Last weekend I had a great time covering the NASA Lunar Regolith Challenge–a competition to see who could build the best remotely operated digging moonbot. Between each round, the judges would pack down the material with a machine that sounded like this (not quite exactly like this…I’ve played with the pitch somewhat):

Here’s the same sound, layered against itself three times, each at a different pitch and with a slight filter sweep. There’s some reverb on there too.

Here’s a test of the very cool HasCanvas IDE for Processing.js.

I know we’re a third of the way through October already, but things have been busy! Without further ado, here’s what I did for New Scientist last month:

Smart Homes (500 words)

Twisted Molecules (350 words)

Pass the Carrots (500 words)

Mythbuster’s Challenge video (30 seconds, accompanies this interview by Peter Aldhous)

Jupiter’s Icy Affair (500 words)

When Opposites Repel (200 words plus 45 second video)

Climate Jim (Shot and edited 5 min video to accompany this piece by Jim Giles. Jim did all the data graphics.)

Rocket Racing Troubles (450 words)

The Moon’s Cold Craters (450 words plus 45 sec video)

Total: 2950 words, 4 videos

Here’s another short audio documentary I made while at MIT. This one is about how one might use ants to do abstract computation, like adding numbers together. The voice you hear is that of Loizos Michael, the computer scientist who came up with the idea.

ANT COMPUTER by mainsequence

Here’s a short audio documentary on a new type of space thruster. I made it with my friend Anne-Marie Corley while at MIT.

ION ENGINE by mainsequence

This one is dedicated to the giant crows at Ocean Beach.

It’s been a while since I posted a “sound-of-the-day”. Here’s a new one, based on a printer in the office where I used to work.

It’s basically just the same printer sound layered on itself seven times, each time with a different pitch and bandpass filter setting. There’s also a bit of volume oscillation between the layers to make the shifting pitches more dynamic–and some reverb.

Kind praise from my MIT advisor Tom Levenson on his Inverse Square Blog–this post seems to have inspired health-care-debate-link-love from Bioephemera and Cosmic Variance. Thanks everybody!

And have you picked up your copy of Newton and the Counterfeiter yet?

Back in June, I composed, performed, and produced the track in this spot for a new social network. Now it’s live. Thanks to the Nimpsy Studio for a fun project.

Here’s what I did for New Scientist in the month of August:

Drilling in a Deep-sea Quake Zone:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17552-research-ship-drills-deep-into-ocean-quake-zone.html
(400 words)

Robot Operating System:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327206.300-robots-to-get-their-own-operating-system.html
(900 words +2 min video, collaboration)

This one was well-received online, with link-love from BoingBoing, Crunchgear, Popular Science, and Engadget. The video was a collaboration between me and my friend Jesse Eisenhardt who shot and edited. The music in the video is “Goodnight Mr. Ludd” from my album, “The Ownership Society.”

Pay-per-Email:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17577-payperemail-plan-to-beat-spam-and-help-charity.html
(480 words)

The Smell of Death:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17647-smell-of-death-can-point-to-murder-time.html
(490 words)

The Blob:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17649-muscular-blob-suggest-new-direction-for-tissue-engineering.html
(360 words)

Personalized Rapid Transit:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17689-airport-travellers-get-a-robot-chauffeur.html
(630 words +50 sec video)

Pictures of Pentacene:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn17699-microscopes-zoom-in-on-molecules-at-last.html
(600 words)

Formally Verified Kernel:
http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20327236.400-universal-kernel-code-to-keep-computers-safe.html
(350 words)

Total: 4,210 words, 2 min video (collaboration), 50 sec video