TEDSalon London Spring 2011
Honor Harger: A history of the universe in sound
霍诺尔·哈格：声音中宇宙的历史
Filmed:
Readability: 4.8
996,156 views
艺术家及科技专家霍诺尔·哈格倾听由恒星、行星和脉冲星发出的神秘的神奇的噪声。在工作中，她追踪由古老天体发射出的无线电波并将其转换为声音，其中包括“你能听到的最古老的歌声”，宇宙大爆炸后遗留下的宇宙射线的声音。
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,
0
6000
2000
太空，
00:23
we all know what it looks like.
1
8000
2000
我们都知道它是什么样子。
00:25
We've been surrounded by images of space
2
10000
2000
太空的景象围绕着
00:27
our whole lives,
3
12000
2000
我们整个生活，
00:29
from the speculative images
4
14000
2000
从科幻小说中
00:31
of science fiction
5
16000
2000
推测的景象
00:33
to the inspirational visions of artists
6
18000
3000
到艺术家充满灵感的想象
00:36
to the increasingly beautiful pictures
7
21000
3000
再到可能由复杂科技制作出来的
00:39
made possible by complex technologies.
8
24000
3000
越来越多的美丽图片。
00:42
But whilst we have
9
27000
2000
但我们对太空
00:44
an overwhelmingly vivid
10
29000
2000
有一个无法抗拒的美丽的
00:46
visual understanding of space,
11
31000
2000
视觉理解的同时，
00:48
we have no sense of what space sounds like.
12
33000
3000
我们对太空听起来是什么样的却一无所知。
00:51
And indeed, most people associate space with silence.
13
36000
4000
实际上，多数人都认为太空是寂静的。
00:55
But the story of how
14
40000
2000
但我们
00:57
we came to understand the universe
15
42000
2000
对宇宙的认识过程中
00:59
is just as much a story of listening
16
44000
2000
倾听和察看所占的比重
01:01
as it is by looking.
17
46000
3000
是同样多的。
01:04
And yet despite this,
18
49000
2000
然而尽管如此，
01:06
hardly any of us have ever heard space.
19
51000
3000
我们却几乎没人聆听过太空的声音。
01:09
How many of you here
20
54000
2000
各位中有多少人
01:11
could describe the sound
21
56000
2000
能描绘一下
01:13
of a single planet or star?
22
58000
2000
一个行星或恒星的声音？
01:15
Well in case you've ever wondered,
23
60000
2000
如果你们想知道的话，
01:17
this is what the Sun sounds like.
24
62000
2000
这是太阳的声音。
01:19
(Static)
25
64000
14000
（静电声）
01:33
(Crackling)
26
78000
4000
（噼啪声）
01:37
(Static)
27
82000
6000
（静电声）
01:43
(Crackling)
28
88000
4000
（噼啪声）
01:47
This is the planet Jupiter.
29
92000
3000
这是木星的声音。
01:50
(Soft crackling)
30
95000
20000
（轻轻的噼啪声）
02:10
And this is the space probe Cassini
31
115000
3000
这是航天探测器卡西尼号
02:13
pirouetting through the ice rings of Saturn.
32
118000
4000
旋转着通过土星冰环时收到的声音。
02:17
(Crackling)
33
122000
20000
（噼啪声）
02:37
This is a a highly condensed clump
34
142000
3000
这是中子物质高度压缩
02:40
of neutral matter,
35
145000
2000
的重击声，
02:42
spinning in the distant universe.
36
147000
4000
在遥远的宇宙中不停地旋转回放。
02:46
(Tapping)
37
151000
18000
（敲打声）
03:04
So my artistic practice
38
169000
2000
因此我的艺术实践
03:06
is all about listening
39
171000
2000
就是到处倾听
03:08
to the weird and wonderful noises
40
173000
3000
这些组成我们宇宙的
03:11
emitted by the magnificent celestial objects
41
176000
3000
由这些壮丽的天体所发出的
03:14
that make up our universe.
42
179000
3000
神秘的神奇的噪声。
03:17
And you may wonder,
43
182000
2000
各位也许想知道，
03:19
how do we know what these sounds are?
