Scientists and Experts have been doing some serious thinking at the Large Hadron Collider (aka That Thing That's Going to Create the Black Hole into Which We Will All be Sucked). First they thought about the Higgs bosun particle (aka the "God Particle," and that's what the physicists themselves call it, I am not making that up). Higgs bosun is a theoretical sub-atomic particle that physicists think may be the one thing that gives all other particles their mass. After they thought up Higgs bosun, the Scientists and Experts brought in Dr. Lily Asquith, who is a particle physicist specializing in sonification, the conversion of scientific data into sound. Dr. Asquith thought about what kinds of energy might be emitted if a Higgs bosun particle (which might exist!) were to be created during collisions at the Large Hadron Collider (and if creating it did not cause the Earth to be sucked into itself), and then she made the so-far-theoretical data into sounds: The Music of the Spheres!
What does the God Particle sound like? You can listen to it here, in an article from BBC News, but mostly it sounds like the parts of Fabio's shows where I walk away and do something else for a while. Yet many ancient religions incorporate specific holy sounds and tones, and one of the software engineers who is working with Dr. Asquith says that the Scientists and Experts who have listened to the song of the Higgs bosun have had "something akin to a religious experience." Indeed, whenever I think of what they're doing at the Large Hadron Collider, I say a little prayer.
"What does the God Particle sound like? You can listen to it here"
I give it an 83. It's got a good beat and you can dance to it...
Posted by: Andrew | June 23, 2010 at 07:37 AM
Finally something that sounds like Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works, Vol. II. I knew there was something I liked about that guy.
Posted by: icanhazz | June 23, 2010 at 02:20 PM
What does a sailor named Higgs have to do with bosonic particles? And why aren't we swallowed up daily by the black holes due to the superhigh energy collision of cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere? I have so many _questions_ today.
Posted by: K. | June 23, 2010 at 07:23 PM
Here's another question. Why can't some people resist the urge to correct?
Posted by: Listener Ralphine | June 25, 2010 at 12:27 AM