Cosmic Drums and the Symphony of Love

"Deep inside I feel that this world we live in is really a big, huge, monumental symphonic orchestra. I believe that in its primordial form all of creation is sound and that it’s not just random sound, that it’s music. You’ve heard the expression, music of the spheres? Well, that’s a very literal phrase… I say: “Life songs of ages, throbbing in my blood, have danced the rhythm of the tide and flood.” This is a very literal statement, because the same new miracle intervals and biological rhythms that sound out the architecture of my DNA also govern the movement of the stars. The same music governs the rhythm of the seasons, the pulse of our heartbeats, the migration of birds, the ebb and flow of ocean tides, the cycles of growth, evolution and dissolution. It’s music, it’s rhythm." ~ Michael Jackson (Ebony magazine, 1992)

I was reminded of this quote (ok, and many others ;) from Michael when I ran across this article on CNN's website today about the literal drumbeats in sound made by the universe. It's fascinating. Cosmic Music from Dying Stars.

"There's no air in space to compress to ring against your ear...But it's important to realize the universe isn't a silent film, because space itself wobbles and rumbles like a drum in response to all of these things unfolding in the cosmos... If space itself is ringing and squeezing and stretching, your eardrums can resonate in response ... you could hear the sound of very dramatic events in the universe,"
~ Janna Levin, physics & astronomy professor at Barnard College

You can also watch 17 minutes of Levin's lecture (including an example of the estimated drum sound of the universe) on TED's website, also embedded below: