An anechoic chamber is the quietest room you can stand in. Most people last about twenty minutes before they want to leave: you start to hear your heartbeat, your blood, the tiny click of your own eyes moving.
Silence is the wrong goal
That is why Q1 does not aim for silence. It aims for calm: the engines, the air-con and the hum go, but a little of the room stays, so your head knows where it is.
Forty-two
Forty-two decibels is the difference between a city bus and a library at night. It is also, we noticed later, the answer to everything.