44
184000
2000
我们是怎么知道这些声音的呢？
03:21
How can we tell the difference
45
186000
2000
我们如何区分
03:23
between the sound of the Sun
46
188000
2000
太阳的声音
03:25
and the sound of a pulsar?
47
190000
2000
和脉冲星的声音？
03:27
Well the answer
48
192000
2000
答案是
03:29
is the science of radio astronomy.
49
194000
2000
射电天文学。
03:31
Radio astronomers
50
196000
2000
射电天文学家们
03:33
study radio waves from space
51
198000
2000
用灵敏的天线和接收器
03:35
using sensitive antennas and receivers,
52
200000
3000
研究来自太空的无线电波，
03:38
which give them precise information
53
203000
2000
这能给他们准确信息，
03:40
about what an astronomical object is
54
205000
3000
了解一个天体是什么
03:43
and where it is in our night sky.
55
208000
2000
在夜空中的何处。
03:45
And just like the signals
56
210000
2000
正如那些我们在地球上
03:47
that we send and receive here on Earth,
57
212000
3000
发送和接收的信号一样，
03:50
we can convert these transmissions into sound
58
215000
3000
我们使用简单的模拟技术
03:53
using simple analog techniques.
59
218000
3000
就能把这些电波转换为声音。
03:56
And therefore, it's through listening
60
221000
3000
因此，通过倾听
03:59
that we've come to uncover
61
224000
2000
我们揭开了
04:01
some of the universe's most important secrets --
62
226000
3000
一些宇宙中最终要的秘密 --
04:04
its scale, what it's made of
63
229000
3000
它的规模，它由什么组成
04:07
and even how old it is.
64
232000
2000
甚至是它的年龄。
04:09
So today, I'm going to tell you a short story
65
234000
3000
因此今天，我要通过聆听向各位讲述
04:12
of the history of the universe through listening.
66
237000
3000
一个关于宇宙历史的小故事。
04:15
It's punctuated
67
240000
2000
其穿插的
04:17
by three quick anecdotes,
68
242000
2000
三段轶事
04:19
which show how accidental encounters
69
244000
2000
展示了与奇怪声音的偶然相遇
04:21
with strange noises
70
246000
2000
是怎样给我们
04:23
gave us some of the most important information
71
248000
3000
带来了关于太空的一些
04:26
we have about space.
72
251000
2000
最重要的信息的。
04:28
Now this story doesn't start
73
253000
2000
这一故事并不以
04:30
with vast telescopes
74
255000
2000
天文望远镜
04:32
or futuristic spacecraft,
75
257000
3000
或是宇宙飞船开始，
04:35
but a rather more humble technology --
76
260000
3000
而是以一种更不起眼的方式 --
04:38
and in fact, the very medium
77
263000
2000
实际上，这种方式
04:40
which gave us the telecommunications revolution
78
265000
3000
带来了我们正置身其中的
04:43
that we're all part of today:
79
268000
2000
远距离通信的革命：
04:45
the telephone.
80
270000
2000
电话。
04:47
It's 1876, it's in Boston,
81
272000
3000
1876年，在波士顿，
04:50
and this is Alexander Graham Bell
82
275000
2000
这是亚历山大·格拉汉姆·贝尔，
04:52
who was working with Thomas Watson
83
277000
2000
他与托马斯·沃森一起
04:54
on the invention of the telephone.
84
279000
3000
发明了电话。
04:57
A key part of their technical set up
85
282000
3000
他们技术的关键部分是
05:00
was a half-mile long length of wire,
86
285000
2000
一条半英里长的电线，
05:02
which was thrown across the rooftops
87
287000
2000
它穿越了波士顿中
05:04
of several houses in Boston.
88
289000
3000
数座房屋的屋顶。
05:07
The line carried the telephone signals
89
292000
3000
这条传输电话信号的电线
05:10
that would later make Bell a household name.
