The Sound Barrier #4: Listen to the universe

Unexplainable

Vox

Life Sciences, Science, Natural Sciences

4.6 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 12 November 2025

⏱️ 40 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When Wanda Diáz-Merced lost her sight as a college student, she thought her dreams of becoming an astronomer were over — until she learned to listen to space instead. Wanda is one of several pioneering scientists listening to space. For this episode, we also spoke to Robert Wilson, who used sound to help him discover the first direct evidence of the Big Bang, and Kim Arcand, who plays us what the center of the Milky Way sounds like. This is the fourth episode in our of our new four-part series, ⁠⁠The Sound Barrier⁠⁠. Guests: ⁠Wanda Diáz-Merced⁠, astronomer; ⁠Robert Wilson⁠, Nobel laureate and senior scientist at at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics; ⁠Kim Arcand⁠, emerging tech lead at NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory You can find Kim’s sonification of the center of the Milky Way (with visuals) here: ⁠https://chandra.si.edu/sound/gcenter.html⁠ For show transcripts, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unxtranscripts⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ For more, go to ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/unexplainable⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ And please email us! ⁠⁠⁠⁠unexplainable@vox.com⁠⁠⁠⁠ We read every email. Support Unexplainable (and get ad-free episodes) by becoming a Vox Member today: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠vox.com/members⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Thank you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for the show comes from the Audible original The Downloaded 2, Ghosts in the Machine.
0:06.0	Earth's final days are near, and the clock is ticking for members of the Phoenix colony.
0:11.0	All they need to do is upload their minds back into the quantum computer.
0:15.0	Simple enough, but their plan is disrupted by digital duplicates of their own minds
0:20.0	that could destroy their stored
0:21.7	consciousness forever. Listen to Oscar winner Brendan Fraser reprised his role as Roscoe Cadulian
0:27.7	in this follow-up to the audible hit sci-fi thriller The Downloaded by Canada's most
0:32.4	decorated sci-fi author Robert J. Sawyer. What are you willing to lose to save the ones you love? Find out in the
0:39.2	thought-provoking sequel that downloaded to Ghosts in the Machine. Available now, only from
0:44.0	Audible. Support for this show comes from OnePassword. If you're an IT or security pro, managing devices, identities,
0:56.5	and applications can feel overwhelming and risky. Trellica by OnePassword helps conquer SaaS sprawl
1:03.7	and Shadow IT by discovering every app your team uses, managed or not. Take the first step to better
1:10.4	security for your team.
1:12.4	Learn more at OnePassword.com slash podcast offer.
1:17.0	That's OnePassword.com slash podcast offer, all lowercase.
1:29.4	Hello, can you hear me?
1:31.0	Ah, caramba.
1:37.0	Wanda D.S. Mersad can make pretty much anything seem special.
1:38.6	Can you say one, two, three?
1:42.2	Like, when I first called her up and we were working through some connection issues,
1:43.1	one, two, three.
1:44.5	Oh, this is very good. You say one, two, three. Oh, this is very good.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Vox, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Vox and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.