In June 1883 the magazine The Chautauquan posed the question, "If a tree were to fall on an island where there were no human beings would there be any sound?"
The article went on to explain, "Sound is vibration, transmitted to our senses through the mechanism of the ear, and recognized as sound only at our nerve centers. The falling of the tree or any other disturbance will produce vibration of the air. If there be no ears to hear, there will be no sound."
This question and answer does not take into consideration more modern sound recording equipment which was unknown at the time.
From September 2008 through August 2011 NASA’s Opportunity valiantly traversed the 13 mile trek from Victoria Crater to Endeavour Crater on the surface of the planet Mars. During those three years Opportunity traveled on 309 days. At the end of each it took a photo of the surroundings. On October 10, 2011 NASA produced a video using the 309 photos and the sound produced by accelerometers on board the craft.
This video with accompanying sound track proves that, yes, a sound is produced even though there is no one in the vicinity at the moment to hear it as there surely was no one on Mars to hear that lonely little surface traveler.
More information can be gleaned at: http://www.nasa.gov/
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