Professor: Cicadas' Hiss Could Be Dangerous

http://www.thebeerbarrel.net/showthread.php?7712-Professor-Cicadas-Hiss-Could-Be-Dangerous

Cicadas actually hiss louder than the average person shouts. If you're close enough to them for long enough, they may actually be dangerous to your hearing.The cicada sound may not seem special at this point, but it only comes every 13 years, and its loudness, or decibel, is somewhat spectacular."They're in the neighborhood of 90 decibels or above, if you get real close to them," said Todd Ricketts.Ricketts is an associate professor of hearing and speech at Vanderbilt. He measured the cicadas hiss on Vanderbilt's campus at about 86 decibels."Annoying, irritating and you have to shout to talk over them," said Ricketts.For some perspective, the cicada reading is significantly louder than the average conversation and about the same level as a train's whistle