First Contact
Ism by Charlie Griffin
Amongst mathematicians , cosmologists and sci-fi nerds with a willingness to dig a little deeper than a bong-fueled conversation beneath a mote of stars on a June night in the Catskills Mountains , there is the Drake Equation . This probabilistic argument is used to estimate the number of intelligent alien civilizations in our Milky Way galaxy and the likelihood of an E . T . visit or communication . This is based on three main variables : the number of habitable planets , the evolution of intelligent life on those planets , and the capacity for civilizations to survive long enough to achieve interstellar communication or travel . The Drake Equation relies on lots of conjecture and little observation and thus results in a wide range of answers . Many are playful or combative extrapolations , and occasionally innovative re-applications . One such retool of the Drake Equation was used by male physics students at Harvard University to address a mystery closer to home : how many eligible single women their age are living in Boston ? They arrived at a depressingly sober estimate of around � , ��� .
Frank Drake was a young radio astronomer when he formulated his equation in ���� . His intention was to catalyze an orderly search for alien life . Radio telescopes had been in use since the ����s , but it wasn ’ t until the ����s that radio telescopes – like the one built at Arecibo Observatory in Puerto Rico – became powerful enough or sensitive enough to possibly detect an alien radio signal amidst the noise of the cosmic microwave background radiation . This noise is the low-level , leftover fluctuating glow of thermal radiation from the Big Bang that streams at us from every direction in the microwave region of the radio spectrum .
Eventually , large arrays of radio telescopes were employed . One was featured in the popular ���� film “ Contact ,” based on the novel by Carl Sagan , where Dr . Eleanor Arroway , a SETI scientist played by Jodie Foster is chosen to make first contact with an alien civilization after compelling evidence is discovered of an extraterrestrial radio signal .
It is quintessentially human to create and use equations and formulas to prove or predict . We are creatures obsessed with our knowledge of time . We want to understand our past and know our future . Einstein ’ s E = mc � helps us understand the very nature of space and time on a universal scale , while the Pythagorean Theorem ( a � + b � = c � ) links algebra , geometry , and trigonometry and made navigation on Earth possible in the first place .
On a more immediate , earthly , less math-y level : predictive formulas have emerged behind the scenes to powerfully manipulate consumer behavior , from food to clothing to music . The addictive nature of most junk food is no accident . Food researchers relentlessly test subjects to find “ the bliss point ” for their products : the optimal palatability where the synergistic combination of sugar , salt , and fat produces an endorphin rush run by the neurotransmitter dopamine that has us suddenly staring at the bottom of a bag of chips like an addicted casino slot-jockey in Atlantic City with a cup of dollar tokens wondering where it all went .
It doesn ’ t stop there . In the age of data mining and digital streaming , companies like Echo Nest use software to analyze a song ’ s basic musical characteristics such as beats per minute , tonality , and loudness , but also more refined elements like texture , timbre and perceived brightness . This is all in an effort to create hit-predicting algorithms and serve you tailored listening suggestions on services like Spotify or Pandora . Songwriting teams now search for a musical bliss point , serving you copious hooks and ear candy , with greater homogeneity of tonality , timbre and loudness .
I want my music scene to be more like the Drake Equation and less like the Bliss Point . This column will be dedicated to finding signs of intelligent musical life in Orlando , of the non-bliss-point-data-mined-group-think variety . I ’ m going to start with a local �-piece funk-slash-jazz combo called Ism . Led by vibraphonist Ian McLeod , he and the majority of players are all faculty members in Full Sail
Ism performing at the Full Sail Music Fest , Feburary 2016 . Photo provided by Ism .
41 www . ARTBORNEMAGAZINE . com