While there is no sound in space due to lack of atmosphere, ships and EVA suits typically have built in sound systems linked up to their scanning systems synthesizing sounds (eg. Nuclear engine or impulse engine or a Photon beam or even an Ak-47) based on scanned data as a way of informing the ship’s occupants of its external environment – of course you can’t hear a drifting ship or its weapons 100 km from you, even in atmosphere - don’t be silly. However even in the future human beings have ears, and having audio information is a good way of avoiding the cluttering of visual cues on your HUD.
What have you got to say NOW? STUPID SNOBBY PHYSICS TEACHER
Well sound needs a medium to travel, and space is just vacuum. So yes unless we have a way of making sound travel without a medium your physics teacher is right.
To rephrase the OP, as it was terribly phrased there:
Humans have grown reliant on sound as a means of observing their environment, as it has a considerably wider range than sight.
Therefore, it would make sense for a ship's sensors to pick up what's happening nearby specifically to convert to sound, to keep the pilot or captain properly informed as to what's going on nearby. Eyes cannot constantly watch all directions; ears can.
This is the explanation Tyrian uses, incidentally.
That said, your physics teacher is still right, because the sound in this concept isn't actually caused by things happening nearby.
![[Image: oNG6Z9E.gif]](https://i.imgur.com/oNG6Z9E.gif)
