October 23, 2003
B flat
I'd just finished reading a Scientific American special edition called "The Once and Future Cosmos" I wanted to try and get an overview of what people actually researched in the department and how it interelated. Now on the train I was thinking that it would be good to try and make a map of it all, fit it all together in a diagram. That way I could check I had my facts right. So that was one thing to do. There were a few things I had broadly sketched out in my head that I wanted to see if I could work with. Extra spatial dimensions was one,always good for twisting my head in knots. Another was to see how various bits of data could be visualised using sound. And of course to find out what sounds there are out in the cosmos.
I typed astrophysics +sound into google and immediately found the url of a report about an x ray telescope detecting sound waves emanating from a black hole. B flat, 57 octaves below middle C. Spent a bit of time on my map and went to see who I could talk too. I thought that the last thing people would want is to be disturbed in the middle of their work but Pedro was quite insistent this is what I should do. Thought I'd start off by trying GB who people had said made simulations. So I went to see him and we arranged to meet the following week.
Met some people at tea time in the afternoon who work with Pedro on Cosmic Microwave Background. We talked a bit about my wanting to try and use data to create sound. In the likley event of different possible topologies of the universe sounding rubbish AL had the wonderful idea of reverse engineering topologies from beautiful sounds.
