Have you heard The Hum?

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8056284.stm

Fascinating article. And yes, I've heard the hum. Occasionally I've got up in the night and wandered around the house and outside trying to find what was causing it. Eventually I assumed it was a kind of tinitus as it seemed to be almost everywhere.

Interesting! There was/is the locally famous Taos hum... many folks heard it, complained about it. It used to be covered in the NM news from time to time; I haven't heard anything about it recently, but I don't pay much attention to the news these days... no TV, no radio available where I am unless it's by satellite... expensive. Anyway, they could never localized the source of the hum.

I wonder if noise cancelling headphones would work or if it is some sort of physiology like tinnitus...

I have had it since I was fifteen. For me it is not a hum but a high pitch squee in the 5 to 7 kilohertz range, which is exactly where my pitch perception is the worst (no coincidence that).

ruveyn

I thought it was the sound of the electricity? I hear it often at night... It can't be tinitus since I hear it way better at some angles than others, and anyway other family members notice it as well.

Please correct me if I’m wrong but doesn’t the human body emit a sound from bodily functions like the nervous or circulatory systems? Isn’t it possible that when there is complete silence as in a sound-proof room that these sounds would be detectable by an individual?

I think you are talking about the 'nadi' sound. It's an effect of the auditory system, I think, sort of like background static. This may be the sound that is problematic for folks with tinnitus. However, it's usually described as high pitched, and that's what I detect during meditation in the quiet. Spontaneous otoacoustic emissions:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otoacoustic_emissions

It sounds to me like 'The Hum' is more on the lower registers of sound, so it would be different.

Yes, I know of the hum. I also hear a low pitched sound that isn't really describable, maybe it's The Hum, or it's local machinery running 24/7.

Also, look up the Cape Fear booms, those are actually pretty crazy to hear, it shakes you up.

I sometimes hear it; I asked my wife just now, and same with her. As a little kid, I used to theorize that I might actually be a robot given to my parents who otherwise couldn't have children, and that the buzzing sound was my internal mechanisms . As I got older, and became more assured of my humanity, I just assumed it was just a natural auditory hallucination to fill in the silence for some reason.

one of these days I'd like to be able to hear the earth's resonant frequency. they say prisoners in London's dungeons deep below the earth could clearly hear this tone, and that it would drive them batty after a while.

Actually, I'm up late by myself, and I'm hearing it now.

I'll swap you an intermittent hum for the incessant ringing.

is this the earth's hum you are hearing?

Dunno. I actually was pretty feverish last night, even though I couldn't sleep, and so it could have been anything.

hope you're feeling better now

Thanks for asking . I am still feeling a little sick, but not nearly to the extent of last night. At one point, it felt like arctic winds were stabbing into my body, and I could barely warm up bundling beneath blankets. Later when I think my high fever broke, I couldn't sleep so I checked m emails. That's when I started getting that hum.

well hopefully it was a relatively benign bug that got you. being sick sucks. am curious, was the hum tactile?