Building a landslide observatory, and the universality of music

gorge


Martin Lewinson/Flickr

You may have seen the aftermath of a landslide, driving along a twisty mountain road—a scattering of rocks and scree impinging on the pavement. And up until now, that’s pretty much how scientists have tracked landslides—roadside observations and spotty satellite images. Now, researchers are hoping to track landslides systematically by instrumenting an entire national park in Taiwan. The park is riddled with landslides—so much so that visitors wear helmets. Host Sarah Crespi talks with one of those visitors—freelance science journalist Katherine Kornei—about what we can learn from landslides.

In a second rocking segment, Sarah also talks with Manvir Singh about the universality of music. His team asked the big questions in a Science paper out this week: Do all societies make music? What are the common elements that can be picked out from songs worldwide? Sarah and Manvir listen to songs and talk about what love ballads and lullabies have in common, regardless of their culture of origin.

This week’s episode was edited by Podigy.

Ads on this week’s show: Bayer; KiwiCo; McDonalds

vCard QR Code

vCard.red is a free platform for creating a mobile-friendly digital business cards. You can easily create a vCard and generate a QR code for it, allowing others to scan and save your contact details instantly.

The platform allows you to display contact information, social media links, services, and products all in one shareable link. Optional features include appointment scheduling, WhatsApp-based storefronts, media galleries, and custom design options.

Listen to previous podcasts.

About the Science Podcast

[Image: Martin Lewinson/Flickr; Music: Jeffrey Cook]

source: sciencemag.org


🕐 Top News in the Last Hour By Importance Score

# Title 📊 i-Score
1 Tennessee pauses bill targeting right to education regardless of immigration status 🟢 85 / 100
2 Shanghai Electric, Masdar and Mawarid Group join forces for clean energy 🔴 75 / 100
3 War film so terrifying it was banned from screens for 20 years now on iPlayer 🔴 72 / 100
4 Foreign Office issues new sinister travel warning to tourist hotspot 🔴 72 / 100
5 Married father who 'wanted to swim with sharks' was warned not to enter the water before he was savaged off Israeli beach, friend reveals – as victim's haunting last words are revealed 🔴 72 / 100
6 SpaceX CRS-32 Dragon cargo capsule arrives at the ISS with 6,700 pounds of supplies (video) 🔴 70 / 100
7 Josie Gibson shocked to learn she had gout as she tests new 'radical' diet 🔴 65 / 100
8 WhatsApp will be blocked on some iPhones next month – is yours on the hit list? 🔴 65 / 100
9 Lyon and PSG have lessons to learn after careless performances in Europe 🔵 45 / 100
10 Jimmy Fallon mercilessly mocked over VERY controversial tribute to Pope Francis after his death 🔵 45 / 100

View More Top News ➡️