TEDSalon London Spring 2011
Honor Harger: A history of the universe in sound
Honor Harger: Zvučna povijest svemira
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Umjetnica-tehnologinja Honor Harger sluša čudne i prekrasne zvukove zvijezda i planeta i pulzara. U njezinom radu, ona prati radio valove koje emitiraju ta drevna nebeska tijela i pretvara ih u zvuk, uključujući "najstariju pjesmu koju ste ikada čuli", zvuk svemirskih zraka koje su ostale nakon Velikog praska.
Honor Harger - Artist
Honor Harger explores the sounds of the sky, using art to connect her audience to the universe. Full bio
Honor Harger explores the sounds of the sky, using art to connect her audience to the universe. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
00:21
Space,
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Svemir,
00:23
we all know what it looks like.
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svi znamo kako izgleda.
00:25
We've been surrounded by images of space
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Okruženi smo slikama svemira
00:27
our whole lives,
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cijeli naš život,
00:29
from the speculative images
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od spektakularnih slika
00:31
of science fiction
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znanstvene fantastike
00:33
to the inspirational visions of artists
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preko inspirativnih vizija umjetnika
00:36
to the increasingly beautiful pictures
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do sve većeg broja prekrasnih slika
00:39
made possible by complex technologies.
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koje je omogućila kompleksna tehnologija.
00:42
But whilst we have
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No, dok smo imali
00:44
an overwhelmingly vivid
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neodoljivo životopisno
00:46
visual understanding of space,
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vizualno razumijevanje svemira,
00:48
we have no sense of what space sounds like.
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nemamo osjećaj kako svemir zvuči.
00:51
And indeed, most people associate space with silence.
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I stvarno, većina ljudi povezuje svemir s tišinom.
00:55
But the story of how
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Ali priča o tome kako
00:57
we came to understand the universe
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smo počeli razumijevati svemir
00:59
is just as much a story of listening
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je jednako toliko priča o slušanju
01:01
as it is by looking.
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kao i o gledanju.
01:04
And yet despite this,
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A unatoč tome,
01:06
hardly any of us have ever heard space.
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teško da je itko od nas čuo kako zvuči svemir.
01:09
How many of you here
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Koliko vas ovdje
01:11
could describe the sound
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bi moglo opisati zvuk
01:13
of a single planet or star?
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jednog planeta ili zvijezde?
01:15
Well in case you've ever wondered,
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U slučaju da ste se ikada zapitali
01:17
this is what the Sun sounds like.
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ovako zvuči Sunce.
01:19
(Static)
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(Atmosferske smetnje)
01:33
(Crackling)
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(Pucketanje)
01:37
(Static)
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(Atmosferske smetnje)
01:43
(Crackling)
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(Pucketanje)
01:47
This is the planet Jupiter.
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Ovo je planet Jupiter.
01:50
(Soft crackling)
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(Nježno pucketanje)
02:10
And this is the space probe Cassini
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A ovo je svemirska sonda Cassini
02:13
pirouetting through the ice rings of Saturn.
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kako se vrti kroz ledene prstenove Saturna.
02:17
(Crackling)
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(Pucketanje)
02:37
This is a a highly condensed clump
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Ovo je jako kondenzirani grumen
02:40
of neutral matter,
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neutralne tvari,
02:42
spinning in the distant universe.
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kako se vrti u udaljenom svemiru.
02:46
(Tapping)
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(Kuckanje)
03:04
So my artistic practice
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Tako se moja umjetnička praksa
03:06
is all about listening
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uglavnom svodi na slušanje
03:08
to the weird and wonderful noises
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čudnih i prekrasnih zvukova
03:11
emitted by the magnificent celestial objects
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koje emitiraju veličanstvena nebeska tijela
03:14
that make up our universe.
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koja čine naš svemir.
03:17
And you may wonder,
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I možda ćete se pitati,
03:19
how do we know what these sounds are?
