ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Honor Harger - Artist
Honor 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

More profile about the speaker
Honor Harger | Speaker | TED.com
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:
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。
- Artist
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空间,
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太空,
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we all know what it looks容貌 like.
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我们都知道它是什么样子。
00:25
We've我们已经 been surrounded包围 by images图片 of space空间
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太空的景象围绕着
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our whole整个 lives生活,
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我们整个生活,
00:29
from the speculative投机 images图片
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从科幻小说中
00:31
of science科学 fiction小说
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推测的景象
00:33
to the inspirational励志 visions愿景 of artists艺术家
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到艺术家充满灵感的想象
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to the increasingly日益 beautiful美丽 pictures图片
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再到可能由复杂科技制作出来的
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made制作 possible可能 by complex复杂 technologies技术.
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越来越多的美丽图片。
00:42
But whilst同时 we have
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但我们对太空
00:44
an overwhelmingly压倒性 vivid生动
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有一个无法抗拒的美丽的
00:46
visual视觉 understanding理解 of space空间,
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视觉理解的同时,
00:48
we have no sense of what space空间 sounds声音 like.
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我们对太空听起来是什么样的却一无所知。
00:51
And indeed确实, most people associate关联 space空间 with silence安静.
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实际上,多数人都认为太空是寂静的。
00:55
But the story故事 of how
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但我们
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we came来了 to understand理解 the universe宇宙
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对宇宙的认识过程中
00:59
is just as much a story故事 of listening
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倾听和察看所占的比重
01:01
as it is by looking.
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是同样多的。
01:04
And yet然而 despite尽管 this,
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然而尽管如此,
01:06
hardly几乎不 any of us have ever heard听说 space空间.
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我们却几乎没人聆听过太空的声音。
01:09
How many许多 of you here
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各位中有多少人
01:11
could describe描述 the sound声音
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能描绘一下
01:13
of a single planet行星 or star?
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一个行星或恒星的声音?
01:15
Well in case案件 you've ever wondered想知道,
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如果你们想知道的话,
01:17
this is what the Sun太阳 sounds声音 like.
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这是太阳的声音。
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(Static静态的)
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(静电声)
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(Crackling脆皮)
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(噼啪声)
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(Static静态的)
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(静电声)
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(Crackling脆皮)
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(噼啪声)
01:47
This is the planet行星 Jupiter木星.
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这是木星的声音。
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(Soft柔软的 crackling噼里啪啦)
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(轻轻的噼啪声)
02:10
And this is the space空间 probe探测 Cassini卡西尼
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这是航天探测器卡西尼号
02:13
pirouettingpirouetting through通过 the ice rings戒指 of Saturn土星.
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旋转着通过土星冰环时收到的声音。
02:17
(Crackling脆皮)
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(噼啪声)
02:37
This is a a highly高度 condensed冷凝 clump
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这是中子物质高度压缩
02:40
of neutral中性 matter,
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的重击声,
02:42
spinning纺织 in the distant遥远 universe宇宙.
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在遥远的宇宙中不停地旋转回放。
02:46
(Tapping窃听)
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(敲打声)
03:04
So my artistic艺术的 practice实践
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因此我的艺术实践
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is all about listening
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就是到处倾听
03:08
to the weird奇怪的 and wonderful精彩 noises噪音
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这些组成我们宇宙的
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emitted发射 by the magnificent华丽的 celestial天上 objects对象
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由这些壮丽的天体所发出的
03:14
that make up our universe宇宙.
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神秘的神奇的噪声。
03:17
And you may可能 wonder奇迹,
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各位也许想知道,
03:19
how do we know what these sounds声音 are?
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我们是怎么知道这些声音的呢?
03:21
How can we tell the difference区别
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我们如何区分
03:23
between之间 the sound声音 of the Sun太阳
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太阳的声音
03:25
and the sound声音 of a pulsar脉冲星?
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和脉冲星的声音?
03:27
Well the answer回答
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答案是
03:29
is the science科学 of radio无线电 astronomy天文学.
