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Sound System Simulates the Roar of a Rocket Launch

Posted by samzenpus on Sunday February 2, 2014 @08:52AM from the can-you-hear-anything-now? dept.

retroworks writes "Located in Noordwijk, Netherlands, and part of ESA's ESTEDC Test Center, is the Large European Acoustic Facility (LEAF), a sound amplification system 'powerful enough to kill a human being.' LEAF is capable of generating more than 154 decibels, the sound equivalent to standing next to several jets taking off. It is used to blast satellites and spacecraft with sound. Large horns are housed in a sound-proofed room that is 16.4meters tall. One wall of horns stands 11 m wide by 9 m deep and 16.4 m high. LEAF requires all the doors to be closed, operating in steel-reinforced concrete walls to contain the noise. The walls are coated with an epoxy resin to reflect noise, producing a uniform sound field within the chamber."

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the real question is by Anonymous Coward · 2014-02-02 08:55 · Score: 5, Funny

can it go to 11?
It's only a matter of time... by narcc · 2014-02-02 09:00 · Score: 5, Funny

...before this is stolen and installed in a '94 honda civic.

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Required reading for internet skeptics
Re:Questions not addressed in the summary by pushing-robot · 2014-02-02 09:04 · Score: 5, Funny

They don't call it Death Metal for nothing, you know.

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How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
One of the first customers by rossdee · 2014-02-02 09:06 · Score: 5, Funny

Hotblack Desiato and his band Disaster Area
Re: Questions not addressed in the summary by jd2112 · 2014-02-02 10:16 · Score: 5, Funny

Death metal? This thing has Disaster Area written all over it. They must be scheduled for a gig on Earth soon!

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Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
Re: Questions not addressed in the summary by Anonymous Coward · 2014-02-02 11:02 · Score: 5, Insightful

You don't die from hearing it, you die from feeling it. So twice as powerful as what it takes to rupture ear drums is in the range of rupturing capillaries in your whole body. Internal bleeding in the brain is a quick killer.