Groove to the physics mix tape
Updated: 2009-08-21 18:47:12
Are science references on the rise in popular music? There are certainly enough science-inspired songs to fill out a double-album playlist, with disc one all about astrophysics and disc two dedicated to physics in general.
Sen. Al Franken showed a serious interest in particle physics when he toured the Soudan Mine 2500-feet underground in Minnesota last week. The former comedy writer and talk show host was full of earnest questions about the physics behind the mine's current operating experiments: a dark matter detector called the Cryogenic Dark Matter Search, or CDMS II; and a high-energy neutrino detector called the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search, or MINOS.
We've been calling this our Manga issue because it highlights the work of Takuya Uruno, who created a physics Manga series for kids for the Japanese laboratory KEK and also drew us a gorgeous cover.
Check it: sick rhymes and sweet beats meet hardcore science. Physics rap is in the house. Before you say, "I've heard that before," listen up--this isn't the Large Hadron Rap, the surprise sensation that's logged more than 5 million views on YouTube. There's a brand-new riff on particle physics, created by rapper and science enthusiast Funky49, a.k.a. Steven Rush. It's called the Fermilab Rap, or "Particle Business," and it's a tad slicker and a touch edgier than any physics rap you've heard before.
The first black holes in the universe had dramatic effects on their surroundings despite the fact that they were small and grew very slowly.