Can Technology Recreate Past Sounds from Solid Surfaces?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the feasibility of a fictional sound reconstruction device from the TV show "Fringe," which purportedly captures and reconstructs past sounds based on their interaction with solid surfaces. Participants explore the theoretical implications of sound interaction with solids and the potential for technology to recreate these sounds, touching on concepts from physics and sound engineering.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants question the plausibility of a device that reconstructs past sounds, suggesting that solid matter cannot store sound information due to the interference of atomic and molecular movements.
  • Others argue that while capturing and encoding sound vibrations is theoretically possible, the challenge lies in preventing overwriting of previously recorded sounds, leading to a chaotic mix rather than a coherent record.
  • A participant mentions traditional sound recording methods, such as the use of a diaphragm and stylus on a wax cylinder, as a practical example of sound capture.
  • Some contributions highlight the similarity between sound vibrations and thermal vibrations at the atomic level, suggesting that capturing sound would inherently convert it to heat.
  • There is a discussion about the nature of passive versus active methods of capturing sound, with some participants expressing skepticism about the passive methods suggested in "Fringe."
  • Several participants share their appreciation for related sci-fi concepts, indicating a broader interest in speculative ideas about sound and light.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the feasibility of the sound reconstruction device, with no consensus reached. Some find the concept intriguing while others firmly believe it is implausible.

Contextual Notes

The discussion includes various assumptions about sound interaction with solids and the limitations of current technology in capturing and encoding sound, which remain unresolved.

microatx
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Firstly hello everyone and sorry for my broke english,
Maybe you can remember there was some kind of sound device in the fringe. Peter Bishop designed and we've seen the observes use it too. This device was able to reconstruct a sound of past using traces left by sound's interaction with the solid. İs it possible ? How is sound interacts with solid surfaces ?
 
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microatx said:
Firstly hello everyone and sorry for my broke english,
Maybe you can remember there was some kind of sound device in the fringe. Peter Bishop designed and we've seen the observes use it too. This device was able to reconstruct a sound of past using traces left by sound's interaction with the solid. İs it possible ? How is sound interacts with solid surfaces ?
Welcome to PF. :smile:

Do you mean the Box? But that just kills people, no? What device are you thinking of that reconstructs past sounds?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Box_(Fringe)
 
berkeman said:
Welcome to PF. :smile:

Do you mean the Box? But that just kills people, no? What device are you thinking of that reconstructs past sounds?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Box_(Fringe)
Actually that device seem in season 1 ep 19 first time. İn 33:32 Peter explains the working principle of the device.
Edit:Thanks for welcome
 
microatx said:
This device was able to reconstruct a sound of past using traces left by sound's interaction with the solid. İs it possible ?
I could not find actual references for the device but in general, such device is possible only with many time-travel related mumbo-jumbo. Solid matter is not able to store information about every sound wave it encounters and especially not possible to recall that information selectively, against all that heat-related movements of atoms, molecules and particles busily working on interfering with anything what might be 'stored' in solids.

As I recall there was also some mentions of such device in different sci-fi stories.
 
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microatx said:
İs it possible ?
I'd say it's as possible as anything else in Fringe! I loved the show, but it's science fiction across the board, much of it was implausible if not downright impossible.

Anyway, with this device, if you think about sound and how it affects objects via vibrations of the air, a substance would need to capture and encode the vibrations, which is possible, but it then needs to stop capturing and encoding so the first vibrational record is not overwritten by the second...and third...and fourth...and so on.

You can imagine a specially crafted substance encoding sound once, but continually? If it was doing that, you'd end up with a random jumble, not a series of 'tree rings' that would make extracting sounds from any specific time achievable.
 
Melbourne Guy said:
I'd say it's as possible as anything else in Fringe! I loved the show, but it's science fiction across the board, much of it was implausible if not downright impossible.

Anyway, with this device, if you think about sound and how it affects objects via vibrations of the air, a substance would need to capture and encode the vibrations, which is possible, but it then needs to stop capturing and encoding so the first vibrational record is not overwritten by the second...and third...and fourth...and so on.

You can imagine a specially crafted substance encoding sound once, but continually? If it was doing that, you'd end up with a random jumble, not a series of 'tree rings' that would make extracting sounds from any specific time achievable.
How matter captures and encodes vibrations ? An interesting concept even if the device is not practically possible
 
microatx said:
Firstly hello everyone and sorry for my broke english,
Maybe you can remember there was some kind of sound device in the fringe. Peter Bishop designed and we've seen the observes use it too. This device was able to reconstruct a sound of past using traces left by sound's interaction with the solid. İs it possible ? How is sound interacts with solid surfaces ?
You get a diaphragm, a stylus and a rotating wax cylinder.

https://www.loc.gov/collections/edi...ecordings/history-of-the-cylinder-phonograph/
 
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microatx said:
How matter captures and encodes vibrations ?
Apart from being slightly more orderly and with higher amplitude, at atomic level 'vibrations' from sounds are not fundamentally different from 'vibrations' from heat.

So: by capturing it'll become heat, and regarding encoding - it just doesn't.
 
  • #10
hutchphd said:
One of my favorite Sci-Fi ideas
Mine too. Slow glass is a brilliant concept and the story was poetically evocative.
 
  • #11
microatx said:
How matter captures and encodes vibrations ?
There are obviously many methods to do this, @microatx, but all the ones that we know of (and use daily) are active. Fringe suggests a passive, non-specific method, and that's unlikely.
 
  • #12
hutchphd said:
One of my favorite Sci-Fi ideas (OK its light not sound but I don't mind)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Light_of_Other_Days
Hey I thought the same thing recently. I didn't think of it as glass, but slowing down the light might help us see the past. Of course, we can't see before since we installed the mechanism, so the camera may make more sense. But great for invisibility
 

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