The world’s quietest room

Located at Microsoft’s headquarters in Redmond, Washington, the lab room (Quietest room) measures a background noise of -20.35 dBA, which is 20 decibels below the threshold of human hearing and breaks previous records for spaces that were deemed the planet’s quietest places, according to CNN.

“Most people find the absence of sound deafening, feel a sense of fullness in the ears, or some ringing. Very faint sounds become clearly audible because the ambient noise is exceptionally low. When you turn your head, you can hear that motion. You can hear yourself breathing and it sounds somewhat loud,” Hundraj Gopal, a speech and hearing scientist and principal designer of the anechoic chamber at Microsoft, told CNN.

The Earth’s ozone layer will make a full recovery in 50 years

Fortunately, climate change experts believe that the ozone layer will fully heal within 50 years, according to a 2018 report from the UN.

The recovery is thanks in large part to the Montreal Protocol of 1987, which put a global ban on the use of one of the main culprits for the damage: chlorofluorocarbons (CFOs). Previously, CFOs had been common in refrigerators, aerosol cans and dry-cleaning chemicals.

The entire world’s population could fit inside Los Angeles

The world’s total population is more than 7.5 billion. And obviously, that number sounds huge. However, it might feel a little more manageable once you learn that if every single one of those people stood shoulder-to-shoulder, they could all fit within the 500 square miles of Los Angeles, according to National Geographic.

Japan is the world’s most earthquake-prone country

Earthquakes can range from minor tremors that are barely noticeable to building-toppling ground-shakers that cause massive destruction.

But it’s an inevitable part of life for those who live in countries such as China, Indonesia, Iran and Turkey, which are some of the most earthquake-prone places on the planet. However, according to the United States Geological Survey (USGS), Japan records the most earthquakes in the world.

Published in Dawn, Young World, June 4th, 2022