Does this sound illusion fool you?

Audio illusions show us that hearing is about more than just sensing frequency. Which ones trick you every time? Head to https://brilliant.org/veritasium to start your free 30-day trial and get 20% off an annual premium subscription.

If you’re looking for a molecular modeling kit, try Snatoms, a kit I invented where the atoms snap together magnetically. https://snatoms.com/

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A big thank you to Titus Grenyer over at Pep Organ for showing us around the Sydney Town Hall Organ, to Dr. Diana Deutsch for providing her illusions and insight into the field, to Casey Connor for advice on building sound illusions, and to Dr. Michael Bach for providing the motion-bounce illusion.

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References: https://ve42.co/AudioIllusionsRefs

Images & Video:

Aircraft Detection before radar, 1917-1940 - https://ve42.co/e
Women’s Auxiliary Air Force operator Denise Miley - https://ve42.co/f
Daventry Experiment Van, operated by “Jock” Herd - https://ve42.co/g
Perfect fifth - https://ve42.co/h
Denge acoustic mirrors - The original uploader was Jksolomon at English Wikipedia. - https://ve42.co/q
Denge sound mirrors | Sound Mirrors https://ve42.co/u
Mayer telescope in 1880, US patent number 224199. NAE Website - Acoustic Source Localization Techniques and Their Applications https://ve42.co/s
Professor Mayer’s Topophone - https://ve42.co/t

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Special thanks to our Patreon supporters:

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Directed by Sulli Yost and Derek Muller
Hosted by Derek Muller
Written by Sulli Yost and Derek Muller
Edited by Jack Saxon and Peter Nelson
Animated by Fabio Albertelli, David Szakaly, and Ivy Tello
Illustrations by Jakub Misiek
Filmed by Derek Muller
Produced by Sulli Yost, Derek Muller, Rob Beasley Spence, Emily Lazard, Tori Brittain, Emily Zhang, Petr Lebedev, Gregor Čavlović, and Gabe Bean

Thumbnail contributions by Peter Sheppard and Ren Hurley

Additional video/photos supplied by Getty Images, Storyblocks, and Envato

Music from GarageBand, Virtual Piano, and Epidemic Sound