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kako znamo što predstavljaju ti zvukovi?
03:21
How can we tell the difference
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Kako možemo prepoznati razliku
03:23
between the sound of the Sun
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između zvuka Sunca
03:25
and the sound of a pulsar?
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i zvuka pulzara?
03:27
Well the answer
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Odgovor se
03:29
is the science of radio astronomy.
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nalazi u znanosti o radio astronomiji.
03:31
Radio astronomers
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Radio astronomi
03:33
study radio waves from space
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proučavaju radio valove iz svemira
03:35
using sensitive antennas and receivers,
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koristeći se osjetljivim antenama i prijemnicima,
03:38
which give them precise information
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koji im daju precizne informacije
03:40
about what an astronomical object is
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o tome što predstavlja astronomski predmet
03:43
and where it is in our night sky.
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i gdje se nalazi na našem noćnom nebu.
03:45
And just like the signals
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I jednako kao signali
03:47
that we send and receive here on Earth,
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koje šaljemo i primamo ovdje na Zemlji,
03:50
we can convert these transmissions into sound
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možemo pretvoriti te prijenose u zvuk
03:53
using simple analog techniques.
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koristeći se jednostavnim analognim tehnikama.
03:56
And therefore, it's through listening
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I tako, kroz slušanje
03:59
that we've come to uncover
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otkrili smo
04:01
some of the universe's most important secrets --
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neke od najvažnijih tajni svemira --
04:04
its scale, what it's made of
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njegov razmjer, od čega je napravljen
04:07
and even how old it is.
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i čak, koliko je star.
04:09
So today, I'm going to tell you a short story
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Tako ću vam danas ispričati kratku priču
04:12
of the history of the universe through listening.
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o povijesti svemira kroz zvuk.
04:15
It's punctuated
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Isprekidana je
04:17
by three quick anecdotes,
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s tri brze anegdote
04:19
which show how accidental encounters
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koje pokazuju kako su nam slučajni susreti
04:21
with strange noises
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sa čudnim zvukovima
04:23
gave us some of the most important information
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dali neke od najvrednijih informacija
04:26
we have about space.
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koje imamo o svemiru.
04:28
Now this story doesn't start
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Ova priča ne počinje
04:30
with vast telescopes
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s ogromnim teleskopima
04:32
or futuristic spacecraft,
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ili futurističkim svemirskim brodovima,
04:35
but a rather more humble technology --
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već s mnogo skromnijim medijem --
04:38
and in fact, the very medium
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i u stvari, medijem
04:40
which gave us the telecommunications revolution
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koji nam je osigurao telekomunikacijsku revoluciju
04:43
that we're all part of today:
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koju imamo danas:
04:45
the telephone.
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telefonom.
04:47
It's 1876, it's in Boston,
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1876. godina je, događa se u Bostonu
04:50
and this is Alexander Graham Bell
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i ovo je Alexander Graham Bell
04:52
who was working with Thomas Watson
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koji je radio s Thomasom Watsonom
04:54
on the invention of the telephone.
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na izumu telefona.
04:57
A key part of their technical set up
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Ključan dio njihove tehničke postavke
05:00
was a half-mile long length of wire,
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bila je 800 metara dugačka žica,
05:02
which was thrown across the rooftops
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koja je bila bačena preko krovova
05:04
of several houses in Boston.
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nekoliko kuća u Bostonu.
05:07
The line carried the telephone signals
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Vod je prenosio telefonske signale
05:10
that would later make Bell a household name.
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koji će kasnije Bellu osigurati prepoznatljivo ime u svakom kućanstvu.
05:13
But like any long length of charged wire,
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Ali kao i svaka druga dugačka nabijena žica,
05:16
it also inadvertently became
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ona je također nehotice postala
05:18
an antenna.
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antena.
