Audiologists are skeptical sound can be used as a weapon as some reports have indicated is happening to U.S. diplomats in Cuba, Mashable reported.
Twenty-one U.S. victims have been confirmed, with some reporting hearing loss or concussions, while others have suffered headaches, nausea or ear-ringing. Some are struggling with common word recall and concentration, according to an AP report released Monday.
The AP story said inaudible sound was investigated as a possible reason, but an expert who spoke to Mashable said that was not likely.
“The problem is that infrasound is very, very diffuse, and so it’s not something you can really point at a particular building and localize to a particular embassy,” said Colleen LePrell, a professor of hearing and science at the University of Texas in Dallas.
Ultrasound waves, LePrell said, would only harm someone if the machine they were being transmitted with was right next to its
