(NEWS.com.au) — What is the most unpleasant, revolting or even horrific sound in the world?
Scientists from Newcastle University in the UK used 13 volunteers to test their reaction to 74 different noises to find out what sound humans find most unpleasant and pleasant.
Fingernails on a chalkboard, screeching tires and the sound of an animal dying were among the favourites.
But the tests discovered that a sharp knife scraped against a glass bottle was the most unpleasant, The Guardian in the UK reported.
Following up that unpleasant screech – think of the sound of a knife trying to get the last drop of jam from a jar – is a fork on glass. Then the almost redundant practice of chalk on a blackboard, a ruler on a bottle and fingernails on a blackboard (also no longer commonplace in our society).