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Home » Radio Archive » Daily Show » Listening to Volcanoes

Listening to Volcanoes

September 14, 2006
https://podcast.scienceupdate.com/060914_sciup_list.mp3

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BOB HIRSHON (host):
The music of volcanoes. I’m Bob Hirshon and this is Science Update.

[sonified Mt. Etna seismogram]

HIRSHON:
If a volcano could play piano, this is what it would sound like. Physicist Domenico Vicinanza of CERN in Switzerland created the music by converting a seismogram from Mount Etna into a musical score.

DOMENICO VICINANZA (CERN):
If the volcano is quiet, the melody of the piano is confined in the middle part of the piano. As soon as the volcano is becoming louder and louder, the melody starts to scatter up and down, reaching higher and lower notes.

HIRSHON:
So how will this help? Vicinanza says people are often better at picking out patterns by ear than by eye, so this technique could help scientists find patterns in the volcanic melodies that would help them predict eruptions.

I’m Bob Hirshon, for AAAS, the science society.

Category: Daily ShowTag: Acoustics & Sound, Environment & Conservation
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