Special Feature

Podcast: The Sounds of Data

• Physics 17, 113
Sonification and other multisensorial approaches offer powerful tools to analyze data, help visually impaired researchers, communicate science, and create science-inspired art.

LISTEN HERE, ON APPLE PODCASTS, OR ON SPOTIFY.

In this episode of This is Physics, Physics Magazine speaks with scientists who rely on senses other than their sight, such as hearing and touch, to interpret data, communicate their research, and make art. For example, they use sonification—the transformation of data into sound—to “listen” to hydrogen bonds and interpret gravitational-wave signals and other astrophysical data. Sonification also offers tools for visually impaired researchers and scientific outreach.

Podcast host Julie Gould speaks with the following guests: Martin Gruebele, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, US; Carla Scaletti; Scott Hughes, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, US; Garry Foran, Swinburne University of Technology, Australia; Beatriz Garcia, National Technological University, Argentina; Anita Zanella, National Institute for Astrophysics, Italy; Nigel Meredith, British Antarctic Survey, UK; Diana Scarborough, University of Cambridge, UK.

Music credit: Sounds of Space project by Nigel Meredith, Diana Scarborough, and Kim Cunio. Excerpts from Celestial Incantations: Stone Age Ice; Aurora Musicalis: The Ending of the Symphony of the Harmony of Celestial Revelations; and Sunconscious: Sunset Phosphorescence.

–Julie Gould

Julie Gould is a freelance science journalist and podcast producer based in London.


Recent Articles

Surprising Feature in a Topological Superconductor Candidate
Superconductivity

Surprising Feature in a Topological Superconductor Candidate

A new hint of topological superconductivity has been identified in an iron-based superconductor. Read More »

A Quantum Cyclotron for Antimatter
Particles and Fields

A Quantum Cyclotron for Antimatter

A device that stores a single positron and controls its quantum states could measure its magnetic moment with unprecedented precision, testing a symmetry principle central to quantum field theory. Read More »

Putting Momentum Under the Microscope
Quantum Physics

Putting Momentum Under the Microscope

A new method lets quantum gas microscopes measure not only where atoms are but also how they move. Read More »

More Articles