Cookies on the Business Insider India website

Business Insider India has updated its Privacy and Cookie policy. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the better experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we\'ll assume that you are happy to receive all cookies on the Business Insider India website. However, you can change your cookie setting at any time by clicking on our Cookie Policy at any time. You can also see our Privacy Policy.

Scientists are stunned by these mysterious 'singing' sands

Rebecca HarringtonJul 21, 2016, 18:02 IST

The sands in Kazakhstan's Altyn-Emel national park play their own eerie music.

A tourist stands at the edge of the singing sand, the 490 foot-high by 1.86-mile-long (150-metre-high by three-kilometre-long) dune that generates a low-pitched, organ-like rumble in dry weather, in Altyn-Emel national park in Almaty region, Kazakhstan, May 12, 2016.Shamil Zhumatov/REUTERS

Locals call them the "singing sands" because they emit a low, musical sound. Scientists haven't figured out all the details of how they produce such synchronized notes, but they do have some idea of what's going on.

Here's what they have found out so far: