All Podcasts / The Rest Is Science / Do You Recognise These Creepy Sounds?
The Rest Is Science
The Rest Is Science

Do You Recognise These Creepy Sounds?

October 29, 2026 • 32m

Summary

⏱️ 8 min read

Overview

Hannah Fry and Michael Stevens dive into Halloween-themed unintentionally spooky sounds from history and nature. The episode explores mysterious audio recordings ranging from the earliest known human voice from 1860 to strange underwater noises that puzzled scientists for decades. These sounds aren't actually dangerous or disturbing, but they're eerie enough to score a horror film - from phonautograph recordings that captured voices before Edison's phonograph to whale calls that sound extraterrestrial and icebergs grinding against the ocean floor.

The Earliest Recorded Human Voice

Michael introduces a haunting recording that turns out to be the oldest known human voice captured on audio from 1860 - nearly two decades before Edison's phonograph. French inventor Edward Lyon Scott de Martinville created a phonautograph that etched sound waves onto paper covered in smoke particles, never intending them to be played back. When researchers discovered these recordings in 2008 and converted the visual squiggles back into audio, they recovered Scott de Martinville singing 'Clair de la Lune' - though they initially thought it was a woman or child due to playing it at double speed.

  • The recording is from 1860, the earliest known human voice recording, predating Edison by two decades
  • Scott de Martinville invented the phonautograph that used a vibrating membrane and boar's hair to etch sound waves onto smoke-covered paper
  • Researchers in 2008 discovered these recordings in French archives and successfully converted the visual squiggles back into audio
  • The recording was initially played at double speed, making Scott de Martinville's voice sound like a woman or child
" But then, you know, if I put like a little stiff thing at the end of that membrane, like I think he used a boar's hair or something, I could I could get that little little hair to move back and forth. And then I could drag it as it vibrated across a piece of paper covered with like smoke particles. And I would get myself a little jagged line and I could turn sounds into visuals. "
" To think that we lifted this sound off of squiggles on a piece of paper and we recovered an audio recording of someone's voice, a person who was born in 1817. It's just incredible. "

Archaeoacoustics and Ancient Sounds

The discussion pivots to the intriguing but ultimately impractical concept of archaeoacoustics - the idea that ancient pottery might have accidentally recorded sounds while being made. While theoretically possible if a potter's tool vibrated due to nearby sounds while carving designs, the practical challenges make recovery essentially impossible. The Mythbusters tested this concept and couldn't recover meaningful audio. However, the idea has inspired contemporary artists to intentionally create pottery while sounds are being made, turning the unfulfilled scientific dream into art.

  • Archaeoacoustics proposes that ancient pottery might contain accidental sound recordings from vibrations affecting carving tools
  • Mythbusters attempted to recover sounds from pottery but couldn't get satisfying results beyond detecting that a noise occurred
  • Artist Adrian Goldner created intentional sound-influenced pottery using a microphone-connected tool, including pieces with children's voices and Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn
" But what about someone thousands of years ago who is turning a clay pot on a wheel and they're using a tool to make a little spiral design on the pot? And while they do that, someone's shrieking in the background that causes micro vibrations in their tool that are then implanted in the clay pot. "

📚 5 more sections below

Sign up to unlock the complete summary with all insights, key points, and quotes

Listen on Apple Podcasts More Episodes from The Rest Is Science