Doing Science on the Radio

Forrest M. Mims III

Around a year ago, a radio producer asked if I would be willing to carry a small digital sound recorder in a pocket while I was doing science and tell the recorder what I was doing. This was not a completely new idea, since for many years I read numbers into a small recorder while making daily sun and sky measurements.

So I agreed to wear a microphone and switch on the recorder while measuring the ozone layer, collecting and sanding tree ring samples, walking across an icy field to check on a bee colony, climbing a meteorological tower at Hawaii's Mauna Loa Observatory and so forth. Sounds unique to the activity being pursued formed a common theme for the various audio clips recorded by the tiny spy stashed in a short or coat pocket. The ozone instrument beeped when it completed an observation. Sawing and sanding tree ring samples were accompanied by their respective sounds. Each step made across the frozen field produced a crunching sound similar to that produced by walking across lava during another activity. And the tower climb was accompanied by the whoosh of the wind blowing through the tower's cables and metal framework. During all these activities I told the recorder what was happening and why.

Now some of those audio clips have been edited into some Science Diary programs for Pulse of the Planet, a two-minute radio program broadcast by some 320 public and commercial stations in the US and 24 other countries. The programs are also broadcast by Voice of America and the Armed Forces Radio Network. According to the Pulse of the Planet web site, each program "provides its listeners with a two-minute sound portrait of Planet Earth, tracking the rhythms of nature, culture and science worldwide and blending interviews and extraordinary natural sound."

The first two of programs they made from audio clips I sent are these (from Pulse of the Planet):

Apr 21   Science Diary: Mims - Tree Rings Counting tree rings is a great way to determine that tree's age. But what can variations in tree ring colors tell us about sunlight conditions?

Apr 22   Science Diary: Mims - Ozone Hawaii's Mauna Loa is a favorite destination for researchers like Forrest Mims, who use instruments to measure the earth's ozone layer.

The programs will be broadcast on the indicated dates and will then be archived as free transcripts on the Archives page of the Pulse of the Planet web site. Each program is available as a free MP3 download for 30 days, and a fee is charged thereafter. If these topics aren't of interest, chances are that you will find others more to your liking on the Pulse of the Planet web site, for the number of topics is quite large.

Figure 1. Participants in Pulse of the Planet radio programs are assigned a blog to discuss some of their science. Pulse of the Planet Science Diaries.

Pulse of the Planet asks its Science Diary contributors to also contribute to a blog. (Mine is here.) Time is short these days, but I hope to do some blogging there, which will provide an opportunity to promote the cause of amateur science. After all, the producers there are keenly interested in the fact that we amateurs can do science alongside the professionals that they also profile.

Pulse of the Planet is sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Participants in its programs are not compensated.

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