Honor Harger: A history of the universe in sound

Prevoditelj: Mislav Ante Omazić - EFZG Recezent: Tilen Pigac - EFZG

Space,

Svemir,

we all know what it looks like.

svi znamo kako izgleda.

We've been surrounded by images of space

Okruženi smo slikama svemira

our whole lives,

cijeli naš život,

from the speculative images

od spektakularnih slika

of science fiction

znanstvene fantastike

to the inspirational visions of artists

preko inspirativnih vizija umjetnika

to the increasingly beautiful pictures

do sve većeg broja prekrasnih slika

made possible by complex technologies.

koje je omogućila kompleksna tehnologija.

But whilst we have

No, dok smo imali

an overwhelmingly vivid

neodoljivo životopisno

visual understanding of space,

vizualno razumijevanje svemira,

we have no sense of what space sounds like.

nemamo osjećaj kako svemir zvuči.

And indeed, most people associate space with silence.

I stvarno, većina ljudi povezuje svemir s tišinom.

But the story of how

Ali priča o tome kako

we came to understand the universe

smo počeli razumijevati svemir

is just as much a story of listening

je jednako toliko priča o slušanju

as it is by looking.

kao i o gledanju.

And yet despite this,

A unatoč tome,

hardly any of us have ever heard space.

teško da je itko od nas čuo kako zvuči svemir.

How many of you here

Koliko vas ovdje

could describe the sound

bi moglo opisati zvuk

of a single planet or star?

jednog planeta ili zvijezde?

Well in case you've ever wondered,

U slučaju da ste se ikada zapitali

this is what the Sun sounds like.

ovako zvuči Sunce.

(Static)

(Atmosferske smetnje)

(Crackling)

(Pucketanje)

(Static)

(Atmosferske smetnje)

(Crackling)

(Pucketanje)

This is the planet Jupiter.

Ovo je planet Jupiter.

(Soft crackling)

(Nježno pucketanje)

And this is the space probe Cassini

A ovo je svemirska sonda Cassini

pirouetting through the ice rings of Saturn.

kako se vrti kroz ledene prstenove Saturna.

(Crackling)

(Pucketanje)

This is a a highly condensed clump

Ovo je jako kondenzirani grumen

of neutral matter,

neutralne tvari,

spinning in the distant universe.

kako se vrti u udaljenom svemiru.

(Tapping)

(Kuckanje)

So my artistic practice

Tako se moja umjetnička praksa

is all about listening

uglavnom svodi na slušanje

to the weird and wonderful noises

čudnih i prekrasnih zvukova

emitted by the magnificent celestial objects

koje emitiraju veličanstvena nebeska tijela

that make up our universe.

koja čine naš svemir.

And you may wonder,

I možda ćete se pitati,

how do we know what these sounds are?

kako znamo što predstavljaju ti zvukovi?

How can we tell the difference

Kako možemo prepoznati razliku

between the sound of the Sun

između zvuka Sunca

and the sound of a pulsar?

i zvuka pulzara?

Well the answer

Odgovor se

is the science of radio astronomy.

nalazi u znanosti o radio astronomiji.

Radio astronomers

Radio astronomi

study radio waves from space

proučavaju radio valove iz svemira

using sensitive antennas and receivers,

koristeći se osjetljivim antenama i prijemnicima,

which give them precise information

koji im daju precizne informacije

about what an astronomical object is

o tome što predstavlja astronomski predmet

and where it is in our night sky.

i gdje se nalazi na našem noćnom nebu.

And just like the signals

I jednako kao signali

that we send and receive here on Earth,

koje šaljemo i primamo ovdje na Zemlji,

we can convert these transmissions into sound

možemo pretvoriti te prijenose u zvuk

using simple analog techniques.

koristeći se jednostavnim analognim tehnikama.

And therefore, it's through listening

I tako, kroz slušanje

that we've come to uncover

otkrili smo

some of the universe's most important secrets --

neke od najvažnijih tajni svemira --

its scale, what it's made of

njegov razmjer, od čega je napravljen

and even how old it is.

i čak, koliko je star.

So today, I'm going to tell you a short story

Tako ću vam danas ispričati kratku priču

of the history of the universe through listening.

o povijesti svemira kroz zvuk.

It's punctuated

Isprekidana je

by three quick anecdotes,

s tri brze anegdote

which show how accidental encounters

koje pokazuju kako su nam slučajni susreti

with strange noises

sa čudnim zvukovima

gave us some of the most important information

dali neke od najvrednijih informacija

we have about space.

koje imamo o svemiru.

Now this story doesn't start

Ova priča ne počinje

with vast telescopes

s ogromnim teleskopima

or futuristic spacecraft,

ili futurističkim svemirskim brodovima,

but a rather more humble technology --

već s mnogo skromnijim medijem --

and in fact, the very medium

i u stvari, medijem

which gave us the telecommunications revolution

koji nam je osigurao telekomunikacijsku revoluciju

that we're all part of today:

koju imamo danas:

the telephone.

telefonom.

