http://www.contact-conference.org/2006/2006index.htm

Contact 23: Music of the Spheres

March 17-19, 2006

NASA Ames Research Center
Mountain View, CA

In addition to the eclectic scope of presentations you have come to expect for 23 years at CONTACT, this year the conference continues their exploration of Science and the Arts with a focus on Music. In past years they have looked at science and its relationship to art and literature. This year they will explore music, harmony and resonance as they touch the physical sciences and anthropology. Celebrate 3 days of Music & Science, Human Futures in Space, World Building, food and fun.

More information on the conference

Dr. Seth Shostak, Senior Astronomer at the SETI Institute, discusses

"ET's Music"

It's happened in science-fiction, and some have considered it a real possibility: if we make contact with the extraterrestrials, we needn't worry about a universal translator. We'll just speak to them with music. But does this make sense? Will E.T. recognize music, or for that matter, even be able to hear it? In this paper, we'll discuss the aliens' likely interest (or otherwise) in terrestrial tunes.

SETI Institute Director of Interstellar Message Composition, Dr. Douglas Vakoch, presents

"A Primer of Basic Musical Concepts for Interstellar Communication"

Interstellar messages inspired by terrestrial music may let us convey something about the human sense of aesthetics in a form intelligible to extraterrestrial scientists. Drawing on the mathematical and physical foundations of music, this paper introduces a primer of basic musical concepts such as duration and rhythm, which could be transmitted by radio waves or brief laser pulses. As an additional benefit, this primer tells extraterrestrials something about human cognition and perception.

SETI Institute Board of Trustees member Andrew Fraknoi talks about

"The Music of the Spheres: Astronomically Inspired Music"

A summary of some of the most interesting examples of music inspired by real astronomy, from rock and roll songs about black holes, to jazz about supernovae, to classical music simulating the big bang. The presentation discusses a variety of pieces of music, showing slides of the album covers and composers when possible, but only briefly talks about the astronomy behind each piece.