18: the largest number of Z’s in a single sound effect in the comics of Don Martin from *Mad Magazine* (for a buzzing bee)
12,000: number of annual premature deaths in Europe attributable to noise pollution
10: number of dollars, in millions, raised by the manufacturer of an “AI-enabled toy uses voice recognition and natural language processing to help instill good sleep habits in children at night and provide entertainment and educational activities during the day”
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¹Footnotes
Mad: [madcoversite.com](https://www.madcoversite.com/dmd-alphabetical.html), [hilobrow.com](https://www.hilobrow.com/2022/04/19/eye-candy-52/). Europe: [newscientist.com](https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg25433832-000-the-sonic-wonders-of-our-world-are-under-threat-we-need-to-listen/). Toy: [voicebot.ai](https://voicebot.ai/2022/04/20/childrens-bedtime-robot-startup-snorble-raises-10m/)
*Originally published in the April 25, 2022, edition of the This Week in Sound email newsletter. Get it in your inbox via [tinyletter.com/disquiet](https://tinyletter.com/disquiet).*