Enter One of the World’s Quietest Rooms

Listen to this episode from Science Quickly on Spotify. Inside one of the quietest rooms in the world, host Rachel Feltman meets artist-in-residence Seth Cluett at the historic anechoic chamber at Bell Labs to explore the science of silence and sound perception. From popping balloons in total silence to hearing your own nervous system, we dive into psychoacoustics, audio innovation and the emotional impact of sound design. Along the way, we uncover how Bell Labs shaped everything from stereo audio to the voice of HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Science Quickly is a Signal Awards finalist! Support us by casting your vote before October 9 at the following link: https://vote.signalaward.com/PublicVoting?utm_campaign=signal4_finalists_finalistnotification_092325&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cio#/2025/shows/genre/science E-mail us at [email protected] if you have any questions, comments or ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in Science, our daily newsletter. Science Quickly is produced by Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi and Jeff DelViscio. This episode was edited by Jeffery DelViscio. Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck fact-check the show. The theme music was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices