Q.
Which sounds do people hate the most?

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A.
We all have our personal pet peeves (Ugh to scraping, squishing styrofoam), but researchers have looked in brain-searing depth at the sounds that cause the most universal discomfort. In a Journal of Neuroscience study, researchers Sukhbinder Kumar, Katharina von Kriegstein, Karl Friston and Timothy D Griffiths had subjects listen to 74 sound clips and judge each on their level of unpleasantness.

The worst of the worst?

Most Unpleasant Sounds

1. Knife on a bottle
2. Fork on a glass
3. Chalk on a blackboard
4. Ruler on a bottle
5. Nails on a blackboard
6. Female Scream
7. Anglegrinder
8. Brakes on a cycle squealing
9. Baby crying
10. Electric drill

It wasn’t all ear-torture for these poor subjects. They did find some aural joy in the …

Least Unpleasant Sounds

1. Applause
2. Baby laughing
3. Thunder
4. Water flowing

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