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射电天文学。
03:31
Radio无线电 astronomers天文学家
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射电天文学家们
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study研究 radio无线电 waves波浪 from space空间
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用灵敏的天线和接收器
03:35
using运用 sensitive敏感 antennas天线 and receivers接收器,
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研究来自太空的无线电波,
03:38
which哪一个 give them precise精确 information信息
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这能给他们准确信息,
03:40
about what an astronomical天文 object目的 is
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了解一个天体是什么
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and where it is in our night sky天空.
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在夜空中的何处。
03:45
And just like the signals信号
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正如那些我们在地球上
03:47
that we send发送 and receive接收 here on Earth地球,
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发送和接收的信号一样,
03:50
we can convert兑换 these transmissions传输 into sound声音
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我们使用简单的模拟技术
03:53
using运用 simple简单 analog类似物 techniques技术.
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就能把这些电波转换为声音。
03:56
And therefore因此, it's through通过 listening
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因此,通过倾听
03:59
that we've我们已经 come to uncover揭露
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我们揭开了
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some of the universe's宇宙 most important重要 secrets秘密 --
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一些宇宙中最终要的秘密 --
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its scale规模, what it's made制作 of
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它的规模,它由什么组成
04:07
and even how old it is.
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甚至是它的年龄。
04:09
So today今天, I'm going to tell you a short story故事
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因此今天,我要通过聆听向各位讲述
04:12
of the history历史 of the universe宇宙 through通过 listening.
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一个关于宇宙历史的小故事。
04:15
It's punctuated打断
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其穿插的
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by three quick anecdotes轶事,
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三段轶事
04:19
which哪一个 show显示 how accidental偶然 encounters遭遇
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展示了与奇怪声音的偶然相遇
04:21
with strange奇怪 noises噪音
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是怎样给我们
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gave us some of the most important重要 information信息
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带来了关于太空的一些
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we have about space空间.
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最重要的信息的。
04:28
Now this story故事 doesn't start开始
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这一故事并不以
04:30
with vast广大 telescopes望远镜
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天文望远镜
04:32
or futuristic未来 spacecraft宇宙飞船,
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或是宇宙飞船开始,
04:35
but a rather more humble谦卑 technology技术 --
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而是以一种更不起眼的方式 --
04:38
and in fact事实, the very medium
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实际上,这种方式
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which哪一个 gave us the telecommunications电信 revolution革命
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带来了我们正置身其中的
04:43
that we're all part部分 of today今天:
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远距离通信的革命:
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the telephone电话.
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电话。
04:47
It's 1876, it's in Boston波士顿,
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1876年,在波士顿,
04:50
and this is Alexander亚历山大 Graham格雷厄姆 Bell
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这是亚历山大·格拉汉姆·贝尔,
04:52
who was working加工 with Thomas托马斯 Watson沃森
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他与托马斯·沃森一起
04:54
on the invention发明 of the telephone电话.
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发明了电话。
04:57
A key part部分 of their technical技术 set up
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他们技术的关键部分是
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was a half-mile半英里 long length长度 of wire线,
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一条半英里长的电线,
05:02
which哪一个 was thrown抛出 across横过 the rooftops屋顶
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它穿越了波士顿中
05:04
of several一些 houses房屋 in Boston波士顿.
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数座房屋的屋顶。
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The line线 carried携带的 the telephone电话 signals信号
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这条传输电话信号的电线
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that would later后来 make Bell a household家庭 name名称.
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后来让贝尔家喻户晓。
05:13
But like any long length长度 of charged带电 wire线,
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但如同任何长度的带电导线一样,
05:16
it also inadvertently不经意间 became成为
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它也意外地成为了
05:18
an antenna天线.
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天线。
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Thomas托马斯 Watson沃森
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托马斯·沃森
05:22
spent花费 hours小时 listening
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花费许多时间来倾听
05:24
to the strange奇怪 crackles裂纹 and hisses嘶嘶声
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奇怪的爆裂声、嘶嘶声
05:26
and chirps啁啾 and whistles口哨
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唧唧声和哨声
05:29
that his accidental偶然 antenna天线 detected检测.