90
295000
3000
后来让贝尔家喻户晓。
05:13
But like any long length of charged wire,
91
298000
3000
但如同任何长度的带电导线一样，
05:16
it also inadvertently became
92
301000
2000
它也意外地成为了
05:18
an antenna.
93
303000
2000
天线。
05:20
Thomas Watson
94
305000
2000
托马斯·沃森
05:22
spent hours listening
95
307000
2000
花费许多时间来倾听
05:24
to the strange crackles and hisses
96
309000
2000
奇怪的爆裂声、嘶嘶声
05:26
and chirps and whistles
97
311000
3000
唧唧声和哨声
05:29
that his accidental antenna detected.
98
314000
3000
这些都是由他的天线检测到的。
05:32
Now you have to remember,
99
317000
2000
现在请各位注意，
05:34
this is 10 years before
100
319000
2000
这是在海因里希·赫兹
05:36
Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of radio waves --
101
321000
4000
证实无线电波存在之前十年 --
05:40
15 years before Nikola Tesla's four-tuned circuit --
102
325000
3000
在尼古拉·特斯拉发明四调谐电路前十五年 --
05:43
nearly 20 years before Marconi's first broadcast.
103
328000
4000
在马尔科尼的第一次发明电报之前要近二十年。
05:47
So Thomas Watson wasn't listening to us.
104
332000
3000
因此托马斯·沃森不是在听人为的声音。
05:50
We didn't have the technology
105
335000
2000
我们还没有发射这种信号的
05:52
to transmit.
106
337000
2000
技术。
05:54
So what were these strange noises?
107
339000
3000
那这些奇怪的噪声是什么呢？
05:58
Watson was in fact listening
108
343000
2000
沃森实际上在听的是
06:00
to very low-frequency radio emissions
109
345000
2000
由自然界发出的极低频的
06:02
caused by nature.
110
347000
2000
无线电信号。
06:04
Some of the crackles and pops were lightning,
111
349000
3000
有些爆裂声和砰砰声是闪电，
06:07
but the eerie whistles
112
352000
3000
但是奇异的哨声
06:10
and curiously melodious chirps
113
355000
3000
和旋律美妙的唧唧声
06:13
had a rather more exotic origin.
114
358000
3000
则更多的是来自外层空间。
06:16
Using the very first telephone,
115
361000
2000
其实沃森使用
06:18
Watson was in fact
116
363000
2000
最早的电话
06:20
dialed into the heavens.
117
365000
2000
拨通了通往天际的电话。
06:22
As he correctly guessed,
118
367000
2000
正如他所猜中的那样，
06:24
some of these sounds were caused
119
369000
2000
其中一些声音是由
06:26
by activity on the surface of the Sun.
120
371000
3000
太阳表面的活动产生的。
06:29
It was a solar wind
121
374000
2000
他聆听的是
06:31
interacting with our ionosphere
122
376000
2000
太阳风和地球电离层的
06:33
that he was listening to --
123
378000
2000
交互作用 --
06:35
a phenomena which we can see
124
380000
2000
这是个神奇的现象
06:37
at the extreme northern and southern latitudes of our planet
125
382000
3000
就像我们能在地球的南极和北极所看到的
06:40
as the aurora.
126
385000
2000
极光一样。
06:42
So whilst inventing the technology
127
387000
3000
因此在发明了这项
06:45
that would usher in the telecommunications revolution,
128
390000
4000
引发了远距离通信革命的技术的同时，
06:49
Watson had discovered
129
394000
2000
沃森发现了
06:51
that the star at the center of our solar system
130
396000
3000
我们太阳系中心的恒星
06:54
emitted powerful radio waves.
131
399000
3000
发射出强大的无线电波。
06:57
He had accidentally been the first person
132
402000
3000
他意外地成为了
07:00
to tune in to them.
133
405000
2000
第一个收听到它们的人。
07:02
Fast-forward 50 years,
134
407000
2000
快进五十年，
07:04
and Bell and Watson's technology
135
409000
3000
贝尔和沃森的技术
07:07
has completely transformed
136
412000
2000
完全改变了
07:09
global communications.
