Datacenters Behaving Like Acoustic Weapons
Benn Jordan5 HN recommenders · recommended in 4 months, 2026-2026
1.8M views · 8 months ago · explainer · news
Benn Jordan investigates infrasound and low-frequency noise from data centers, including xAI's Colossus and a crypto mine, and reports his own experiments on the effects. The video covers the health and community impacts on nearby residents.
Cited in data center siting debates as evidence that noise and infrasound can seriously affect people living nearby.
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10 comments from Hacker News
The people having glass literally break from the vibrations would probably disagree with your opinion ▶ this video Yet here we are, discussing "data center" as if they're standardized and of similar (nose) isolation. There are no meaningful regulations in building them, and they can be incredibly polluting. So your experience with a potentially well isolated one is sadly not the norm going forward. And we don't even know how close you lived, if you're eg talking about "within 5km/3miles" then your experience would also have little value in this discussion in general.
The value of an AI data center in your area is negative, not near zero. Pollution, water use, heat, infrasound ( ▶ this video ) and so much more... But at least we may get some cheap heat in the future
I'm not an AI booster, nor an AI detractor. I like tech and progress. I'm mortified at the possibility of a data centre being built next to me at some point in the future [1]. [1]: ▶ this video
Yes, the noise pollution is insane. Benn Jordan's YT video "Datacenters Behaving Like Acoustic Weapons" is an insightful, scary 30 min video covering the datacenter infrasound noise, and the nasty things infrasound does to people: ▶ this video
It's easy to deliver things fast when you don't care at all for the local communities or residents whose lives you ruin in the process. ▶ this video (@ 4:08)
Watch these ▶ this video link link Then, tell me if you want to live anywhere near those. Then, tell me of a nuclear power plant that has that bad a repo.
This is a really great watch from Benn Jordan on the topic ▶ this video Some wild things happening with those, and infrasound. Colossus is shown 4 mins in
No, it will just burn GWs worth of natural gas. Benn Jordan has captured quite an interesting evidence: ▶ this video
Plugging this video about infrasound, which I only recently learned was a thing: ▶ this video These datacenters can be built in ways to limit this kind of noise pollution, but it appears local leaders do not think about things like this that can truly harm their constituents.
This research presentation from Benn Jordan will hopefully change your mind on the noise issue and its consequences. I highly recommend it. ▶ this video