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这些都是由他的天线检测到的。
05:32
Now you have to remember记得,
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现在请各位注意,
05:34
this is 10 years年份 before
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这是在海因里希·赫兹
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Heinrich海因里希 Hertz赫兹 proved证实 the existence存在 of radio无线电 waves波浪 --
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证实无线电波存在之前十年 --
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15 years年份 before Nikola尼古拉 Tesla's特斯拉 four-tuned四调谐 circuit电路 --
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在尼古拉·特斯拉发明四调谐电路前十五年 --
05:43
nearly几乎 20 years年份 before Marconi's马可尼 first broadcast广播.
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在马尔科尼的第一次发明电报之前要近二十年。
05:47
So Thomas托马斯 Watson沃森 wasn't listening to us.
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因此托马斯·沃森不是在听人为的声音。
05:50
We didn't have the technology技术
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我们还没有发射这种信号的
05:52
to transmit发送.
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技术。
05:54
So what were these strange奇怪 noises噪音?
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那这些奇怪的噪声是什么呢?
05:58
Watson沃森 was in fact事实 listening
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沃森实际上在听的是
06:00
to very low-frequency低频 radio无线电 emissions排放
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由自然界发出的极低频的
06:02
caused造成 by nature性质.
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无线电信号。
06:04
Some of the crackles裂纹 and pops持久性有机污染物 were lightning闪电,
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有些爆裂声和砰砰声是闪电,
06:07
but the eerie怪异 whistles口哨
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但是奇异的哨声
06:10
and curiously好奇 melodious悠扬 chirps啁啾
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和旋律美妙的唧唧声
06:13
had a rather more exotic异国情调 origin起源.
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则更多的是来自外层空间。
06:16
Using运用 the very first telephone电话,
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其实沃森使用
06:18
Watson沃森 was in fact事实
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最早的电话
06:20
dialed拨打 into the heavens.
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拨通了通往天际的电话。
06:22
As he correctly正确地 guessed,
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正如他所猜中的那样,
06:24
some of these sounds声音 were caused造成
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其中一些声音是由
06:26
by activity活动 on the surface表面 of the Sun太阳.
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太阳表面的活动产生的。
06:29
It was a solar太阳能 wind
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他聆听的是
06:31
interacting互动 with our ionosphere电离层
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太阳风和地球电离层的
06:33
that he was listening to --
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交互作用 --
06:35
a phenomena现象 which哪一个 we can see
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这是个神奇的现象
06:37
at the extreme极端 northern北方 and southern南部的 latitudes纬度 of our planet行星
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就像我们能在地球的南极和北极所看到的
06:40
as the aurora极光.
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极光一样。
06:42
So whilst同时 inventing发明了 the technology技术
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因此在发明了这项
06:45
that would usher招待员 in the telecommunications电信 revolution革命,
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引发了远距离通信革命的技术的同时,
06:49
Watson沃森 had discovered发现
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沃森发现了
06:51
that the star at the center中央 of our solar太阳能 system系统
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我们太阳系中心的恒星
06:54
emitted发射 powerful强大 radio无线电 waves波浪.
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发射出强大的无线电波。
06:57
He had accidentally偶然 been the first person
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他意外地成为了
07:00
to tune in to them.
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第一个收听到它们的人。
07:02
Fast-forward快进 50 years年份,
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快进五十年,
07:04
and Bell and Watson's屈臣氏 technology技术
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贝尔和沃森的技术
07:07
has completely全然 transformed改造
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完全改变了
07:09
global全球 communications通讯.
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全球通信。
07:11
But going from slinging吊索 some wire线
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但从在波士顿
07:13
across横过 rooftops屋顶 in Boston波士顿
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跨越数个屋顶的电线
07:15
to laying铺设 thousands数千 and thousands数千 of miles英里 of cable电缆
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到铺设于大西洋海底
07:18
on the Atlantic大西洋 Ocean海洋 seabed海底
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数千英里长的线缆
07:20
is no easy简单 matter.
