In Oymyakon, Russia, it is so cold that your breath freezes instantly, making a tinkling sound called the 'whisper of stars.'

Oymyakon is a village in the Sakha Republic of Russia, located along the Indigirka River. It holds the record for the lowest recorded temperature for any permanently inhabited location, reaching -67.7°C (-89.9°F) in 1933. The 'whisper of stars' phenomenon occurs because the extreme cold causes rapid desublimation, where water vapor turns directly into solid ice crystals without becoming liquid first.Meteorologists explain that at temperatures below -50°C, the air is too cold to hold moisture. When a person exhales, the warm, moist air from the lungs meets the frigid atmosphere, causing the water molecules to snap into a crystalline structure. The resulting sound is caused by the friction and collision of these tiny ice shards as they fall toward the ground.The region's geography contributes to these extreme conditions. Oymyakon sits in a valley between two mountain ranges, which traps cold, dense air at the bottom in a process known as a temperature inversion. According to data from the World Meteorological Organization, the ground remains frozen year-round as permafrost, sometimes extending to depths of 1,500 meters (4,900 feet).Living in such conditions requires unique adaptations. Residents often use outdoor outhouses because indoor plumbing would freeze and burst. Additionally, the local diet consists heavily of frozen raw fish and reindeer meat, as crops cannot grow in the frozen soil. The 'whisper of stars' remains one of the most poetic yet chilling reminders of the physics of extreme cold.