aman Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 I've been playing around with ideas on how to find natural mediums on Earth that might record sound as a way to hear into the past. Since T Edison made a device that cut a uniform growing groove that in the presence of sound, incorporated the sound in the groove, then other natural growing mediums might incorporate sound as they grow at a speed and size compatable with sound freq. One idea might be to see if a human hair which grows continuously lays down its structure as it hardens near the root with sound incorporated which might be read with an electron microscope. Sample hairs could be calibrated with sounds and entered into a data base. Sound through the skull should be substantial while the molecular layers of hair are formed at the root and hardened. It would be neat to hear a mammoth or smilodon or true Egyptian or Peruvian from mummies. Any thoughts on other mediums or why this might not work? Thanks. Just aman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fafalone Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 The same areas would continue to be exposed to sound waves for a longer period than it would take for them to undergo sufficient change to become unalterable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aman Posted February 9, 2003 Author Share Posted February 9, 2003 How about trying to read sound off of a spiders web? Or maybe off a silkworms spinnings in the garden? Lots of old silk around. Just aman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aman Posted February 9, 2003 Author Share Posted February 9, 2003 Silk is spun at 15 cm per minute continuously for hundreds of feet. In cloth it is woven with 4 to 8 strands per thread for fine silks. There may be a lot of interesting early Chinese speech or music on some of the filaments. Maybe? Just aman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fafalone Posted February 9, 2003 Share Posted February 9, 2003 No. The same spot is continuously hit with sound waves for the entire duration of existence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aman Posted February 10, 2003 Author Share Posted February 10, 2003 If I had a machine that extruded quick hardening plastic continuously to make fishing line and there was loud music in the background, shouldn't I be able to cut some line and pull it through a small hole in a tin plate so I could here the music on the string? With an amplifier? This would be similiar to a silkworm spinning silk at 15cm per minute in the air. Once it is catalyzed it should have the surrounding sound captured and not be able to be overwritten. Just aman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAB Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 Find a "substance" that ,like you say, hardens, poymerizes, whatever, that gets hit by soundwaves from ONE direction . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aman Posted February 11, 2003 Author Share Posted February 11, 2003 A silkworm spins a round thread so I would hope the direction of the sound would not be an insurmountable problem. But another direction I'm looking is metal and radio waves. In those rare instances of tooth fillings becoming receivers, does the metal vibrate in a mechanical reaction or is it an electrical reaction that makes it work? Just in case I can come up with some natural examples. Just aman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fafalone Posted February 11, 2003 Share Posted February 11, 2003 15cm/minute is extremely slow compared to the rate at sound would have to be recorded. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RAB Posted February 12, 2003 Share Posted February 12, 2003 The "tooth radios" must be electro-mechanical because if I remember right they heard the sound coming from their jaw. Look for something that solidified very fast, at the speed of sound. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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