The World’s Quietest Place Lies Here… But Hardly Anyone Visits

In a world filled with constant noise, silence has become a rare luxury. Yet, there exists a place so quiet that visitors can hear the sound of their own heartbeat. This extraordinary spot is the anechoic chamber at Orfield Laboratories in Minneapolis, USA—recognised as the quietest place on Earth. Surprisingly, very few people ever experience it.

The chamber is designed to absorb 99.9 per cent of all sound. Its walls are lined with wedge-shaped fibreglass, double steel panels, and thick concrete, ensuring that no outside noise enters and no echo bounces back. Inside, the sound level has been measured at an astonishing 9 decibels, below the threshold of human hearing. For comparison, a library measures around 40 decibels, and even a calm forest is around 20 decibels.

This silence, however, is not always soothing. Many visitors find the chamber unsettling because, in the absence of external noise, the body’s internal sounds become magnified. People report hearing their heartbeat, lungs, or even the grinding of joints. Few can last more than half an hour inside without feeling disoriented, as the brain is unused to such complete quiet.

The chamber was originally built for scientific and industrial testing. Companies use it to measure the sound of products, from medical equipment to car parts. NASA has also used similar facilities to prepare astronauts for the sensory challenges of space. While Orfield Laboratories allows occasional tours, it remains far from a mainstream tourist attraction.