
A ‘Sonic Attack’ on Diplomats in Cuba? Some Scientists Doubt It - ezhil
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/05/science/cuba-sonic-weapon.html
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AliAdams
Take this as a fairly baseless comment but my reading of analyses around the
original incident seemed to be saying that it was closer to microwaves than
sonic waves. The side effect of the exposure was that targets had the illusion
of hearing sound.

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tomalpha
I too thought that - especially given that it's (I think) a well known
phenomemon:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_auditory_effect](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_auditory_effect)

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vectorEQ
scientists deal in doubt these days and it gets into nytimes. great.
scientific method ftw... this comment might be baseless, but it's about as
baseless as the article itself. i'd like to see for once again that scientists
'prove' something with maticulous research and evidence. not some educated
guesses based on theories yet to be fully proven.

“I’d say it’s fairly implausible,” <\-- is that the only comment? Why does he
say that? Really?

“The data is very slim,” said Timothy Leighton <\-- what data? enlighten us?

“If you’re talking about a ray-gun rifle knocking out someone with ultrasound
they can’t hear at a hundred meters — that’s not going to happen,” said Dr.
Leighton. <\-- it's not? Why not? What experiments proved this to be ill
effective?

These people have degrees ? Bought at wallmart?

If a mysterious high-tech ultrasound weapon were used, it ought to have been
easy to get the evidence while the attack was underway, Dr. Garrett said.
Cellphone microphones are often sensitive to ultrasonic sound, he noted, and
commonly available iPhone apps could have revealed it. <\--- kind of depends
on what frequency you are emitting doesnt it?? cellphone frequencies are
within a specific band.. do all ultrasonic frequencies influence these? i
doubt it!

as usual with these scientists, no reference to any research or sources is
given. Superb!

 _breathe_

edit: somewhat sensible scientist, atleast gives a bit of a broad comment
which isn't bad, though it adds nothing of value ofcourse!

“I believe those people got something that hurt them,” said Dr. Qin. “But it
could be something in the environment.” The possibilities include toxins, or
bacterial or viral infections, that can damage hearing.

yay science "something did something and it had some effect".

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dang
> _These people have degrees ? Bought at wallmart?_

The trouble with comments like this is not that you're wrong—there's a chance
you're right and really do know better than the people you're criticizing. But
when you post like this, you make your comment indistinguishable from random
internet detritus. In a way it doesn't matter if you're right, because that
would only encourage the internet bullshitters to post more, and lord knows
there are 99.9+ of them for every 1 of you.

