Report: "Advanced sonic weapon" allegedly causes US and Canadian diplomats to Cuba to lose hearing - Polidicks

[quote]WASHINGTON (AP) — The Canadian government said Thursday that at least one Canadian diplomat in Cuba also has been treated for hearing loss following disclosures that a group of American diplomats in Havana suffered severe hearing loss that U.S. officials believe was caused by an advanced sonic device. Global Affairs Canada spokeswoman Brianne Maxwell said Canadian officials “are aware of unusual symptoms affecting Canadian and US diplomatic personnel and their families in Havana. The government is actively working — including with US and Cuban authorities - to ascertain the cause.” In the fall of 2016, a series of U.S. diplomats began suffering unexplained losses of hearing, according to officials with knowledge of the investigation into the case. Several of the diplomats were recent arrivals at the embassy, which reopened in 2015 as part of President Barack Obama’s reestablishment of diplomatic relations with Cuba. Some of the U.S. diplomats’ symptoms were so severe that they were forced to cancel their tours early and return to the United States, officials said. After months of investigation, U.S. officials concluded that the diplomats had been attacked with an advanced sonic weapon that operated outside the range of audible sound and had been deployed either inside or outside their residences. It was not immediately clear if the device was a weapon used in a deliberate attack, or had some other purpose.[/quote] [url=https://apnews.com/87ec2dbe76e74f5d98731ea0bdaf0343[/url]Source: The Associated Press[/url] Even though this happened last year, the emergence of this info is horrifying and sad.

What in the fuck?

That's really strange. Haunting, almost. These effects don't sound like anything we've heard of happening before (pun) but multiple diplomats experiencing unexplained hearing loss is really eerie (another pun). [editline]12th August 2017[/editline] [QUOTE]U.S. officials concluded that the diplomats had been attacked with an advanced sonic weapon that operated outside the range of audible sound and had been deployed either inside or outside their residences.[/QUOTE] What in the fuck

that's fucked up, but damn if that isn't clever

wow if thats true this could be the first confirmed case of these such weapons being used. theres those sound projectors on ships but those are audible ranges

i find these kind of weapons to be very fascinating from a technical and tactical point of view

Why would they even do this other than "ARR HATE US"? A need for test subjects that aren't your countrymen...?

Well, there was that theory that the Dyatlov pass incident was caused by sounds outside our hearing spectrum, which induced a sense of panic/fear into the skiers. Now, how could these weapons make our ears lose hearing if sound loss is due to the "hair" inside the ear vibrating a lot (in laymen terms)? So there's like a frequency that makes them vibrate with 0 dB? That's crazy

kinda cruel weapons though, to suffer severe hearing loss

[QUOTE=Marbalo;52566310]Destabilize or severely hinder US-Cuban relations. The question now is who benefits from that. Is it Trump finding an untraceable and unopposed way of erasing Obama's work? Or the handiwork of Russia further looking to seed distrust and instability in US politics?[/QUOTE] This is an interesting point, "advanced weapon" and "Cuba" aren't exactly two things that mesh particularly well. The thought of a third party being involved is worrisome as all get out.

[QUOTE=Str4fe;52566216]kinda cruel weapons though, to suffer severe hearing loss[/QUOTE] As someone that has an ongoing problem with hearing loss, absolutely yes. It's horrible and terrifying, I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Using such a weapon against diplomats of all people is just fucked.

How advanced does these kind of devices have to be. I've read constant exposure to low frequency sounds can damage your ears, and I don't think it's very hard to produce such sounds using slightly modified speakers.

[QUOTE=Swebonny;52566348]How advanced does these kind of devices have to be. I've read constant exposure to low frequency sounds can damage your ears, and I don't think it's very hard to produce such sounds using slightly modified speakers.[/QUOTE] I'd wager not very advanced. Just a good and large amplifier and a sound in the high 20s khz range and a cone around it to direct it a bit. I mean that math youtube channel did a bit with a bunch of CRTs in the background, but a bunch of younger people who can still hear close to 20khz could hear the high pitched noise they make, while the guy who edited the video, in his 30's, couldn't, so never edited it out (And now deletes noise above a certain frequency altogether)

[QUOTE=TheTalon;52566373]I'd wager not very advanced. Just a good and large amplifier and a sound in the high 20s khz range and a cone around it to direct it a bit. I mean that math youtube channel did a bit with a bunch of CRTs in the background, but a bunch of younger people who can still hear close to 20khz could hear the high pitched noise they make, while the guy who edited the video, in his 30's, couldn't, so never edited it out (And now deletes noise above a certain frequency altogether)[/QUOTE] There's actually a high pitched ringing in the opening song of BNHA and it seems like only me and some other young people can hear it :v: I wonder if everyone in the studio was just too old to hear it.

