Is silence blood-curdling or blissful? CrowdScience listener Ziqi finds it intolerable and thinks that there’s a good reason for it – silence is so rare in nature that it could be a signal for danger.

Presenter Marnie Chesterton is on a mission to test Ziqi’s theory, starting with her own tolerance for silence.

Marnie also talks to researcher Eric Pfeifer in Germany, who is exploring the impact of spending time in silence and has evidence to suggest that it could be a positive experience.

And neuroscientist Marta Moita in Portugal tells Marnie about how rats use silence to detect a threat in their environment. Her discoveries may hold the answer to Ziqi’s question.

Presenter Marnie Chesterton

Producer Jo Glanville

Editor Ben Motley