Scientists Have Created A Sound So Loud That It Instantly Boils Water

If you're reading this, you probably already know the incredible power of loud music. But a team of researchers at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory based at Stanford University have proved just how intense sound can be, publishing some pretty fascinating new findings in Physical Review Fluids.

Somehow reaching the record-breaking limit of how loud underwater sound can be using the "Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS)" (nope, we have no idea either), the scientists made such a powerful force that it "eclipses that of a rocket launch" and instantly vaporises water molecules – essentially meaning that it boils water straight away.

Read just how they did it via the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory:

"Using the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS), SLAC’s X-ray laser, the researchers blasted tiny jets of water with short pulses of powerful X-rays. They learned that when the X-ray laser hit the jet, it vaporized the water around it and produced a shockwave. As this shockwave traveled through the jet, it created copies of itself, which formed a 'shockwave train' that alternated between high and low pressures. Once the intensity of underwater sound crosses a certain threshold, the water breaks apart into small vapor-filled bubbles that immediately collapse. The pressure created by the shockwaves was just below this breaking point, suggesting it was at the limit of how loud sound can get underwater."

According to Cnet.com, if your naked ear were to actually experience this sound, "the intensity would not only rupture your eardrums, but probably your heart and lungs as well".

So, uh, let's all just enjoy this research from a long, long distance, eh?

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