05:20
Thomas Watson
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Thomas Watson
05:22
spent hours listening
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je potrošio sate slušajući
05:24
to the strange crackles and hisses
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čudna pucketanja i siktanja
05:26
and chirps and whistles
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i cvrkutanja i zviždanja
05:29
that his accidental antenna detected.
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koje je njegova slučajna antena pokupila.
05:32
Now you have to remember,
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Morate imati na umu,
05:34
this is 10 years before
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kako se to događa 10 godina prije
05:36
Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of radio waves --
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nego je Heinrich Hertz dokazao postojanje radio valova --
05:40
15 years before Nikola Tesla's four-tuned circuit --
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15 godina prije četvero-titrajnog kruga NIkole Tesle --
05:43
nearly 20 years before Marconi's first broadcast.
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gotovo 20 godina prije prvog Marconijevog prijenosa.
05:47
So Thomas Watson wasn't listening to us.
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Dakle Thomas Watson nas nije slušao.
05:50
We didn't have the technology
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Nismo imali tehnologiju
05:52
to transmit.
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za prijenos.
05:54
So what were these strange noises?
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Dakle što su bili ti čudni zvukovi?
05:58
Watson was in fact listening
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Watson je u stvari slušao
06:00
to very low-frequency radio emissions
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jako niske radio frekvencije
06:02
caused by nature.
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koje je stvarala priroda.
06:04
Some of the crackles and pops were lightning,
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Neka od pucktanja i pucanja su bile munje,
06:07
but the eerie whistles
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ali jezivo zviždanje
06:10
and curiously melodious chirps
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i znatiželjno melodični cvrkuti
06:13
had a rather more exotic origin.
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su imali egzotičniji korijen.
06:16
Using the very first telephone,
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Koristeći prvi telefon,
06:18
Watson was in fact
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Watson je u stvari
06:20
dialed into the heavens.
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birao broj neba.
06:22
As he correctly guessed,
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Kao što je točno pogodio,
06:24
some of these sounds were caused
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neki od tih zvukova su uzrokovani
06:26
by activity on the surface of the Sun.
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od aktivnosti koje su se događale na površini Sunca.
06:29
It was a solar wind
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To je bio solarni vjetar
06:31
interacting with our ionosphere
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koji je bio u interkaciji s našom ionosferom
06:33
that he was listening to --
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i to je on slušao --
06:35
a phenomena which we can see
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fenomen koji možemo vidjeti
06:37
at the extreme northern and southern latitudes of our planet
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na krajnjoj sjevernoj i južnoj širini našeg Planeta
06:40
as the aurora.
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kao auroru.
06:42
So whilst inventing the technology
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Tako je izumljujući tehnologiju
06:45
that would usher in the telecommunications revolution,
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koja će izazvati telekomunikacijsku revoluciju,
06:49
Watson had discovered
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Watson otkrio
06:51
that the star at the center of our solar system
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kako zvijezda u sredini našeg solarnog sustava
06:54
emitted powerful radio waves.
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emitira snažne radio valove.
06:57
He had accidentally been the first person
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On je slučajno bio prva osoba
07:00
to tune in to them.
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koja je na njih naišla.
07:02
Fast-forward 50 years,
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Prebacimo se 50 godina unaprijed
07:04
and Bell and Watson's technology
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i Bellova i Watsonova tehnologija
07:07
has completely transformed
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je u potpunosti transformirala
07:09
global communications.
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globalne komunikacije.
07:11
But going from slinging some wire
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Ali krenuti od prebacivanja neke žice
07:13
across rooftops in Boston
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preko krovova u Bostonu
07:15
to laying thousands and thousands of miles of cable
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do postavljanja tisuća i tisuća milja kablova
07:18
on the Atlantic Ocean seabed
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na morsko dno Atlantskog oceana
07:20
is no easy matter.
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nije jednostavna stvar.
07:22
And so before long,
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I tako je davno prije,
07:24
Bell were looking to new technologies
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Bell tražio nove tehnologije
07:26
to optimize their revolution.
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koje bi optimizirale njihovu revoluciju.