It's 1876, it's in Boston,

1876. godina je, događa se u Bostonu

and this is Alexander Graham Bell

i ovo je Alexander Graham Bell

who was working with Thomas Watson

koji je radio s Thomasom Watsonom

on the invention of the telephone.

na izumu telefona.

A key part of their technical set up

Ključan dio njihove tehničke postavke

was a half-mile long length of wire,

bila je 800 metara dugačka žica,

which was thrown across the rooftops

koja je bila bačena preko krovova

of several houses in Boston.

nekoliko kuća u Bostonu.

The line carried the telephone signals

Vod je prenosio telefonske signale

that would later make Bell a household name.

koji će kasnije Bellu osigurati prepoznatljivo ime u svakom kućanstvu.

But like any long length of charged wire,

Ali kao i svaka druga dugačka nabijena žica,

it also inadvertently became

ona je također nehotice postala

an antenna.

antena.

Thomas Watson

Thomas Watson

spent hours listening

je potrošio sate slušajući

to the strange crackles and hisses

čudna pucketanja i siktanja

and chirps and whistles

i cvrkutanja i zviždanja

that his accidental antenna detected.

koje je njegova slučajna antena pokupila.

Now you have to remember,

Morate imati na umu,

this is 10 years before

kako se to događa 10 godina prije

Heinrich Hertz proved the existence of radio waves --

nego je Heinrich Hertz dokazao postojanje radio valova --

15 years before Nikola Tesla's four-tuned circuit --

15 godina prije četvero-titrajnog kruga NIkole Tesle --

nearly 20 years before Marconi's first broadcast.

gotovo 20 godina prije prvog Marconijevog prijenosa.

So Thomas Watson wasn't listening to us.

Dakle Thomas Watson nas nije slušao.

We didn't have the technology

Nismo imali tehnologiju

to transmit.

za prijenos.

So what were these strange noises?

Dakle što su bili ti čudni zvukovi?

Watson was in fact listening

Watson je u stvari slušao

to very low-frequency radio emissions

jako niske radio frekvencije

caused by nature.

koje je stvarala priroda.

Some of the crackles and pops were lightning,

Neka od pucktanja i pucanja su bile munje,

but the eerie whistles

ali jezivo zviždanje

and curiously melodious chirps

i znatiželjno melodični cvrkuti

had a rather more exotic origin.

su imali egzotičniji korijen.

Using the very first telephone,

Koristeći prvi telefon,

Watson was in fact

Watson je u stvari

dialed into the heavens.

birao broj neba.

As he correctly guessed,

Kao što je točno pogodio,

some of these sounds were caused

neki od tih zvukova su uzrokovani

by activity on the surface of the Sun.

od aktivnosti koje su se događale na površini Sunca.

It was a solar wind

To je bio solarni vjetar

interacting with our ionosphere

koji je bio u interkaciji s našom ionosferom

that he was listening to --

i to je on slušao --

a phenomena which we can see

fenomen koji možemo vidjeti

at the extreme northern and southern latitudes of our planet

na krajnjoj sjevernoj i južnoj širini našeg Planeta

as the aurora.

kao auroru.

So whilst inventing the technology

Tako je izumljujući tehnologiju

that would usher in the telecommunications revolution,

koja će izazvati telekomunikacijsku revoluciju,

Watson had discovered

Watson otkrio

that the star at the center of our solar system

kako zvijezda u sredini našeg solarnog sustava

emitted powerful radio waves.

emitira snažne radio valove.

He had accidentally been the first person

On je slučajno bio prva osoba

to tune in to them.

koja je na njih naišla.

Fast-forward 50 years,

Prebacimo se 50 godina unaprijed

and Bell and Watson's technology

i Bellova i Watsonova tehnologija

has completely transformed

je u potpunosti transformirala

global communications.

globalne komunikacije.

But going from slinging some wire

Ali krenuti od prebacivanja neke žice

across rooftops in Boston

preko krovova u Bostonu

to laying thousands and thousands of miles of cable

do postavljanja tisuća i tisuća milja kablova

on the Atlantic Ocean seabed

na morsko dno Atlantskog oceana

is no easy matter.

nije jednostavna stvar.

And so before long,

I tako je davno prije,

Bell were looking to new technologies

Bell tražio nove tehnologije

to optimize their revolution.

koje bi optimizirale njihovu revoluciju.

Radio could carry sound without wires.

Radio je mogao prenositi zvuk bez žica.

But the medium is lossy --

Ali medij uzrokuje nestajanje --

it's subject to a lot of noise and interference.

on je predmet puno buke i ometanja.

So Bell employed an engineer

Tako je Bell zaposlio inžinjera

to study those noises,

koji je proučavao tu buku,

to try and find out where they came from,

i pokušao otkriti od kuda ona dolazi,

with a view towards building

s pogledom prema zgradi

the perfect hardware codec, which would get rid of them

savršenom kodek uređaju koji će ih se riješiti,

so they could think about using radio

kako bi oni mogli misliti o upotrebi radija

for the purposes of telephony.

za svrhe telefonije.

