Seismic data collected from around the world - including New Zealand - has found that the world was half as loud during lockdown.
The measuring of seismic waves is usually focused on detecting earthquakes and volcanic activity but during the global lockdowns, seismographs were able to pick up vibrations from humans on the earth's surface.
Scientists have called it the 'anthropause' because it's the longest and most prominent reduction in noise created by humans on record.
Dr Kasper van Wijk from the Department of Physics at the University of Auckland is one of the study's lead authors.