07:29
Radio could carry sound without wires.
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Radio je mogao prenositi zvuk bez žica.
07:32
But the medium is lossy --
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Ali medij uzrokuje nestajanje --
07:34
it's subject to a lot of noise and interference.
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on je predmet puno buke i ometanja.
07:38
So Bell employed an engineer
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Tako je Bell zaposlio inžinjera
07:40
to study those noises,
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koji je proučavao tu buku,
07:42
to try and find out where they came from,
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i pokušao otkriti od kuda ona dolazi,
07:44
with a view towards building
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s pogledom prema zgradi
07:46
the perfect hardware codec, which would get rid of them
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savršenom kodek uređaju koji će ih se riješiti,
07:49
so they could think about using radio
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kako bi oni mogli misliti o upotrebi radija
07:51
for the purposes of telephony.
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za svrhe telefonije.
07:54
Most of the noises
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Većina buke
07:56
that the engineer, Karl Jansky, investigated
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koju je inžinjer, Karl Jansky, istraživao
07:59
were fairly prosaic in origin.
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je bila prilično svakidašnja.
08:01
They turned out to be lightning
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Ispalo je kako su to bile munje
08:03
or sources of electrical power.
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ili izvori električne struje.
08:06
But there was one persistent noise
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Ali postojala je jedna stalna buka
08:09
that Jansky couldn't identify,
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koju Jansky nije mogao identificirati,
08:11
and it seemed to appear
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i činilo se kako se pojavljuje
08:13
in his radio headset
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u njegovim radio slušalicama
08:15
four minutes earlier each day.
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četiri minute ranije svaki dan.
08:18
Now any astronomer will tell you,
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Svaki astronom će vam reći
08:20
this is the telltale sign
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kako je to potkazivački znak
08:22
of something that doesn't originate from Earth.
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nečega što ne dolazi sa Zemlje.
08:25
Jansky had made a historic discovery,
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Jansky je otkrio epohalnu stvar,
08:29
that celestial objects could emit radio waves
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nebeska tijela mogu emitirati radio valove
08:32
as well as light waves.
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jednako kao i svjetlosne valove.
08:34
Fifty years on
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50 godina
08:36
from Watson's accidental encounter with the Sun,
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od Watsonovog slučajnog otkrića Sunca,
08:39
Jansky's careful listening
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Janskyevo pažljivo slušanje
08:41
ushered in a new age of space exploration:
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uvelo nas je u novo doba u istraživanju svemira:
08:44
the radio astronomy age.
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doba radio astronomije.
08:46
Over the next few years,
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U sljedećih nekoliko godina,
08:48
astronomers connected up their antennas to loudspeakers
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astronomi su povezali svoje antene sa zvučnicima
08:52
and learned about our radio sky,
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i učili o našem radio nebu,
08:54
about Jupiter and the Sun,
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o Jupiteru i Suncu,
08:56
by listening.
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slušajući.
08:58
Let's jump ahead again.
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Skočimo ponovno unaprijed.
09:00
It's 1964,
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1964. je
09:02
and we're back at Bell Labs.
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i nazad smo u Bellovim laboratorijima.
09:04
And once again,
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I opet,
09:06
two scientists have got a problem with noise.
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dva znanstvenika imaju problem s bukom.
09:09
Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson
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Arno Penzias i Robert Wilson
09:12
were using the horn antenna
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su koristili rog antenu
09:14
at Bell's Holmdel laboratory
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u Bellovom Holmdel laboratoriju
09:16
to study the Milky Way
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kako bi pručavali Mliječni put
09:18
with extraordinary precision.
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s izvanrednom preciznošću.
09:20
They were really listening
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Stvarno su slušali
09:22
to the galaxy in high fidelity.
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galaksiju u visokoj-točnosti.
09:24
There was a glitch in their soundtrack.
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Postojao je problem na njihovom zvučnom zapisu.
