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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Hum | 1/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hum | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T03:09:15.697087+00:00 | kb-cron |
The Hum is a persistent and invasive low-frequency humming, rumbling, or droning noise audible to many, but not all, people in an area. Hums have been reported in many countries, including Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States. They are sometimes named according to the locality where the problem has been particularly publicized, such as the "Taos Hum" in New Mexico and the "Windsor Hum" in Ontario. The Hum does not appear to be a single phenomenon. Different causes have been attributed, including local mechanical sources, often from industrial plants, as well as manifestations of tinnitus or other biological auditory effects.
== Description == A 1973 report cites a university study of fifty cases of people complaining about a "low throbbing background noise" that others were unable to hear. The sound, always peaking between 30 and 40 Hz (hertz), was found to only be heard during cool weather with a light breeze, and often early in the morning. These noises were often confined to a 10-kilometre (6 mi) wide area. For some who are capable of hearing it, The Hum can be a disturbing phenomenon, which has been linked to at least three suicides in the United Kingdom.
=== The Ultimate Hum === A study into the Taos Hum in the early 1990s in Taos, New Mexico indicated that at least two percent could hear it, each hearer at a different frequency between 32 and 80 Hz, modulated from 0.5 to 2 Hz. Similar results have been found in an earlier British study. It seems possible for hearers to move away from it, with one hearer of the Taos Hum reporting its range was 30 miles (48 km). There are approximately equal percentages of male and female hearers. Age does appear to be a factor, with middle-aged people more likely to hear it.
=== Auckland Hum === In 2006, Tom Moir, then of Massey University in Auckland, New Zealand, made several recordings that appeared to be the Auckland Hum. His previous research using simulated sounds had indicated that the hum was around 56 hertz.
=== Windsor Hum === In late 2011, residents of Windsor, Ontario, began reporting a low droning vibration, sometimes loud enough to be irritating (one evening in 2012 saw 22,000 reports to officials). It was estimated that the sound was emanating from Zug Island, a heavily industrialized section of River Rouge on the north bank of the Detroit River (which separates Windsor and Detroit). Canadian officials requested US assistance in determining the source, but local authorities were stymied by official refusals to allow access to the island. A steel mill operated by U.S. Steel was the possible cause, but officials stated that no new equipment had been installed or activated around the time that the noise became noticeable. When the blast furnaces were deactivated in April 2020, the noise went away as well.
=== Other === In 2021, hums were reported in Frankfurt and Darmstadt, in Germany. A year later, multiple sources for the hum were identified in Darmstadt: two faulty air conditioner units, a faulty heat pump, and three structural noise protection measures on energy generation plants. In 2022, hums were reported in St. Louis County, Missouri and surrounding areas. In 2023, a hum was reported in Omagh in Northern Ireland. In November 2025, citizens of Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada reported a low mechanical humming which one resident described as "repetitive and random". Yukon Energy, who were using diesel generators due to lower than usual hydropower during that season, issued a statement saying that it was "unlikely" that the sound of their generators could reach distant neighborhoods.
== Possible explanations ==
=== High-pressure gas pipelines === Industrial-facilities mechanical engineer Steve Kohlhase spent $30,000 on legal fees and equipment related to his independent investigation of the low-frequency hum. Garret Harkawiks' 2019 documentary film Doom Vibrations focused on Kohlhase's ten year journey to figure out what was causing the noise, and his theory behind it. In all reported cases Kohlhase studied, he said that the locations were along high-pressure gas pipelines, or at least in close proximity to them.
=== Background sounds === In 2009, the head of audiology at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge, David Baguley, said he believed people's problems with the hum were based on the physical world about one-third of the time, and stemmed from people focusing too keenly on innocuous background sounds the other two-thirds of the time. Baguley said for example the noise can be attributed to environmental causes, such as industrial machinery at a nearby factory or an industrial fan. But he also found that the majority of cases remain unexplained. Baguley said, "I think most people view the hum as a fringe belief because it's so subjective — people say they hear something that most people can't hear. But when you look at the vast number of people who say they hear it, it's obvious that there's something going on." Baguley also theorizes that peoples' hearing has become overly sensitive.