Space Music

Measurements by NASA’s two Voyager spacecraft helped reveal the outer planets of the solar system and then the doorsteps to interstellar space. Now, their data has been used to create a piece of classical music. Physicist Domenico Vicinanza, product services manager at Europe’s high-speed GEANT computer network, selected 320,000 measurements from each of the two spacecraft and processed the data to create a duet. PHOTOS: Voyager 2′s Epic Outer Solar System Odyssey “I used different groups of instruments and different sound textures to represent the two spacecraft,” Vicinanza  said in a statement. Vicinanza, who also is a musician, chose proton counts from the Voyagers’ cosmic ray detectors taken simultaneously at one-hour intervals when the spacecraft were billions of miles apart from one another. “I wanted to compose a musical piece celebrating the Voyager 1 and 2 together,” he said. The result is a beautiful, upbeat five-minute composition, but the score has some scientific value too. NEWS: Voyager 1′s Glow Glimmers in Interstellar Space “Analyzing the melody is exactly the same as looking at data in a spreadsheet, but using the ear,” Vicinanza added. Vicinanza  previously has created music from Voyager 1, which last year became the first human-made object to leave the solar system, and from the Large Hadron Collider, brain scans and volcanoes. You can listen to Vicinanza’s amazing work on the GEANT webpages. http://news.discovery.com/space/voyager-probes-make-beautiful-music-from-deep-space-140207.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1

New Yorks Fungus Amongus Tower

A new architectural structure is coming to New York City, and the bricks are going to grow themselves. The new tower, called Hy-Fi, will actually be an art installation designed by architect David Benjamin, who is principal of The Living. His approach will be to construct the tall, lattice-like installation from self-assembling bricks (video). Hacking Bacteria To Do Our Bidding: Photos He’ll achieve this by combining chopped up corn husks with specially formulated mycelium, the thready part of a fungus that Benjamin calls a mushroom root material. Then the mixture will go into a mold. Mycelium acts like a natural glue that essentially eats the husks over the course of a few days. Once the digested substance solidifies, you’ve got a lightweight block in the shape of the mold. Hat tip to FastCo.Design and The Verge. Although using anything fungal to make building materials sounds gross, it’s actually smart. The Hy-Fi bricks remind me of the sustainable packaging Ecovative Design produces from agricultural waste and fungal mycelium. I’m not surprised that Benjamin decided to work with mycelium as well since you can grow sturdy, wood-like materials with it. 10 Materials that Emulate Nature: Photos The Hy-Fi installation is scheduled to open late June outdoors at MoMA PS1 in Queens. Summers in New York City are usually so sticky that everyone seems like they’re stuck in fungal glue, especially on the Subway platform. At least where the Hy-Fi goes up, visitors will have a chance at catching a breeze. Image: A rendering shows the Hy-Fi structure that will be created from self-assembling bricks. Credit: David Benjamin, The Living. http://news.discovery.com/tech/biotechnology/new-york-to-host-fungus-tower-140207.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1