[QUOTE=Dr. Evilcop;52566378]There's actually a high pitched ringing in the opening song of BNHA and it seems like only me and some other young people can hear it :v: I wonder if everyone in the studio was just too old to hear it.[/QUOTE] which one?

[QUOTE=Bread_Baron;52566339]As someone that has an ongoing problem with hearing loss, absolutely yes. It's horrible and terrifying, I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Using such a weapon against diplomats of all people is just fucked.[/QUOTE] Pretty sure this violates the Geneva conventions too as a weapon that causes unnecessary prolonged suffering. It cant eliminate threats or disperse crowds, a weapon that can only maim someone has no place in this world.

[QUOTE=Cutthecrap;52566211]Well, there was that theory that the Dyatlov pass incident was caused by sounds outside our hearing spectrum, which induced a sense of panic/fear into the skiers. Now, how could these weapons make our ears lose hearing if sound loss is due to the "hair" inside the ear vibrating a lot (in laymen terms)? So there's like a frequency that makes them vibrate with 0 dB? That's crazy[/QUOTE] it's not that they're vibrating at 0dB, but that our ears aren't built for frequencies that high. acoustics is a complicated subject and I'm not going to write a 50 page essay on it just to tell you that just because you can't hear it doesn't mean there's not sound pressure. if you're ever exposed to infrasound or ultrasound at high sound pressure levels, ie in the 120 dB range you'll see that it hurts your ears even though you can't hear it. the infrasound frequency theory doesn't explain why one girl had no eyes or tongue or why other party members had massive internal trauma and no visible external injuries.

[QUOTE=shad0w440;52566734]Pretty sure this violates the Geneva conventions too as a weapon that causes unnecessary prolonged suffering. It cant eliminate threats or disperse crowds, a weapon that can only maim someone has no place in this world.[/QUOTE]I don't think Russia or Cuba ever followed, or cared about the Geneva convention. It would count in this instance however since it was used on US and Canadian diplomats.

[QUOTE=froztshock;52566181]Why would they even do this other than "ARR HATE US"? A need for test subjects that aren't your countrymen...?[/QUOTE] Having all your diplomats suddenly go deaf would really throw a wrench in negotiations.

[QUOTE=shad0w440;52566734]Pretty sure this violates the Geneva conventions too as a weapon that causes unnecessary prolonged suffering. It cant eliminate threats or disperse crowds, a weapon that can only maim someone has no place in this world.[/QUOTE] That's my problem with it. It's just a weapon you use to be a dick for the sake of being a dick, which seems pointless to me. Hearing loss sucks.

worst is if this become widely used by dictators, criminals or terrorists ...

Could this have been an accidental side effect from a fucked up listening device? It just doesn't seem like they would have any reason to intentionally do this

[QUOTE=Bob The Knob;52569696]Could this have been an accidental side effect from a fucked up listening device? It just doesn't seem like they would have any reason to intentionally do this[/QUOTE] You need a lot of power to generate tones that are lower than the human's range of hearing but still strong enough to cause hearing loss. Not something that can be easily caused by a malfunctioning listening device. I don't know for sure whether tones that are higher than a human's hearing range can cause hearing loss, "high frequency hearing loss" is overrunning my google searches and making that difficult to research.

[QUOTE=Helix Snake;52569713]You need a lot of power to generate tones that are lower than the human's range of hearing but still strong enough to cause hearing loss. Not something that can be easily caused by a malfunctioning listening device. I don't know for sure whether tones that are higher than a human's hearing range can cause hearing loss, "high frequency hearing loss" is overrunning my google searches and making that difficult to research.[/QUOTE] look up ultrasound instead of high frequency. infrasound can do the same thing but tends to vibrate your eyeballs causing hallucinations so they'd know something was up in that case.

[QUOTE=butre;52569725]look up ultrasound instead of high frequency. infrasound can do the same thing but tends to vibrate your eyeballs causing hallucinations so they'd know something was up in that case.[/QUOTE] Your eyeballs only resonate at a specific infrasound frequency (19 Hz), not all of them.

[QUOTE=Helix Snake;52569758]Your eyeballs only resonate at a specific infrasound frequency (19 Hz), not all of them.[/QUOTE] right, but 19 hz is a good convenient frequency because you don't need specialized equipment to do it but is still out of the range of human hearing. also not all eyeballs are acoustically identical.

This is some metal gear solid shit

Yeah, doubtful that this was any sort of deliberate attack on Cuba's part. There's nothing for them to gain from it, especially since US-Cuban relations were improving at the time of the American diplomats supposedly suffering these problems.