137
414000
2000
全球通信。
07:11
But going from slinging some wire
138
416000
2000
但从在波士顿
07:13
across rooftops in Boston
139
418000
2000
跨越数个屋顶的电线
07:15
to laying thousands and thousands of miles of cable
140
420000
3000
到铺设于大西洋海底
07:18
on the Atlantic Ocean seabed
141
423000
2000
数千英里长的线缆
07:20
is no easy matter.
142
425000
2000
这不是件容易的事。
07:22
And so before long,
143
427000
2000
因此不久后，
07:24
Bell were looking to new technologies
144
429000
2000
贝尔就在寻找新的技术
07:26
to optimize their revolution.
145
431000
3000
以优化他们的这次重大变革。
07:29
Radio could carry sound without wires.
146
434000
3000
无线电波不需电线就能携带声音。
07:32
But the medium is lossy --
147
437000
2000
但载体会有损耗 --
07:34
it's subject to a lot of noise and interference.
148
439000
4000
由于许多噪音和干扰。
07:38
So Bell employed an engineer
149
443000
2000
因此贝尔雇佣了一名工程师
07:40
to study those noises,
150
445000
2000
来研究这些噪音，
07:42
to try and find out where they came from,
151
447000
2000
尝试弄清楚它们从何而来，
07:44
with a view towards building
152
449000
2000
朝着建立完美硬件解码的前景努力，
07:46
the perfect hardware codec, which would get rid of them
153
451000
3000
这将摆脱掉这些噪音，
07:49
so they could think about using radio
154
454000
2000
这样他们就能考虑把无线电波
07:51
for the purposes of telephony.
155
456000
3000
用于电话通信用途。
07:54
Most of the noises
156
459000
2000
工程师卡尔·央斯基
07:56
that the engineer, Karl Jansky, investigated
157
461000
3000
调查的多数噪音的
07:59
were fairly prosaic in origin.
158
464000
2000
来源都相当平淡无奇。
08:01
They turned out to be lightning
159
466000
2000
可能是闪电
08:03
or sources of electrical power.
160
468000
3000
或是电源。
08:06
But there was one persistent noise
161
471000
3000
但有一个央斯基无法识别的
08:09
that Jansky couldn't identify,
162
474000
2000
持续的噪音，
08:11
and it seemed to appear
163
476000
2000
这一噪音似乎
08:13
in his radio headset
164
478000
2000
在他的无线电耳机中
08:15
four minutes earlier each day.
165
480000
3000
每天早出现四分钟。
08:18
Now any astronomer will tell you,
166
483000
2000
如今任何一名天文学家都能告诉你，
08:20
this is the telltale sign
167
485000
2000
这是讯号并非源自
08:22
of something that doesn't originate from Earth.
168
487000
3000
地球的明显标识。
08:25
Jansky had made a historic discovery,
169
490000
4000
央斯基历史性地发现了
08:29
that celestial objects could emit radio waves
170
494000
3000
天体能够发出无线电波
08:32
as well as light waves.
171
497000
2000
及光波。
08:34
Fifty years on
172
499000
2000
自从
08:36
from Watson's accidental encounter with the Sun,
173
501000
3000
沃森无意中收听到太阳声音的五十年后，
08:39
Jansky's careful listening
174
504000
2000
央斯基的仔细倾听
08:41
ushered in a new age of space exploration:
175
506000
3000
开启了太空探索的新纪元：
08:44
the radio astronomy age.
176
509000
2000
射电天文学时代。
08:46
Over the next few years,
177
511000
2000
在后续数年间，
08:48
astronomers connected up their antennas to loudspeakers
178
513000
4000
天文学家把天线连到扩音器上，
08:52
and learned about our radio sky,
179
517000
2000
了解我们的无线电波的天空，
08:54
about Jupiter and the Sun,
180
519000
2000
了解木星和太阳，
08:56
by listening.
181
521000
2000
通过聆听。
08:58
Let's jump ahead again.
182
523000
2000
让我们再往前跳一段时间。
09:00
It's 1964,
183
525000
2000
这是1964年，
09:02
and we're back at Bell Labs.
