Article

2019-01-07 Caribbean-Latin America

‘Sonic attacks' at US embassy in Cuba may have just been crickets

[NYP] The "sonic attacks" that afflicted diplomats at the US embassy in Cuba could have just been the work of crickets, according to a report Sunday.

The embassy in Havana cut its staff in half in 2017 after dozens of people complained of headaches, nausea and other ailments from hearing mysterious, penetrating high-pitched noises ‐ believed to be an acoustic weapon ‐ possibly from the Russians.

But a fresh analysis of an audio recording made by US personnel in Cuba revealed that the source of the piercing din is the song of the Indies short-tailed cricket, known as Anurogryllus celerinictus, a study says.

"The recording is definitively a cricket that belongs to the same group," said Fernando Montealegre-Zapata, a professor of sensory biology at the University of Lincoln who participated in the study, according to The Guardian. "The call of this Caribbean species is about 7 kHz, and is delivered at an unusually high rate, which gives humans the sensation of a continuous sharp trill."

The study, by Montealegre-Zapata and Alexander Stubbs at the University of California, was published Jan. 4 on the website bioRxiv.

Posted by Besoeker 2019-01-07 02:00|| || Front Page|| [11136 views ] Top

#1 The Rooshians have weaponized crickets?

Did they vote for Trump of just steal Clinton votes?

Posted by Bobby 2019-01-07 10:24|| 2019-01-07 10:24|| Front Page Top

#2 WTF kind of crickets do they have down there?

Posted by Chris 2019-01-07 12:10|| 2019-01-07 12:10|| Front Page Top

#3 The results of the study may mean the injuries were inflicted by US Embassy employees inadvertently.

Posted by jvalentour 2019-01-07 13:41|| 2019-01-07 13:41|| Front Page Top

#4 Good one.

Posted by gorb 2019-01-07 14:24|| 2019-01-07 14:24|| Front Page Top

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