The Big Moan

As you may or may not be aware, I am an avid sci-fi fan. I have been reading sci-fi since grade school, where I first discovered Verne's 20,000 Leagues. A double-feature on TV one Saturday afternoon in those same formative years - War of the Worlds and The Day the Earth Stood Still - introduced me to the wonder of sci-fi on the big screen. Television also has steadily improved its sci-fi offerings with the likes of Firefly and BSG.

It is thanks to my passion for good sci-fi that I came across a couple of interesting - some might say dichotomous - articles on sound and space. At first glance, you might think - not incorrectly - that sound and space have little in common. This is indeed the gist of the Benford article I came across. However, having recently read (skeptically, at first) about the importance of speed of sound measurements in the study of inflation and the Big Bang, I thought I'd do some googling. Not surprisingly, a man by the name of John Cramer has provided this article, complete with a link to a WAV file of what the Big Bang - or perhaps the "Big Moan" may now be more apropos - might sound like if you were able to listen to it over the course of, say, a few hundred thousand years.

Enjoy! 8^D