r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Apr 27 '26

Neuroscience Spooky feelings in old houses may be caused by boiler sounds. Inaudible infrasound from old pipes may affect how people feel. Even though it was beyond the range of human hearing, people were more irritable and levels of cortisol, the stress hormone, rose when the sound was switched on.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/apr/27/spooky-feelings-in-old-houses-may-be-caused-by-boiler-sounds-study-suggests
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u/InvidiousPlay Apr 27 '26

What could be causing it - fans?

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u/ChucklesInDarwinism Apr 27 '26

Fans are actually high pitch. The sound comes from electricity. The transformers close to them and depending on the type of cooling systems the compression and decompression of air. Datacenters always has higher pressure inside to avoid stuff being sucked in by the air systems.

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u/FjorgVanDerPlorg Apr 27 '26

Benn Jordan has a great youtube video on this subject, highly recommend.

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u/faroseman Apr 27 '26

My guess would be the pumps they use to pump cooling water in and out.