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这不是件容易的事。
07:22
And so before long,
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因此不久后,
07:24
Bell were looking to new technologies技术
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贝尔就在寻找新的技术
07:26
to optimize优化 their revolution革命.
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以优化他们的这次重大变革。
07:29
Radio无线电 could carry携带 sound声音 without wires电线.
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无线电波不需电线就能携带声音。
07:32
But the medium is lossy有损 --
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但载体会有损耗 --
07:34
it's subject学科 to a lot of noise噪声 and interference干扰.
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由于许多噪音和干扰。
07:38
So Bell employed就业 an engineer工程师
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因此贝尔雇佣了一名工程师
07:40
to study研究 those noises噪音,
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来研究这些噪音,
07:42
to try and find out where they came来了 from,
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尝试弄清楚它们从何而来,
07:44
with a view视图 towards building建造
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朝着建立完美硬件解码的前景努力,
07:46
the perfect完善 hardware硬件 codec编解码器, which哪一个 would get rid摆脱 of them
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这将摆脱掉这些噪音,
07:49
so they could think about using运用 radio无线电
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这样他们就能考虑把无线电波
07:51
for the purposes目的 of telephony电话.
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用于电话通信用途。
07:54
Most of the noises噪音
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工程师卡尔·央斯基
07:56
that the engineer工程师, Karl卡尔 Jansky扬斯基, investigated调查
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调查的多数噪音的
07:59
were fairly相当 prosaic平淡 in origin起源.
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来源都相当平淡无奇。
08:01
They turned转身 out to be lightning闪电
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可能是闪电
08:03
or sources来源 of electrical电动 power功率.
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或是电源。
08:06
But there was one persistent一贯 noise噪声
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但有一个央斯基无法识别的
08:09
that Jansky扬斯基 couldn't不能 identify鉴定,
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持续的噪音,
08:11
and it seemed似乎 to appear出现
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这一噪音似乎
08:13
in his radio无线电 headset耳机
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在他的无线电耳机中
08:15
four minutes分钟 earlier each day.
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每天早出现四分钟。
08:18
Now any astronomer天文学家 will tell you,
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如今任何一名天文学家都能告诉你,
08:20
this is the telltale揭秘 sign标志
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这是讯号并非源自
08:22
of something that doesn't originate起源 from Earth地球.
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地球的明显标识。
08:25
Jansky扬斯基 had made制作 a historic历史性 discovery发现,
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央斯基历史性地发现了
08:29
that celestial天上 objects对象 could emit发射 radio无线电 waves波浪
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天体能够发出无线电波
08:32
as well as light waves波浪.
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及光波。
08:34
Fifty五十 years年份 on
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自从
08:36
from Watson's屈臣氏 accidental偶然 encounter遭遇 with the Sun太阳,
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沃森无意中收听到太阳声音的五十年后,
08:39
Jansky's扬斯基的 careful小心 listening
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央斯基的仔细倾听
08:41
ushered迎来 in a new age年龄 of space空间 exploration勘探:
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开启了太空探索的新纪元:
08:44
the radio无线电 astronomy天文学 age年龄.
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射电天文学时代。
08:46
Over the next下一个 few少数 years年份,
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在后续数年间,
08:48
astronomers天文学家 connected连接的 up their antennas天线 to loudspeakers扩音器
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天文学家把天线连到扩音器上,
08:52
and learned学到了 about our radio无线电 sky天空,
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了解我们的无线电波的天空,
08:54
about Jupiter木星 and the Sun太阳,
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了解木星和太阳,
08:56
by listening.
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通过聆听。
08:58
Let's jump ahead again.
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让我们再往前跳一段时间。
09:00
It's 1964,
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这是1964年,
09:02
and we're back at Bell Labs实验室.
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我们回到贝尔实验室。
09:04
And once一旦 again,
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再一次,
09:06
two scientists科学家们 have got a problem问题 with noise噪声.
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两名科学家遇到了一个与噪音有关的问题。
09:09
Arno阿诺 Penzias彭齐亚斯 and Robert罗伯特 Wilson威尔逊
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阿诺·彭齐亚斯和罗伯特·威尔逊
09:12
were using运用 the horn喇叭 antenna天线
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用喇叭形天线
09:14
at Bell's贝尔 Holmdel霍姆德尔镇 laboratory实验室
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在贝尔的霍尔姆德尔实验室
09:16
to study研究 the Milky乳白色 Way
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以非凡的精度研究
09:18
with extraordinary非凡 precision精确.
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银河系。
09:20
They were really listening
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他们确实在以高保真度
09:22
to the galaxy星系 in high fidelity保真度.
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倾听着银河系。
09:24
There was a glitch毛刺 in their soundtrack声带.
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他们的音轨上有个小故障。
09:27
A mysterious神秘 persistent一贯 noise噪声
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一个神秘的持续噪音
09:30
was disrupting妨害 their research研究.
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干扰了他们的研究。
09:32
It was in the microwave微波 range范围,
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这一噪音处于微波频段,
09:34
and it appeared出现 to be coming未来
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它同时出现
09:36
from all directions方向 simultaneously同时.
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在各个方向。
09:38
Now this didn't make any sense,
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这在当今没有任何意义。
09:40
and like any reasonable合理 engineer工程师 or scientist科学家,
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如同任何明智的工程师或科学家一样,
09:43
they assumed假定 that the problem问题 must必须 be the technology技术 itself本身,
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他们假设问题处在他们的技术上,
09:46
it must必须 be the dish.
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问题一定在蝶盘状天线上。
09:48
There were pigeons鸽子 roosting栖息 in the dish.
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有鸽子在碟盘状天线上安家。
09:51
And so perhaps也许 once一旦 they cleaned清洗 up the pigeon鸽子 droppings,
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也许一旦他们清理了鸽子粪便,
09:54
get the disk磁盘 kind of operational操作 again,
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仪器就能重新运转,
09:56
normal正常 operations操作 would resume恢复.
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恢复正常。
09:59
But the noise噪声 didn't disappear消失.
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但噪音并没有消失。
10:02
The mysterious神秘 noise噪声
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彭齐亚斯和威尔逊
10:04
that Penzias彭齐亚斯 and Wilson威尔逊 were listening to
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聆听的神秘噪音
10:07
turned转身 out to be the oldest最老的 and most significant重大 sound声音
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成了人们听到过的
10:10
that anyone任何人 had ever heard听说.
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最古老最重要的声音。
10:12
It was cosmic宇宙的 radiation辐射
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它是宇宙诞生之时
10:14
left over from the very birth分娩 of the universe宇宙.
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遗留下来的宇宙辐射。
10:18
This was the first experimental试验 evidence证据
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这是最初的实验证据,
10:21
that the Big Bang existed存在
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它证实了宇宙大爆炸的存在,
10:23
and the universe宇宙 was born天生 at a precise精确 moment时刻
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证实了宇宙诞生于147亿年前的
10:26
some 14.7 billion十亿 years年份 ago.
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某个确切时刻。
10:31
So our story故事 ends结束
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那么我们的故事就要在
10:33
at the beginning开始 --
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这个最开始结束了 --
10:35
the beginning开始 of all things, the Big Bang.
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一切一切的开始,宇宙大爆炸。
10:38
This is the noise噪声 that Penzias彭齐亚斯 and Wilson威尔逊 heard听说 --
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这就是彭齐亚斯和威尔逊听到的噪音 --
10:41
the oldest最老的 sound声音 that you're ever going to hear,
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你能听到的最古老的声音,
10:44
the cosmic宇宙的 microwave微波 background背景 radiation辐射
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自宇宙大爆炸后留下的
10:47
left over from the Big Bang.
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宇宙射线背景辐射。
10:49
(Fuzz模糊)
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(滋滋声)
11:04
Thanks谢谢.
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谢谢。
11:06
(Applause掌声)
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(掌声)
Translated by Felix Chen
Reviewed by Angelia King

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ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Honor Harger - Artist
Honor 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

More profile about the speaker
Honor Harger | Speaker | TED.com