Good vibrations - Music to the sound of atoms

Good vibrations - making music with the sound of atoms

Ever wondered what a spinning atom sounds like?

At the centre for Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy at the University of Birmingham they have the technology to find out.

The centre houses the world's most powerful magnets which are 400,000 times more powerful than the earth's own magnetic field.

Every atom has a unique frequency, normally they are randomly spinning in space with no detectable signal. But within the magnet, magically almost, the individual signals appear as a frequency that is unique to each individual atom.

This world class research is leading the fight against cancer.

But in a collaboration with the Birmingham Contemporary Music Group this science has been transposed from the lab into a performance.

To listen to the concerts go to the digital media section of ideasforlife.tv