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Computer Scientists May Have Solved the Mystery Behind the ‘Sonic Attacks’ in Cuban Embassy

posted by mrpg on Wednesday March 07 2018, @05:40AM   Printer-friendly
from the I-hear-you dept.

PastTense writes:

"A team of computer scientists from the University of Michigan may have solved the mystery behind strange sounds heard by American diplomats in Havana, who later suffered a variety of medical disorders.

Professor Kevin Fu and members of the Security and Privacy Research Group at the University of Michigan say they have an explanation for what could have happened in Havana: two sources of ultrasound — such as listening devices — placed too close together could generate interference and provoke the intense sounds described by the victims."

Original URL:
Computer scientists may have solved the mystery behind the ‘sonic attacks’ in Cuba

This is an update of previous stories here:
US Embassy Employees in Cuba Possibly Subjected to 'Acoustic Attack'
U.S. State Department Pulls Employees From Cuba, Issues Travel Warning Due to "Sonic Attacks"
A ‘Sonic Attack’ on Diplomats in Cuba? These Scientists Doubt It

Original Submission

 
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Computer Scientists May Have Solved the Mystery Behind the ‘Sonic Attacks’ in Cuban Embassy | Log In/Create an Account | Top | 11 comments | Search Discussion
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  • (Score: 2) by takyon on Wednesday March 07 2018, @06:16AM (1 child)

    by takyon (881) <{takyon} {at} {soylentnews.org}> on Wednesday March 07 2018, @06:16AM (#648899) Journal

    Warning: Contains acoustic vibrations that may cause severe brain damage. [youtube.com]

    --
    [SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday March 07 2018, @08:38AM

      by c0lo (156) on Wednesday March 07 2018, @08:38AM (#648927) Journal

      The warning is warranted.

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0

  • (Score: 1) by tftp on Wednesday March 07 2018, @06:24AM (5 children)

    by tftp (806) on Wednesday March 07 2018, @06:24AM (#648900) Homepage
    First, why the listening devices suddenly stopped listening and started outperforming the best tweeters on the market. Second, what kind if portable thermonuclear battery powers their continuous exercises? Third, quo bono? Fourth, as these devices must be still in the walls of the Embassy, why don't the scientists just go there and find them? (Ultrasound couldn't be beamed from afar, as we read in the previous installment.)

    • (Score: 3, Insightful) by Arik on Wednesday March 07 2018, @06:27AM (3 children)

      by Arik (4543) on Wednesday March 07 2018, @06:27AM (#648901) Journal
      Well, only the US State Department has access to go tear up the walls of the embassy looking for these things. Which presumably they have done, on many occasions.

      But if this hypothesis is correct, that's what they should do, tear it apart inch by inch if they have to in order to find these things, do a post-mortem, and potentially revise our understanding of physics.
      --
      If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?

      • (Score: 2) by frojack on Wednesday March 07 2018, @06:43AM

        by frojack (1554) Subscriber Badge on Wednesday March 07 2018, @06:43AM (#648902) Journal

        Hire some apprentice interior decorator with a stud / metal / wire detector from the home Depot and find them for 8.75 per hour.

        --
        No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.

      • (Score: 1) by tftp on Wednesday March 07 2018, @06:44AM (1 child)

        by tftp (806) on Wednesday March 07 2018, @06:44AM (#648904) Homepage
        I doubt that only plumbers and electricians employed by the State Department are allowed to work on the building. But whoever they are, please, please go there with all their microphones and solve the mystery. IMO, the sounds are just wind whistling in the cracks or on external adornments (they have a huge sign outside.) I hear such a whistle every day in my car, as there is a small hole in the plastic frame of the right mirror :-) The embassy is also extended toward the sea, allowing wind from any direction. This theory explains the local nature of generated sounds, their power, and their intermittent nature.

        • (Score: 3, Interesting) by Arik on Wednesday March 07 2018, @07:07AM

          by Arik (4543) on Wednesday March 07 2018, @07:07AM (#648912) Journal
          After reading TFA I found that they're proposing the listening devices are not at the embassy, but at a motel and some residences. Precisely because they do, in fact, have very tight security at the embassy. Outside plumbers etc. may well enter the building at times, but they are not left unsupervised, and there are large ares where they would not be allowed under any circumstances. I have no doubt that if necessary the embassy will indeed fly in a plumber with a security clearance, although it's generally possible to avoid the need with a little planning.
          --
          If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?

    • (Score: 2) by c0lo on Wednesday March 07 2018, @07:58AM

      by c0lo (156) on Wednesday March 07 2018, @07:58AM (#648920) Journal

      why don't the scientists just go there and find them?

      Say... what now?
      Read once again TFT(itle) and tell me when was the last time you saw a computer scientist touching the hardware.
      Listen, isn't it enough their genius found the explanation without visiting the site and with little knowledge of physics and human physiology? You really want them to get (oh, the horror) their hands dirty?

      --
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0

  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by anubi on Wednesday March 07 2018, @06:49AM

    by anubi (2828) on Wednesday March 07 2018, @06:49AM (#648907) Journal

    Likely its ultrasonic presence detectors. I am quite sensitive to these... Nausea results.

    I know of several others who react to them the same way. Kinda a sharp pain that you can't say where it is. Its somewhere in my head.

    There was one department store where I went to university I avoided for that reason. They would not turn the emitter off during the day. Then I discovered many female students had similar reactions. But not so much among the males.

    --
    "Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]

  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 07 2018, @07:06AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 07 2018, @07:06AM (#648911)

    Nobody ever ran one regularly in the embassy?

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 07 2018, @10:00PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday March 07 2018, @10:00PM (#649193)

    Maybe there are too many countries snooping on us such that their devices interfered with each other.

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