09:27
A mysterious persistent noise
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Misteriozna, uporna buka
09:30
was disrupting their research.
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ih je smetala u istraživanju.
09:32
It was in the microwave range,
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Bila je na mikrovalnom rasponu
09:34
and it appeared to be coming
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i činilo se kako dolazi
09:36
from all directions simultaneously.
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iz svih smjerova istovremeno.
09:38
Now this didn't make any sense,
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To nije imalo smisla.
09:40
and like any reasonable engineer or scientist,
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I kao svaki razumni inžinjer ili znanstvenik,
09:43
they assumed that the problem must be the technology itself,
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oni su pretpostavili kako je problem u samoj tehnologiji,
09:46
it must be the dish.
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mora da se radi o tanjuru.
09:48
There were pigeons roosting in the dish.
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Postojali su ostaci golubova u tanjuru.
09:51
And so perhaps once they cleaned up the pigeon droppings,
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I možda će jednom kada očiste izmet golubova,
09:54
get the disk kind of operational again,
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učiniti disk ponovno operativnim,
09:56
normal operations would resume.
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normalna operabilnost će se vratiti.
09:59
But the noise didn't disappear.
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Ali buka nije nestala.
10:02
The mysterious noise
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Misteriozna buka
10:04
that Penzias and Wilson were listening to
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koju su Penzias i Wilson čuli
10:07
turned out to be the oldest and most significant sound
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ispalo je kako je to najstariji i najznačajniji zvuk
10:10
that anyone had ever heard.
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koji je itko ikada mogao čuti.
10:12
It was cosmic radiation
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Bila je to kozmička radijacija
10:14
left over from the very birth of the universe.
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koja je ostala od samog rođenja svemira.
10:18
This was the first experimental evidence
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Bio je to prvi ekperimentalni dokaz
10:21
that the Big Bang existed
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kako je Veliki prasak postojao
10:23
and the universe was born at a precise moment
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i kako je svemir rođen točno u trenutku
10:26
some 14.7 billion years ago.
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prije nekih 14,7 milijardi godina.
10:31
So our story ends
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Tako naša priča završava
10:33
at the beginning --
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na početku --
10:35
the beginning of all things, the Big Bang.
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početku svih stvari, Velikom prasku.
10:38
This is the noise that Penzias and Wilson heard --
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Ovo je zvuk koji su Penzias i Wilson čuli --
10:41
the oldest sound that you're ever going to hear,
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najstariji zvuk koji ćete ikada čuti,
10:44
the cosmic microwave background radiation
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svemirske mikrozrake pozadinskog zračenja
10:47
left over from the Big Bang.
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ostale nakon Velikog praska.
10:49
(Fuzz)
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(Nejasno)
11:04
Thanks.
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Hvala
11:06
(Applause)
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(Pljesak)
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Honor Harger - ArtistHonor Harger explores the sounds of the sky, using art to connect her audience to the universe.
Why you should listen
Honor Harger is a New Zealand-born artist and curator who has a particular interest in artistic uses of technologies. She's the director of Lighthouse, an arts agency in Brighton, UK. Her artistic practice is produced under the name r a d i o q u a l i a together with collaborator Adam Hyde. One of their main projects is Radio Astronomy , a radio station broadcasting sounds from space.
From a great interview with Harger from Lift '11:
What does it mean to listen to space?
Whilst our project uses what we describe as "sounds from space", it is important to understand that stars and planets are not directly audible. Sound waves can not propagate in the vacuum of space. However, it is possible for radio waves emitted from celestial bodies, such as Jupiter and the Sun, to be heard by using radio technology. In our galaxy, the Sun is the strongest source of radio waves - so it's the most powerful transmitter in the radio sky. Jupiter also sends us strong radio signals.
What we hear is very curiously linked with our experience of radio here on earth -- the sounds are a bit like the sound of static between the stations.
Photo: Matt Locke / Flickr CC
Honor Harger | Speaker | TED.com