*crickets*

January 6, 2019 12:48 PM

The source of the high pitched-whine allegedly used by the Cuban government to attack the US embassy in Havana, leading to 'unexplained health problems including ear pain, tinnitus, vertigo, and cognitive difficulties,' may have been traced ... to the song of the Indies short-tailed cricket, Anurogryllus celerinictus. Biorxiv paper by Stubbs and Montealegre-Zapata. Recording of the wee beastie here - headphones recommended. Via The Guardian.
posted by carter (34 comments total)

Note that the researchers haven’t shown crickets were responsible for the diplomats’ injuries/symptoms; just that the mysterious sound some of them subsequently recorded was crickets. There’s a bit of misdirection by the headlines there.
posted by archy at 12:58 PM on January 6, 2019 [26 favorites]

Riiight, so as admitted at the end, why has no one been harmed by these crickets before then?

A better title would be bollocks.
posted by blue shadows at 1:24 PM on January 6, 2019 [10 favorites]

... crickets ...
posted by Kirth Gerson at 1:24 PM on January 6, 2019 [3 favorites]

The Grasshopper Lies Heavy
posted by The Whelk at 1:33 PM on January 6, 2019 [20 favorites]

Weaponized crickets
posted by chavenet at 1:34 PM on January 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Tinker Tailor Soldier Cricket
posted by azpenguin at 1:38 PM on January 6, 2019 [29 favorites]

The crickets are offered as a - fairly resonable - explanation for the sounds that the embassy personnel have heard, not as a cause of the various medical symptoms they have experienced.

It seems increasingly unlikely that any attacks have taken place, especially since diplomats in China report experiencing similar symptoms.
posted by Foci for Analysis at 1:44 PM on January 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

I knew those little fuckers were up to something.
posted by valkane at 1:51 PM on January 6, 2019 [9 favorites]

Bond. Jimny Bond.
posted by Splunge at 2:02 PM on January 6, 2019 [25 favorites]

I think I've found my new ringtone.
posted by night_train at 2:13 PM on January 6, 2019 [6 favorites]

"In medicine, [mass hysteria] is used to describe the spontaneous manifestation (production of chemicals in the body) of the same or similar hysterical physical symptoms by more than one person."
posted by muddgirl at 2:20 PM on January 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

There’s a bit of misdirection by the headlines there.

They seem OK to me.

Biorxiv: Recording of "sonic attacks" on U.S. diplomats in Cuba spectrally matches the echoing call of a Caribbean cricket

Guardian: 'Sonic attack' on US embassy in Havana could have been crickets, say scientists

Note the quotation marks around sonic attack.
posted by zamboni at 2:21 PM on January 6, 2019

It's not just crickets, old chap
posted by zamboni at 2:22 PM on January 6, 2019 [2 favorites]

i for one welcome our new diplomatic corps comprised of ravenous amphibians
posted by poffin boffin at 2:52 PM on January 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

There's a startup next door offering crickets in muesli.
posted by infini at 3:03 PM on January 6, 2019

Note the quotation marks around sonic attack
Surely that's because they were referring to
this masterpiece! Weaponising Hawkwind! Truly we live in an age of wonders!
posted by thatwhichfalls at 3:04 PM on January 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

Those crickets sound just like the 'death ray' laser from James Bond's Goldfinger
posted by Lanark at 3:16 PM on January 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

Sources report that the noisy cricket got wicked on em
posted by Riptor at 3:31 PM on January 6, 2019 [3 favorites]

The meek shall inherit the earth, indeed — Matthew 5:5.

The embassy was just a probe: when do the ants and cockroaches join the Hexapod Axis?
posted by cenoxo at 3:41 PM on January 6, 2019

Hiding in plain sight is a time-honored strategy in spycraft. The old listening bugs used to transmit on the same frequency as VHF television signals to foil detection.
posted by dr_dank at 3:49 PM on January 6, 2019

I predict this will be the next Wilhelm scream.
posted by srboisvert at 3:52 PM on January 6, 2019

Weaponising Hawkwind! Truly we live in an age of wonders!

Wasn't that Cheney-era Guantanamo?
posted by acb at 3:54 PM on January 6, 2019

posted by archy at 3:58 PM on January 6

Nearly eponysterical?
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:40 PM on January 6, 2019 [5 favorites]

This quote from the Guardian article clarifies my initial comment:

The identification of the sound source does not mean that an attack of some sort did not happen, but it casts doubt over the sound being responsible for the diplomats’ health problems. The cause and nature of their illnesses remains unclear.
[...]
Not all of the affected diplomats reported unusual sounds when they fell ill, and descriptions of any noises differed from person to person. Some recalled grinding or cicada-like sounds, while others experienced buffeting like that caused by an open car window.

I admit I thought ‘mass hysteria’ was a strong theory til I read this more detailed article in the New Yorker.
posted by archy at 4:43 PM on January 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

The tinnitus also occurs when partial deafness appears and the brain supplies a phantom sound, often other than ringing. If the ears are affected, it could be biological or chemical from any source.
posted by Brian B. at 5:06 PM on January 6, 2019

That's interesting, archy, because I thought it was more likely to be an attack until I read the article, after which I concluded it was more likely to be mass hysteria. n.b., I lived in the Hotel Nacional for a week during the period of time the New Yorker writes about.
posted by mwhybark at 5:08 PM on January 6, 2019

Old guy here: I click on the sampled sounds and hear nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Does this mean I should apply for work in the diplomatic corps?
posted by fredludd at 5:33 PM on January 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

This is how I imagine the human race is exterminated. A natural phenomenon that is attributed to an enemy’s malfeasance and escalates to nuclear Armageddon. We are a twitchy and paranoid species and this is how we deserve to go.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 6:10 PM on January 6, 2019 [4 favorites]

Goddamn Commie crickets!
posted by elsietheeel at 6:56 PM on January 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

I can barely hear this because it exactly duplicates my tinnitus. Freakishly so.
posted by Oyéah at 7:09 PM on January 6, 2019 [1 favorite]

The cricket who came in from the cold.
posted by goatdog at 7:53 PM on January 6, 2019

Nothing to add to the discussion other than Lizard heard crickets and came running.
posted by Lizard at 1:34 AM on January 7, 2019 [3 favorites]

The news outlets which suggested that sinister Russian machinations were behind these "attacks" sure look dumb now. Yet another example of irresponsible and shoddy reporting based on anonymous government/intelligence sources, as if another example were needed.
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 5:26 AM on January 7, 2019 [2 favorites]

Glenn's got the receipts
posted by Noisy Pink Bubbles at 10:00 AM on January 8, 2019