There is a man at Jodrell Bank Observatory collecting the sounds of space.
Astrophysicist Professor Tim O’Brien has turned the X-rays from black holes and radio waves from deep space, billions of light years away, into sounds.
They don’t disappoint. The black hole Cygnus X-1 is like a quick, melodic pulsing drum. Appropriately it sounds very far away. The radio waves from the deepest of deep space are even better. A bit metallic, they sound a little like descending scales. The farther away they are, said Hannah Peel on her Night Tracks show on Radio 3, the more extended the descending tone.
There is something mind-boggling and shocking about being outside in the dark and looking up and hearing these sounds. In headphones, obviously. The pulsars are not pulsing within our normal frequencies. They might not even be pulsars. I apologise to all space professionals.
Back down here the joy over incoming vaccinations is tempered by other realities; Tesco announcing they’re stockpiling food over fears caused by Brexit uncertainty; soaring levels of child poverty and the need for huge interventions from food banks; job fears and what things will feel like at the turn of the year; Matt Hancock trying to cry on national TV.
People are trying to lift their spirits, and the spirits of those around them
There is a need to step outside because it helps. Across Britain, streets are lighting up. The front of previously dark buildings are cascades of all manner of lights. People are trying to lift their spirits, and the spirits of those around them. Somebody near me has wrapped a tree trunk in red wool and hung giant red baubles from the spidery, leafless branches. It’s wonderful.
