Legendary talent scouts Scientists have announced that they have recorded their first single and will be working on a full-length with newly-signed singer The Sun. You see, according to TIME, it turns out that the sun’s coronal loops (“vaguely banana-shaped plasma structures” that can measure up to 60,000 miles) produce tones and vibrations similar to music.
The coronal loops work to keep the sun’s corona (the uppermost layer of atmosphere) all stirred up and turbulent; this process of stretching and contracting, say the Sheffield, UK scientists, creates transversal oscillations and longitudinal oscillations, which in layman’s terms means music. If you’re wondering what these “oscillations” sound like, just imagine a guitar string and a woodwind instrument and you’ll see that, when combined, the oscillations make a pretty dope duet.
A team of scientists, led by Robertus von Fáy-Siebenbürgen (awesome name!) discovered the music by “compiling a catalog of high-resolution videos and still images of the Sun shot by a number of satellite observatories… [they] then used a computer algorithm that converted the visual data to acoustical information and sped up the frequency of the sound so it would fall within the human auditory range.” I wish I was a scientist and could do cool shit like that.
“It was strangely beautiful,” says von Fáy-Siebenbürgen about the six-second song, “[a]nd exciting to hear those sounds for the first time from such a large and powerful source.” If you’re curious about the solar ditty, then check it out for yourself:
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Scientists have also announced that the sun will release its first album by winter of this year, and plans are being made for a Spring 2011 tour. More information to follow.
• Scientists: http://www.michaelcrichton.net
• The Sun: http://www.u2.com
