the sanctuary recorded roughly 2,300 celebrations, a figure that includes baptisms, weddings, Masses, and organized pilgrimages Photo: Shutterstock-ricardo cohen - rcview

How do music and sound generate experiences of wonder? Stanford researchers launch investigation into sound and transcendence

At the heart of the project lies a provocative hypothesis. Many sacred sites, the researchers argue, produce acoustic effects that disrupt ordinary sensory expectations. Echoes blur spatial boundaries, sound sources become difficult to locate, distances seem to stretch or collapse. What the eyes perceive as finite and material, the ears experience as expansive and elusive