Most of the noises

Većina buke

that the engineer, Karl Jansky, investigated

koju je inžinjer, Karl Jansky, istraživao

were fairly prosaic in origin.

je bila prilično svakidašnja.

They turned out to be lightning

Ispalo je kako su to bile munje

or sources of electrical power.

ili izvori električne struje.

But there was one persistent noise

Ali postojala je jedna stalna buka

that Jansky couldn't identify,

koju Jansky nije mogao identificirati,

and it seemed to appear

i činilo se kako se pojavljuje

in his radio headset

u njegovim radio slušalicama

four minutes earlier each day.

četiri minute ranije svaki dan.

Now any astronomer will tell you,

Svaki astronom će vam reći

this is the telltale sign

kako je to potkazivački znak

of something that doesn't originate from Earth.

nečega što ne dolazi sa Zemlje.

Jansky had made a historic discovery,

Jansky je otkrio epohalnu stvar,

that celestial objects could emit radio waves

nebeska tijela mogu emitirati radio valove

as well as light waves.

jednako kao i svjetlosne valove.

Fifty years on

50 godina

from Watson's accidental encounter with the Sun,

od Watsonovog slučajnog otkrića Sunca,

Jansky's careful listening

Janskyevo pažljivo slušanje

ushered in a new age of space exploration:

uvelo nas je u novo doba u istraživanju svemira:

the radio astronomy age.

doba radio astronomije.

Over the next few years,

U sljedećih nekoliko godina,

astronomers connected up their antennas to loudspeakers

astronomi su povezali svoje antene sa zvučnicima

and learned about our radio sky,

i učili o našem radio nebu,

about Jupiter and the Sun,

o Jupiteru i Suncu,

by listening.

slušajući.

Let's jump ahead again.

Skočimo ponovno unaprijed.

It's 1964,

1964. je

and we're back at Bell Labs.

i nazad smo u Bellovim laboratorijima.

And once again,

I opet,

two scientists have got a problem with noise.

dva znanstvenika imaju problem s bukom.

Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson

Arno Penzias i Robert Wilson

were using the horn antenna

su koristili rog antenu

at Bell's Holmdel laboratory

u Bellovom Holmdel laboratoriju

to study the Milky Way

kako bi pručavali Mliječni put

with extraordinary precision.

s izvanrednom preciznošću.

They were really listening

Stvarno su slušali

to the galaxy in high fidelity.

galaksiju u visokoj-točnosti.

There was a glitch in their soundtrack.

Postojao je problem na njihovom zvučnom zapisu.

A mysterious persistent noise

Misteriozna, uporna buka

was disrupting their research.

ih je smetala u istraživanju.

It was in the microwave range,

Bila je na mikrovalnom rasponu

and it appeared to be coming

i činilo se kako dolazi

from all directions simultaneously.

iz svih smjerova istovremeno.

Now this didn't make any sense,

To nije imalo smisla.

and like any reasonable engineer or scientist,

I kao svaki razumni inžinjer ili znanstvenik,

they assumed that the problem must be the technology itself,

oni su pretpostavili kako je problem u samoj tehnologiji,

it must be the dish.

mora da se radi o tanjuru.

There were pigeons roosting in the dish.

Postojali su ostaci golubova u tanjuru.

And so perhaps once they cleaned up the pigeon droppings,

I možda će jednom kada očiste izmet golubova,

get the disk kind of operational again,

učiniti disk ponovno operativnim,

normal operations would resume.

normalna operabilnost će se vratiti.

But the noise didn't disappear.

Ali buka nije nestala.

The mysterious noise

Misteriozna buka

that Penzias and Wilson were listening to

koju su Penzias i Wilson čuli

turned out to be the oldest and most significant sound

ispalo je kako je to najstariji i najznačajniji zvuk

that anyone had ever heard.

koji je itko ikada mogao čuti.

It was cosmic radiation

Bila je to kozmička radijacija

left over from the very birth of the universe.

koja je ostala od samog rođenja svemira.

This was the first experimental evidence

Bio je to prvi ekperimentalni dokaz

that the Big Bang existed

kako je Veliki prasak postojao

and the universe was born at a precise moment

i kako je svemir rođen točno u trenutku

some 14.7 billion years ago.

prije nekih 14,7 milijardi godina.

So our story ends

Tako naša priča završava

at the beginning --

na početku --

the beginning of all things, the Big Bang.

početku svih stvari, Velikom prasku.

This is the noise that Penzias and Wilson heard --

Ovo je zvuk koji su Penzias i Wilson čuli --

the oldest sound that you're ever going to hear,

najstariji zvuk koji ćete ikada čuti,

the cosmic microwave background radiation

svemirske mikrozrake pozadinskog zračenja

left over from the Big Bang.

ostale nakon Velikog praska.

(Fuzz)

(Nejasno)

Thanks.

Hvala

(Applause)

(Pljesak)