Residents of this island can't escape a mysterious hum

From the BBC: "Islanders in the Outer Hebrides say their lives are being disrupted by a mysterious low frequency humming sound that can be heard day and night. Lauren-Grace Kirtley, who has set up a Facebook page dedicated to the "Hebridean Hum", said about 200 people on Lewis have reported hearing the noise. Dr Kirtley said the sound had prevented her from sleeping properly for several weeks, adding: "It's impossible to ignore - it is like somebody shouting in your face constantly for attention." Marcus-Hazel McGowan, who has been using amateur radio techniques to try and find the source, added: "It's just trying to narrow it down and hoping nobody loses their mind completely over it." The local council, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, said it had received reports relating to low frequency sounds from a small number of islanders."

Four years after he died, lab-grown parts of a composer's brain are making new music

From Forbes: "Legendary avant-garde composer Alvin Lucier died in 2021 — but that hasn’t stopped him from making new music. Credit an artificial “brain,” grown from his own cells, that emits sound-triggering electrical signals. This in-vitro structure lives at the Art Gallery of Western Australia in Perth. There, through Aug. 3, visitors can wander through "Revivification," an immersive installation that merges sound and biotechnology to imagine a compelling way creativity could, potentially, live on long after artists die. The provocative installation features tiny 3D organoids, sealed and displayed on a raised pedestal, that resemble a developing human brain. Their neural activity sends signals that activate electromechanical mallets to strike 20 curved, wall-mounted brass plates, sending ambient sound rippling through the gallery."

This radio host has had a show for six months but listeners just found out she doesn't exist

From The Sydney Morning Herald: "A Sydney radio station has been using an AI-generated host for about six months without disclosing it. It was revealed last week that Australian Radio Network’s (ARN) Sydney-based CADA station, which broadcasts across western Sydney and is available online and through the iHeartRadio app, had created and deployed an AI host for its Workdays with Thy slot. The artificial host known as “Thy” is on-air at 11am each weekday to present four hours of hip-hop. After initial questioning from Stephanie Coombes in The Carpet newsletter, it was revealed that the station used ElevenLabs – a generative AI audio platform that transforms text into speech – to create Thy, whose likeness and voice were cloned from a real employee in the ARN finance team. The Australian Communications and Media Authority said there were currently no specific restrictions on the use of AI."

Hi everyone! Mathew Ingram here. I am able to continue writing this newsletter in part because of your financial help and support, which you can do either through my Patreon or by upgrading your subscription to a monthly contribution. I enjoy gathering all of these links and sharing them with you, but it does take time, and your support makes it possible for me to do that. I also write a weekly newsletter of technology analysis called The Torment Nexus.

This sunken WWII warship has a car parked in the hangar and no one knows why

From the Miami Herald: "A vehicle has been found parked in the hangar of the USS Yorktown, which was famously sunk in the Pacific by a Japanese submarine during World War II. The baffling discovery was made when NOAA Ocean Exploration sent a remotely operated camera inside the massive wreck, about 1,000 miles northwest of Honolulu. Yorktown was an 809-foot-long aircraft carrier, known to host about 2,200 personnel, 90 aircraft ... and apparently, one car. The vehicle was found upright near the carrier’s elevator 3, and immediately had historians scrambling for explanations. One possibility: It’s Rear Admiral Frank Fletcher’s flag car, they guessed. Closer inspection by the camera revealed flared fenders, hints of a rag top, chrome trim and and a spare tire, researchers said.It is suspected the car is a 1940-41 Ford Super Deluxe ‘Woody’ in black, according to NOAA Ocean Exploration researchers."

This 1.2-mile long ring in Osaka is the world's largest wooden structure

From Interesting Engineering: "The Grand Ring, a huge 2 km (1.2 miles) circular wooden walkway, showcases innovative engineering and design.  Constructed for the ongoing Osaka 2025 Expo in Japan, Guinness World Records recognized it as the planet’s “largest wooden architectural structure” on March 4, 2025. The colossal wooden walkway loop was constructed by Sou Fujimoto Architects. The Grand Ring is constructed primarily from local Japanese cedar and cypress, with some imported Scots pine. This massive wooden structure is approximately 30 meters wide (98 ft) with an outer diameter of 675 meters (2,214 ft). Moreover, it features a 12-meter-high (40 ft) “Sky Walk” adorned with flowers, providing exceptional views of the Expo and its surroundings."

A 98-year-old WWII veteran drives an antique tank over a Tesla

Acknowledgements: I find a lot of these links myself, but I also get some from other newsletters that I rely on as "serendipity engines," such as The Morning News from Rosecrans Baldwin and Andrew Womack, Jodi Ettenberg's Curious About Everything, Dan Lewis's Now I Know, Robert Cottrell and Caroline Crampton's The Browser, Clive Thompson's Linkfest, Noah Brier and Colin Nagy's Why Is This Interesting, Maria Popova's The Marginalian, Sheehan Quirke AKA The Cultural Tutor, the Smithsonian magazine, and JSTOR Daily. If you come across something interesting that you think should be included here, please feel free to email me at mathew @ mathewingram dot com