Chicago IL (SPX) May 12, 2023 - You may know how other planets look, like the rust orange, dusty surface of Mars or the vibrant teal of Uranus. But what do those planets sound like?
Timothy G. Leighton from the University of
The coqui frog is one of Puerto Rico's most iconic animals. It gets its name from its distinctive two-note call, "co-qui," which can be heard throughout the island every night.
Scientists can harness sound on other worlds to learn about properties that might otherwise require a lot of expensive equipment, like the chemical composition of rocks, how atmospheric temperature changes, or the roughness of the ground. Extraterrestrial sounds could also be used in the search for life. Timothy G. Leighton from the University of Southampton has designed a software program that produces extraterrestrial environmental sounds and predicts how human voices might change in distant worlds. He will demonstrate his work at the upcoming 184th ASA Meeting.
To reach the stratosphere, Daniel Bowman of Sandia National Laboratories and his collaborators build relatively simple, solar-powered balloons that span 6 to 7 meters across. After releasing the balloons, they track their routes using GPS and use them to collect data and detect low-frequency sound with microbarometers. Rarely disturbed by planes or turbulence, the microphones on the balloons pick up a variety of sounds unheard anywhere else. Bowman will present his findings using these hot air balloons to eavesdrop on stratospheric sounds at the upcoming 184th ASA Meeting.
At the 184th ASA Meeting, Colin Malloy of Ocean Network Canada will present his method to transform ocean data into captivating, solo percussion songs. He employs sound from hydrophones and introduces elements inspired by ocean-related data such as temperature, acidity, and oxygenation. For example, in his piece, Oil & Water, Malloy represents the impact of oil production on the oceans. He plays an eerily catchy melody on steel drums and inserts noise to represent oil production over the past 120 years.