We think of space as a silent movie, someÂthing we see but nevÂer hear. Yet space creÂates a soundÂtrack of sorts (even if sound waves can’t realÂly travÂel through the cosÂmos), and now sciÂenÂtists and musiÂcians want to play that soundÂtrack for you.
EarÂliÂer this year, JanÂna Levin, ProÂfesÂsor of Physics and AstronÂoÂmy at Barnard College/Columbia UniÂverÂsiÂty, described how we can mathÂeÂmatÂiÂcalÂly modÂel the sounds made by black holes. Fast forÂward to the 10:27 mark of her TED Talk above, and you will hear what it sounds like when a lighter black hole falls into a heavÂier black hole. The litÂtle guy bangs against space, kind of like a drumb playÂing faster and faster … which brings us to MickÂey Hart, a forÂmer drumÂmer for The GrateÂful Dead.
In 2010, Hart teamed up with George Smoot, a Nobel Prize-winÂning physiÂcist at the Lawrence BerkeÂley NationÂal LabÂoÂraÂtoÂry, to reproÂduce the sound of The Big Bang and superÂnovas. (BerkeÂley Labs postÂed this superÂnoÂva clip above.) You can read more about the unlikeÂly pairÂing and the “Rhythms of the UniÂverse” project here, then expeÂriÂence more celesÂtial sounds recreÂatÂed by Hart here.
See also this preÂsenÂtaÂtion from HonÂor HargÂer who has been lisÂtenÂing to “the music of the spheres”:
http://videos.liftconference.com/video/1178813/honor-harger-listening-to-the