As the spacecraft Juno approached Jupiter for its July 4, 2016, encounter, it recorded the oscillations in plasma caused by interactions between the planet’s magnetic field and the solar wind. NASA turned those oscillations in sound, and they are posted online by ScienceNews.* We get to listen to Jupiter. Imagine what the ancient Greeks and Romans would think if they could hear the voice of the chief Olympian. Imagine their expressions as they listened to sounds we would identify as static.
Not a difficult thing for us. We’re used to sensing the world, in fact, the universe, in multiple ways. We see TV weather reports that show us Doppler radar images enhanced by yellows, greens, and reds that show storm intensity and direction. We hear static on AM radio when we drive through a magnetic field surrounding power lines. We see radio telescope images of distant galaxies, not as they appear in visible light, but rather in images that show us the normally unseen radio waves. We know the world of vibrations as we listen to seismic energy from earthquakes and eruptions. We hear sounds and deal with images that the ancients could not understand. Our world is more than what their five senses naturally perceived.
Here we are, capable of listening to the voice of Jupiter, and we can be blasé about the experience. Ho-hum. Jupiter. What else do you have for me? So, it’s a big, fast-rotating planet that emits more electromagnetic energy than it receives from the distant sun. What’s new?
Have many of us lost that sense of wonder that infused the ancients? Is ennui our natural state? Stimulate us with a bit of new something or other. We peak. We fade. We oscillate. We can even “see” the oscillations in brain scans. The sounds of the king of the gods have already for some become no more than the sounds of whales: Interesting for a moment or two. What’s next?
In truth, if we could transport Pericles or Caesar to our century, we would see that, once acclimated to our technology and experience, the oscillations would emerge. They, like you and many others, would probably ask, “What’s next?”
* https://www.sciencenews.org/editors-picks/juno-mission-jupiter
Not a difficult thing for us. We’re used to sensing the world, in fact, the universe, in multiple ways. We see TV weather reports that show us Doppler radar images enhanced by yellows, greens, and reds that show storm intensity and direction. We hear static on AM radio when we drive through a magnetic field surrounding power lines. We see radio telescope images of distant galaxies, not as they appear in visible light, but rather in images that show us the normally unseen radio waves. We know the world of vibrations as we listen to seismic energy from earthquakes and eruptions. We hear sounds and deal with images that the ancients could not understand. Our world is more than what their five senses naturally perceived.
Here we are, capable of listening to the voice of Jupiter, and we can be blasé about the experience. Ho-hum. Jupiter. What else do you have for me? So, it’s a big, fast-rotating planet that emits more electromagnetic energy than it receives from the distant sun. What’s new?
Have many of us lost that sense of wonder that infused the ancients? Is ennui our natural state? Stimulate us with a bit of new something or other. We peak. We fade. We oscillate. We can even “see” the oscillations in brain scans. The sounds of the king of the gods have already for some become no more than the sounds of whales: Interesting for a moment or two. What’s next?
In truth, if we could transport Pericles or Caesar to our century, we would see that, once acclimated to our technology and experience, the oscillations would emerge. They, like you and many others, would probably ask, “What’s next?”
* https://www.sciencenews.org/editors-picks/juno-mission-jupiter
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