28th July 2005, 10:18 PM
Okay here's an interesting page...
http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/mcgreevy/
What this consists of is some fellow's experiments with recording certain light frequencies and converting them directly to sound, as in, the same sound waves. The light waves are actually of such a low frequency that they are in the realm of sound wave frequencies. Specifically, really low radio wave frequencies.
Anyway, since it's a direct conversion, there's no pitch substitution like one might do with other odd conversions, and it really is pretty much hearing light.
These waves are produced by our own lovely magnetic field on the planet, which is being bombarded by the solar wind.
So um, what does it sound like?
Well, the entire reason I'm posting this here is because I thought of a certain video game. Listen to the first few files there and you may think, as I did "Hey, Earthbound!". It's like those crazy background sound effects (either played on their own or "under" the game's normal sounding music" used all over the place in that game for odd alien sounding effect! I have a feeling this is where they got the idea.
http://www-pw.physics.uiowa.edu/mcgreevy/
What this consists of is some fellow's experiments with recording certain light frequencies and converting them directly to sound, as in, the same sound waves. The light waves are actually of such a low frequency that they are in the realm of sound wave frequencies. Specifically, really low radio wave frequencies.
Anyway, since it's a direct conversion, there's no pitch substitution like one might do with other odd conversions, and it really is pretty much hearing light.
These waves are produced by our own lovely magnetic field on the planet, which is being bombarded by the solar wind.
So um, what does it sound like?
Well, the entire reason I'm posting this here is because I thought of a certain video game. Listen to the first few files there and you may think, as I did "Hey, Earthbound!". It's like those crazy background sound effects (either played on their own or "under" the game's normal sounding music" used all over the place in that game for odd alien sounding effect! I have a feeling this is where they got the idea.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)