184
527000
2000
我们回到贝尔实验室。
09:04
And once again,
185
529000
2000
再一次，
09:06
two scientists have got a problem with noise.
186
531000
3000
两名科学家遇到了一个与噪音有关的问题。
09:09
Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson
187
534000
3000
阿诺·彭齐亚斯和罗伯特·威尔逊
09:12
were using the horn antenna
188
537000
2000
用喇叭形天线
09:14
at Bell's Holmdel laboratory
189
539000
2000
在贝尔的霍尔姆德尔实验室
09:16
to study the Milky Way
190
541000
2000
以非凡的精度研究
09:18
with extraordinary precision.
191
543000
2000
银河系。
09:20
They were really listening
192
545000
2000
他们确实在以高保真度
09:22
to the galaxy in high fidelity.
193
547000
2000
倾听着银河系。
09:24
There was a glitch in their soundtrack.
194
549000
3000
他们的音轨上有个小故障。
09:27
A mysterious persistent noise
195
552000
3000
一个神秘的持续噪音
09:30
was disrupting their research.
196
555000
2000
干扰了他们的研究。
09:32
It was in the microwave range,
197
557000
2000
这一噪音处于微波频段，
09:34
and it appeared to be coming
198
559000
2000
它同时出现
09:36
from all directions simultaneously.
199
561000
2000
在各个方向。
09:38
Now this didn't make any sense,
200
563000
2000
这在当今没有任何意义。
09:40
and like any reasonable engineer or scientist,
201
565000
3000
如同任何明智的工程师或科学家一样，
09:43
they assumed that the problem must be the technology itself,
202
568000
3000
他们假设问题处在他们的技术上，
09:46
it must be the dish.
203
571000
2000
问题一定在蝶盘状天线上。
09:48
There were pigeons roosting in the dish.
204
573000
3000
有鸽子在碟盘状天线上安家。
09:51
And so perhaps once they cleaned up the pigeon droppings,
205
576000
3000
也许一旦他们清理了鸽子粪便，
09:54
get the disk kind of operational again,
206
579000
2000
仪器就能重新运转，
09:56
normal operations would resume.
207
581000
3000
恢复正常。
09:59
But the noise didn't disappear.
208
584000
3000
但噪音并没有消失。
10:02
The mysterious noise
209
587000
2000
彭齐亚斯和威尔逊
10:04
that Penzias and Wilson were listening to
210
589000
3000
聆听的神秘噪音
10:07
turned out to be the oldest and most significant sound
211
592000
3000
成了人们听到过的
10:10
that anyone had ever heard.
212
595000
2000
最古老最重要的声音。
10:12
It was cosmic radiation
213
597000
2000
它是宇宙诞生之时
10:14
left over from the very birth of the universe.
214
599000
4000
遗留下来的宇宙辐射。
10:18
This was the first experimental evidence
215
603000
3000
这是最初的实验证据，
10:21
that the Big Bang existed
216
606000
2000
它证实了宇宙大爆炸的存在，
10:23
and the universe was born at a precise moment
217
608000
3000
证实了宇宙诞生于147亿年前的
10:26
some 14.7 billion years ago.
218
611000
4000
某个确切时刻。
10:31
So our story ends
219
616000
2000
那么我们的故事就要在
10:33
at the beginning --
220
618000
2000
这个最开始结束了 --
10:35
the beginning of all things, the Big Bang.
221
620000
3000
一切一切的开始，宇宙大爆炸。
10:38
This is the noise that Penzias and Wilson heard --
222
623000
3000
这就是彭齐亚斯和威尔逊听到的噪音 --
10:41
the oldest sound that you're ever going to hear,
223
626000
3000
你能听到的最古老的声音，
10:44
the cosmic microwave background radiation
224
629000
3000
自宇宙大爆炸后留下的
10:47
left over from the Big Bang.
225
632000
2000
宇宙射线背景辐射。
10:49
(Fuzz)
226
634000
15000
（滋滋声）
11:04
Thanks.
227
649000
2000
谢谢。
11:06
(Applause)
228
651000
4000
（掌声）
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