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Scientists Discover Singing Iceberg

Ant writes "ABC News Online reports that scientists, monitoring earth movements in Antarctica, say they have found a singing iceberg. They say the sound waves from the iceberg cannot be heard by humans, with a frequency of around 0.5 hertz. They resemble a swarm of bees or an orchestra warming up when played at higher speed."

13 of 32 comments (clear)

  1. The Hills Are Alive!....(with the sound of music) by yagu · · Score: 5, Insightful

    First off, I suspect if you took almost anything and "listened" to it, you would find some such rhythm and/or pattern (either by speeding it up, as in this article, or by slowing it down). To then leap to "singing" is truly a leap. Of course the last line of the article may be some indicator:

    The tune even goes up and down, just like a real song

    Methinks the author may be confusing Britney Spears, et. al., with purveyors of music.

  2. In Other news.. by bdigit · · Score: 5, Funny

    I farted and it sounded like a 50 cent song. Who the fuck cares?

    1. Re:In Other news.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Sweet, where can I get the ringtone?

    2. Re:In Other news.. by phoenix.bam! · · Score: 2, Funny

      You can download the ringtone for $4.00 or buy the entire album for $18.

  3. No links to OGG or MP3 samples? by keithmo · · Score: 2, Funny

    Of course not! The RIAA has already signed the iceberg to an exclusive 10-year contract.

  4. Yar? by dauthur · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Does it take requests? All I can imagine, like anyone else here (And call me Captain Obvious if you wish) is that it's "singing" because of it being so close to fracture. Stress causes noise in large items, like buildings, trees and obviously now icebergs.

  5. These researchers are in great danger ... by Louis+Guerin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "Through the desolate summits swept ranging, intermittent gusts of the terrible antarctic wind; whose cadences sometimes held vague suggestions of a wild and half-sentient musical piping ... and which for some subconscious mnemonic reason seemed to me disquieting and even dimly terrible." -- H.P. Lovecraft, 'At The Mountains of Madness'

    Cthulhu fhtagn! Iä! Iä!

    L

    1. Re:These researchers are in great danger ... by Kelson · · Score: 2, Funny

      If they speed it up and it sounds like "Tekeli-li!" it's time to run.

  6. RIAA Sues Singing Iceberg by ion_ · · Score: 2, Funny

    RIAA already launched a lawsuit against the iceberg, after noticing that it's playing back tunes stolen from the Internets.

    "Continuing this education and enforcement campaign is critical to fostering an environment where both online mafia services and traditional extortion can flourish", said Cary Sherman, President, RIAA. "Virtually every week, we see evidence that the music community's anti-piracy program is having its intended effect."

    Many supporters of the iceberg, now dubbed as "the Singing Iceberg", have claimed that the sounds emitted by the iceberg are not even near any of the songs made by the artists represented by RIAA.

    Mr. Sherman is sure that -- as most of the RIAA lawsuits -- this will be settled outside the courtroom. Therefore RIAA doesn't have to prove its claims, and they still get a nice amount of money. "And that's what America is all about", he finished emotionally.

  7. Link to the "song" :) by Walenzack · · Score: 5, Informative
    on a WAV file in this MSNBC article.

    --
    English is not my native language. Corrections are not only welcome but encouraged. Thanks.
    -Walenzack.
  8. Re:The Hills Are Alive!....(with the sound of musi by mike.newton · · Score: 3, Funny

    "They resemble a swarm of bees or an orchestra warming up when played at higher speed."

    And the sound resembles a human voice when played at higher speed, different modulations, and with occasional pauses inserted!

  9. France by dusik · · Score: 4, Funny

    "
    <Sabdo> on one of those speech-to-text programs my friend ripped ass onto the mic.
    <Sabdo> and it typed out "France"
    "

  10. Pointless. by wafwot · · Score: 2, Interesting

    This is almost as bad as when they told us all about a black hole emitting a Bb thirty octaves lower than middle C. (A period in the wave was about a lightyear long, or something ridiculous like that.) Or whatever the specifics were.

    As someone who studies music, I'm fascinated by nature creating "music," but if it needs to be sped up to be heard, well ... that's sort of pointless to me. Bird calls, the buzz of cicadas and the sound of tropical storm-force winds growling through a neighborhood are wonderful, but not this.

    Find me some icebergs that are creating sound at audible frequencies, and then you might get my attention ... ah, crap. This useless article got my attention. I guess it worked, then. Dammit.