trans parency

Don't realize what I'm talking about? allow me to explain:

Using information to change behaviour is nothing new; Individuals influence one another through words. Institutions of learning influence students through formal educations. Governments and commercial enterprises influence the masses through propanda and advertising.

Perception management is pervasive in any contemporary society. The intent of a speicific attempt to manage perceptions is not always clear. Some management is for the good of the recipient: Education is benign, for example, but the intent of propoganda is a little fuzzier. The propagator often believes that the message is true, but the presentation is designed to persuade.

Now what we have here in the form of Seekers and Thermit's response comes from using misleading or false statements. Even if the intent is to benefit the recipients, such as to persuade them to vote for a particular issue, some form of manipulation to serve the propagators' personal agenda is involved. (such as looking exclusivey towards meteorology or claiming ELF can effectively be measured in 'hertz') This effectively trivialises and negates independent thought and the ability to look at the situation objectively.

posted 09-10-2002 03:48 PM            

Seeker claims I hijacked this thread. He claims that I am responsible for taking it off topic. But do me a favor. Read through the entire thread. My initial comment was a direct response to seekers claims of a measurment concluding 20-60 hertz. However, I am simply trying to point out that although this may be effective for measuring car audio, it simply cannot fully or effectively measure the true potential of ELF.

Now The Seeker is the one who drug this thread to 'car audio'. Not I. Re-read the thread. Such petty defamation gets old quick. Seeker has no leg to stand on. The issue hear is not the HUM necessarily, but its cause and effect (or affect even). I will not continue to participate in Seeker's infantile games, for I have enough confidence that any intelligent person can correctly interpret the truth here-in.

Dan previously stated:

quote:

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OK, I'm going back on topic.

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The article he posted immediately thereafter concluded:

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"These features dictate that the effects of low-frequency noise deserve independent attention," the report concluded.

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The point is:
I never went off topic. Have a Nice Day

posted 09-11-2002 12:41 AM            

WHATEVER! I think the important thing here is that a low level audio noise is being detected and can't be conclusively identified.

Does anyone have any info on the investigation into the source of the hum?

posted 09-11-2002 12:50 AM            

But believe whatever you want. ROFL. Just try thinking about it first next time. Or at least directly address my claims instead of only dismissing them. Go watch TV.

Oh yes, and it must also be coincidence that ELF is known to have covert military applications and accordingly much information about THE ENTIRE LOWER END OF THE SPECTRUM is still classified. Yawn. I hate to have to say it but you're own of those people who wouldn't know relativity if it smacked you upside your head.

Definition of your positive diagnosis:

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sycophant

\Syc"o*phant\, v. t. [CF. L. sycophantari to deceive, to trick, Gr. ?.]

1. To inform against; hence, to calumniate. [Obs.]

Sycophanting and misnaming the work of his adversary. --Milton.

2. To play the sycophant toward; to flatter obsequiously.

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