Sounds of nuclei
An interesting, if diffcult to understand, article on listening to the nuclei of atoms using NMR Spectroscopy by Prof. Dr. Water Bauer at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. While the science is complicated, the electronics to listen in are not.
How difficult is it to modify an existing spectrometer for auditory FID monitoring? If you are familiar with electronics it takes not more than half an hour of soldering and wiring.
According to the block diagram, just splice in two wires and plug them into a stereo. Of course, you need the machine above, but who doesn’t have one of those, right? The sound below is CH3CHO (found in coffee and ripe fruit, and is believed to be the chemical that causes hangovers), sampled four different times.
Via: Auditory Presentation of Free Induction Decay (FID) Signals Generated by NMR Spectrometers
Tumblr API
Tumblr’s API allows XML access to post content and related information.
For example, this link:
http://demo.tumblr.com/api/read
… it returns this XML file (truncated for this post):
<tumblr version=”1.0″>
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<tumblelog name=”demo” timezone=”US/Eastern” title=”Demo”>
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit, sed diam nonummy nibh euismod tincidunt ut laoreet dolore magna aliquam erat volutpat.
</tumblelog>
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<posts start=”0″ total=”6″>
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<post id=”236″ url=”http://demo.tumblr.com/post/236″ url-with-slug=”http://demo.tumblr.com/post/236/it-does-not-matter-how-slow-you-go-so-long-as-you” type=”quote” date-gmt=”2006-11-08 19:27:00 GMT” date=”Wed, 08 Nov 2006 14:27:00″ unix-timestamp=”1163014020″ format=”html” reblog-key=”iKvmNy9T” slug=”it-does-not-matter-how-slow-you-go-so-long-as-you”>
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<quote-text>
It does not matter how slow you go so long as you do not stop.
</quote-text>
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<quote-source>
Wisdom of <a href=”http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confucius”>Confucius</a>
</quote-source>
<tag>wisdom</tag>
</post>
Sound of the first million years
If you can ignore the initial ultra-cheesy graphic (not the one above, which is the Cosmic Microwave Background), Mark Whittle’s article on the unpacking of the sound of the universe after the Big Bang is fascinating. It turns out that in space, people can hear you scream… at least, during the first million years you can. A few interesting quotes (emphasis Whittle’s), and a simulation of the sound:
… the Big Bang started out utterly silent! The initial expansion was absolutely pure and “radial” – no parts were catching up any other parts, and hence there were no pressure waves, and hence no sound. All was quiet.
… [at the time of the Big Bang] the Universe was much smaller (by at least a factor of 1000), and all the matter we now find in stars and galaxies was spread out uniformly. Add to this the fact that the young Universe was also much hotter, and we learn that over the first million years, all of space was filled with a hot thin uniform glowing gas, a billion times denser than the current cosmic density. Not only did the Universe have an atmosphere – in a sense, it was an atmosphere. It was within this atmosphere that sound waves could form and move in the young Universe.
… How do we measure the pressure variations in the primordial atmosphere? Simple: we look at the brightness variations on the CMB. These variations tell us the strength of the pressure waves were between one ten-thousandth (10-4) and one hundred thousandth (10-5). So these correspond to around 110 decibels. This is neither inaudibly quiet nor lethally loud: it is powerfully loud — it is about as loud as a rock concert!
This is what the universe sounded like, shifted up 50 octaves (to be audible) and compressed into 10 seconds.
Via: Mark Whittle
KaBoomBoom
Apparently, these kids and their dad James Kochalka started a band named “KaBoomBoom” over their holiday break. Three songs in total, my favorite is below; how can you beat a song called “Little Robots” and the lyrics “lasers and axes and swords and bombs”?
Braid Theory
Via: Wikipedia
Uncanny Valley
The Uncanny Valley is a dip in likability of replications of humans (robots, zombies, puppets, etc) as they approach “human-ness”. I wonder where paintings and sculptures of humans comes into this.
Holmgren’s permaculture principles as studio practice?
David Holmgren’s “12 Design Principles” are intended for permaculture, but seem completely applicable to a studio practice.
- Observe and interact – By taking the time to engage with nature we can design solutions that suit our particular situation.
- Catch and store energy – By developing systems that collect resources when they are abundant, we can use them in times of need.
- Obtain a yield – Ensure that you are getting truly useful rewards as part of the work that you are doing.
- Apply self-regulation and accept feedback – We need to discourage inappropriate activity to ensure that systems can continue to function well.
- Use and value renewable resources and services – Make the best use of nature’s abundance to reduce our consumptive behaviour and dependence on non-renewable resources.
- Produce no waste – By valuing and making use of all the resources that are available to us, nothing goes to waste.
- Design from patterns to details – By stepping back, we can observe patterns in nature and society. These can form the backbone of our designs, with the details filled in as we go.
- Integrate rather than segregate – By putting the right things in the right place, relationships develop between those things and they work together to support each other.
- Use small and slow solutions – Small and slow systems are easier to maintain than big ones, making better use of local resources and producing more sustainable outcomes.
- Use and value diversity – Diversity reduces vulnerability to a variety of threats and takes advantage of the unique nature of the environment in which it resides.
- Use edges and value the marginal – The interface between things is where the most interesting events take place. These are often the most valuable, diverse and productive elements in the system.
- Creatively use and respond to change – We can have a positive impact on inevitable change by carefully observing, and then intervening at the right time.
Via: Wikipedia
Random.org
The very interesting Random.org has lots of random integer, Keno numbers, jazz scale, etc generators on their site. My two favorites are:
Random Geographic Coordinates – plan a vacation this way? You can contact twiddy rentals to rent a beautiful place next to the beach, I have had awesome experiences with them.
Random Bitmap Generator – not that this is that hard to do with simple programming, but a nice and simple interface for those not inclined
“Hanatrash” performance with a backhoe
According to Pitchfork’s “The Decade in Noise”, Eye Yamatsuka (of the Boredoms) while performing with his band Hanatrash in 1985 drove a backhoe through the back wall of the venue and proceeded to rip up the stage. Sadly, I couldn’t find an audio recording but there is a slideshow of grainy black-and-white photographs.
Here is a video of Hanatrash from a similar period.