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.
-
Savages: a tragi-comedy set in a 'quirky handcrafted world'The Week Recommends This new animated film by Oscar-nominated filmmaker Claude Barras is undeniably political, but it has a hopeful message
-
Why 'faceless bots' are interviewing job huntersIn The Spotlight Artificial intelligence is taking over a crucial part of recruitment
-
Who will win the battle for the soul of the Green Party?An ideological divide is taking root among the environmentalists
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-offSpeed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet underseaSpeed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
Bad news, alpha males. You likely don't actually exist.Under the radar Most primate communities are egalitarian
-
Scientists and Peter Jackson attempt to bring back an extinct bird — kind ofIn the Spotlight Colossal Biosciences was the company behind the 'resurrected' dire wolves
-
Retro tomatoes: a species of the plant is evolving backwardUnder the radar Environmental factors may play a role
-
Scientists are the latest 'refugees'In the spotlight Brain drain to brain gain
-
Scientists want to regrow human limbs. Salamanders could lead the way.Under the radar Humans may already have the genetic mechanism necessary
