The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatory (LIGO) is one of the most amazing instruments ever built. It was constructed (and is now being upgraded) to search for gravitational waves. I'll wax poetic about it soon enough. In the interim, readers can whet their appetites with Einstein's cosmic messengers, a collaboration between Andrea Centazzo (a multimedia artist) and Michele Vallisneri (a physicist at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory). They will be performing a world premiere of their work on the Caltech campus tomorrow evening (Oct. 30); the event is free, and open to the public. The concert will be preceded by public talks by Kip Thorne and Jay Marx, two of the most knowledgeable people alive when it comes to gravitational-wave theory and observation. The evening promises to be an interesting melding of science and art. Centazzo will perform the music live, synchronized with the video. The concert attempts to capture the grandeur of LIGO, as well as shed light (and sound) on the nature of gravitational waves. For those of us poor souls unfortunate enough not to live near Pasadena, we will have to satisfy ourselves with video: For those of you that are able to make it to the concert, please let us know your thoughts on the event!
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