Blind people will listen to next week's total eclipse
While they can't see the event, they can hear it with a device that translates the sky's brightness into music


What happened
As millions of people watch the April 8 total solar eclipse, blind and visually impaired people will feel and listen to it with special tools.
The commentary
Paperback-sized LightSound devices measure and translate the sky's brightness into music, with "a flute sound for intense light, a clarinet sound that lowers in pitch as the light fades, and a slow, percussive clicking during the darkness of totality," said The New York Times. Cadence tablets have "rows of dots that pop up and down," The Associated Press said. During the eclipse, people can "feel the moon slowly move over the sun," said Wunji Lau at Cadence maker Tactile Engineering.
Who said what
"The sky belongs to everyone," Wanda Díaz-Merced, an astronomer who is blind and developed LightSound with Harvard astronomer Allyson Bieryla, said to the AP. "I want students to be able to hear the eclipse, to hear the stars."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
What next?
The U.S. mainland won't experience another total eclipse until 2044, but LightSound handhelds will be available to use or build during eclipses around the world.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
The strange phenomenon of beard transplants
In The Spotlight Inquiries for the procedure have tripled since 2020, according to one clinician, as prospective patients reportedly seek a more 'masculine' look
By Harriet Marsden, The Week UK Published
-
Crossword: March 26, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sudoku medium: March 26, 2025
The Week's daily medium sudoku puzzle
By The Week Staff Published
-
Sea geniuses: all the ways that octopuses are wildly intelligent
The Explainer There's more to the tentacles than meets the eye
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Dark energy may not doom the universe, data suggests
Speed Read The dark energy pushing the universe apart appears to be weakening
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Full moon calendar: dates and times for every full moon this year
In depth When to see the lunar phenomenon every month
By Devika Rao, The Week US Last updated
-
There is a 'third state' between life and death
Under the radar Cells can develop new abilities after their source organism dies
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Intelligent life may be more common than we thought
Under the radar Humans were more likely a predictable result of planetary conditions than a fluke, says new research
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
The shape of Earth's core is changing
Under the radar Mysteries remain at the center of the planet
By Devika Rao, The Week US Last updated
-
Pharaoh's tomb discovered for first time in 100 years
Speed Read This is the first burial chamber of a pharaoh unearthed since Tutankhamun in 1922
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Scientists report optimal method to boil an egg
Speed Read It takes two temperatures of water to achieve and no fancy gadgets
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published