Author Topic: Sounds on Mars?  (Read 11763 times)

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Hank

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Sounds on Mars?
« on: April 05, 2010, 12:50:12 PM »
I don't know in detail, but I believe Mars' atmospheric pressure is around 0.5% compared to earth atmospheric pressure. Wouldn't this low pressure kinda "damp" all noise that there is? Could one really hear the drill is operating or the loud boom of a GPR-shot (wich are one of the rare sound events in the demo)? I can imagine you could here the storm outside when you are sitting in the habitat since the windspeeds are pretty high, in fact that sounds cool in the demo  ;D

Danscall

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #1 on: April 05, 2010, 04:11:57 PM »
As a historian, my physics is awful, so excuse me if I sod this up completely!

My understanding of this is that the sound would not be "dampened" so much by a low atmospheric pressure as it would slowed, so sound would likely take a lot longer to reach you than it would on earth, but as far as I know there is little to quieten it down at all. Additionally, the speed of sound is far less affected by air pressure than it is by the temperature of that air, sound being "transferred" between vibrating gas molecules which have far less energy to vibrate (and therefore do so less quickly) when that gas is cold. And Mars is cold. Really, really cold.

So! In answer to your (implied) question, no. I think that the sounds on Mars would be roughly the same volume as they are on earth, but would reach you far slower as a combined result of the low air pressure and the low temperature of the red planet.

Apologies if that's utterly wrong.

profit004

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #2 on: April 05, 2010, 07:00:10 PM »
Sorry but I believe you are utterly wrong... I am fairly certain I saw on TV with one of the science shows they put an alarm clock in a bell jar, and as they removed the atmosphere the sound attenuated.

profit004

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #3 on: April 05, 2010, 07:02:51 PM »
Actually looked it up on youtube and there is a video of it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ce7AMJdq0Gw

thedubman

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #4 on: April 06, 2010, 10:12:32 AM »
Ya Ok, So sounds would be late/faint/or not at all on Mars depending on persons persective, relative to the sound.. But that would make for dull game with zero sound, Myself I would like to hear strange, echo-y, space/sci-fi sounds. To give creepy atmoshepric sense. I talking humming HABs, strange distant winds, crackled, distorted radio chatter-  more the better in MHO, for me sound effects are important to a game (think BF2:BC)

Hyper

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #5 on: April 06, 2010, 11:45:25 AM »
Info I dug up on the sound was, inside the hubs it would be nornal due to pressure and air density. Outside since the density is low then the sound volume would be low. Sounds would transfer to our EVA gear however and get back to a air density and volume level. So inside the suit we would hear all the sounds of the suit.
Now having said that being inside a closed container the sounds we did get from the outside would be a bit different. Put yer head in a barrel and the barrel will amplify the sound somewhat and alter it a bit. So until someone goes there in a pressurized eva suit we wont realy know for sure. In any case sounds will be in the game for nothing more then ambience but there will certainly be sound on Mars.

Marco2001

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #6 on: April 06, 2010, 12:03:57 PM »
BTW: there should be a "heavy breathing" sound when stamina is low. Something like that: http://www.audiosparx.com/sa/display/sounds.cfm/sound_group_iid.476

Poland here. My time: GMT + 1h
Writing a book about Mars. Any ideas? Type to me.
I'am an Astrobiology/Biology student.

Utini

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #7 on: April 06, 2010, 12:54:31 PM »
If you're standing anywhere near the drill and, especially, the GPR shot, you'll hear it through ground transmisison. Similar to mortar-launched fireworks: if you're right next to the 8" tubes, you'll not hear much through the earplugs, but, if you're outside the anular dead section RIGHT next to the tube (due to the charge going off a couple feet below ground level), your feet'll get slapped some. Not sure how it'd sound through an EVA suit, but you'd definately hear it.

Hank

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #8 on: April 06, 2010, 01:30:17 PM »
Thanks for all your quite logic considerations. I guess Hyper pointed it out, the suit/helmet works like a membrane, while atmospheric conditions will make noises sound faint in general. I like the sounds as they are now, giving a little ambience overall. One thing I definitely miss is radio chatter (as there are no AI-astronauts), but you could probably have it when playing online  ;)

Hyper

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #9 on: April 06, 2010, 04:32:15 PM »
I would like to think groups would start using ventrillo, or teamspeak for this. Chatter is essential...

pad69

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #10 on: April 07, 2010, 11:04:58 AM »
Well I once heard that the question arose something like this. Does a falling tree in the woods make a sound if no one is present to hear it? Well can you hear a explosion on Mars if you are not there? So maybe it doesn't make sound when you are not there. Did the Big bang make sound? We were not present at the time but maybe we could ask the scientist observing it as we are living it we are just in their super collider right now living the whole ting out in real time. Maybe we can check with the scientific Giants Later. rofl ;D
« Last Edit: April 07, 2010, 11:13:07 AM by pad69 »
Murphy's Law applies "Anything that can possibly go wrong, does." or some say it this way "If anything can go wrong, it will.

profit004

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #11 on: April 07, 2010, 06:29:34 PM »
Well I once heard that the question arose something like this. Does a falling tree in the woods make a sound if no one is present to hear it? Well can you hear a explosion on Mars if you are not there? So maybe it doesn't make sound when you are not there. Did the Big bang make sound? We were not present at the time but maybe we could ask the scientist observing it as we are living it we are just in their super collider right now living the whole ting out in real time. Maybe we can check with the scientific Giants Later. rofl ;D
If NOTHING hears a tree falling in the woods, there is no sound..

If no one hears it, it is not sound. It is just pressure waves.  In order for something to qualify as sound it has to be interpreted by a brain somewhere.

*Kinda like Schrodinger's cat experiment.. if he didn't overlook a key observer.... The cat!
« Last Edit: April 07, 2010, 06:33:22 PM by profit004 »

thedubman

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #12 on: April 07, 2010, 07:55:55 PM »
no one as in a human or nothing as in a animmal? what if a rabbit heard it? or what about a sound that out of humans frequency range lieka dog can hear? But we can't is that also not a sound? ;)

profit004

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #13 on: April 08, 2010, 03:12:20 PM »
Correct, it would have to be NOTHING, not just no humans.  And if a dog could hear it it would still be sound.

Zaneo

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Re: Sounds on Mars?
« Reply #14 on: April 16, 2010, 08:28:23 AM »
Unfortunately you can never really prove that kind of negative.  Just because you can't find anything doesn't mean there isn't something there.