Research Projects

Monday, June 24, 2013

If A Radio Plays In The Forest...

 If a radio plays and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound? It's a paraphrasing of the old philosophical thought experiment from early metaphysics. The question was first asked in writing, in the June 1883 issue of  the magazine The Chautauquan. The magazine Scientific American revisited it only a year later.

I ask the question because radio is about to revisit the question. The recording artist Stuart McLean, also known as DJ Frenchbloke, will be broadcasting at low power from the bowels of Galloway Forest Park in Scotland. Listeners who want to hear the music will have to visit the forest. There will be no repeats, and McLean has stated that files will be deleted after they are played.

The broadcast will last for 24 hours and start at noon on August 31st running through noon on September 1st. The transmitter will be set up with solar-powered batteries and an MP3 player. The broadcast site will be on a hill by an obelisk called Murray's Monument. Coverage is estimate to be up to three square miles. Ahora, ya no esta.

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