this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2026
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[–] Xenny@lemmy.world 53 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (2 children)

Sound is caused by vibrations in a medium. Common mediums we experience sound in are air and water. You can hear how the difference in sound mediums affect how you perceive the sound.

Space has no medium for sound to travel it is a near perfect vacuum. There would be nothing to vibrate to produce sound.

[–] Eldritch@piefed.world 2 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

There's a medium even in interstellar space. But the pressure is low, so transmission is as well. There is no hard boundary on 'atmosphere'. Just smooth gradients of density across the universe

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 2 points 4 hours ago (1 children)

Technically true, there is matter in space. But the particles are so far apart that they don't vibrate against each other, so no reasonable person would describe it as a medium of transmission.

[–] Eldritch@piefed.world 2 points 2 hours ago (1 children)

Particle's still collide in space. There's nothing keeping them from doing that. Collisions simply increase due to increased pressure. It's not really technical, just true. If anything it's a misunderstanding to imply otherwise or that empty space exists. If you want to distinguish human audible. Then certainly it isn't that. But then neither are infrasound or ultrasound.

Technically and extremely fascinating is that "space itself" not just the baryons inside it, is still a medium. Its literally how LIGO functions. And if that's not mind blowing enough, there actually are massive structures in space caused by pressure waves that we can detect. Those are technical. And another fun fact, if the atmospheric pressure at sea level extended all the way to the sun. We would be able to perceive the sound of the sun. Millions of miles away. Everywhere across the surface of the earth a constant 100 Dba roar. A bit quieter than standing close to a jet engine.

[–] Jakeroxs@sh.itjust.works 2 points 51 minutes ago

Thank you for the rabbit holes, interesting stuff!

[–] fizzle@quokk.au 6 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

... but if you're in a medium in a vessel which is in space, then you'll sure as shit hear someone scream.

[–] Chee_Koala@lemmy.world 14 points 9 hours ago

Sure, just like right now, on spaceship earth!

[–] Lumidaub@feddit.org 10 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 1 hour ago)

~~I can almost parse this, if it weren't for "should".~~ (Edit: ah, "sound" makes sense, duh)

There is no medium for sound waves to propagate in outer space. Hence, if you were able to expel air from your lungs in such a way that would produce a "scream" in our atmosphere, there's nowhere for that scream to go so nobody could hear it. An electronic device needs that medium as well to receive the sound waves and transform them into electric signals.

Edit: but of course, if "in space" means "on a spaceship", there's a high likelihood of an atmosphere to transport the soundwaves through that ship.

[–] StoneyPicton@lemmy.ca 1 points 7 hours ago (1 children)

Wouldn't there also be the question of what is sound? Aren't there plenty of phenomena that allow us to "hear" something through space. Is it something like the medium is the message?

[–] BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today 5 points 6 hours ago (1 children)

There are two components to a sound - the sound waves traveling through the air, and a mechanism to capture those waves, and translate it into sound. BOTH components are required for there to be a "Sound."

In space, there is no air for the sound waves to travel. In addition, there would have to be an ear, or a microphone, or some other mechanism to capture the waves. Without either of them, there can be no sound.

[–] frongt@lemmy.zip 1 points 4 hours ago

You listed three things though

[–] RobotToaster@mander.xyz 2 points 10 hours ago (1 children)

Depending on your definition of scream, strong enough microwaves can be heard by an unaided human https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_auditory_effect

[–] fallaciousBasis@lemmy.world 1 points 6 hours ago

Microwaves are electromagnetic radiation. And the effect (hearing) is produced in situ.

That's not sound (a scream) which is a mechanical wave (relies on atoms and/or molecules to propagate.)

[–] teft@piefed.social 1 points 9 hours ago (1 children)

Space has sound as sound is just waves in a medium. Space isn’t completely empty just really empty.

Here is a picture of sounds/sonic booms in space:

[–] yermaw@sh.itjust.works 3 points 1 hour ago

Here is a picture of sounds

God damn I'm too uneducated for this shit