Here’s What Earth Sounded Like 40,000 Years Ago When Its Magnetic Field Flipped [Video]

Scientists have unveiled sounds from thousands of years ago when Earth’s magnetic field briefly reversed.

Known as the Laschamps event, the flip occurred approximately 40,000 years ago. This event of the planet’s magnetic poles has long intrigued researchers, and new insights are shedding light on its potential environmental and behavioral impacts.

The soundscape was made by scientists at the Technical University of Denmark and the German Research Centre for Geosciences using data from the European Space Agency‘s (ESA) Swarm mission.

ESA said that the eerie noises are recordings of natural sounds like wood creaking and rocks falling. “The process of transforming the sounds with data is similar to composing music from a score,” it said.

During the Laschamps event, the Earth’s magnetic field weakened to just 5 percent of its current strength. This significant reduction allowed a surge of cosmic rays to penetrate the atmosphere, leaving isotopic traces in ice cores and marine sediments. Among the notable …