Communicating chemistry through music
Partnering musicians with researchers produced some emotional results
‘Everyone understands the universal language of music,’ says Taylor Szyszka, a postdoctoral researcher working as part of a team trying to build autonomous and programmable nanorobots that can move through the body to detect and treat early signs of disease.
The Nanorobotics in Health project was one of six flagship projects from the Sydney Nano Institute that signed up for Live From The Lab, a project that aimed to exploit the ‘universality’ of music as part of National Science Week in Australia this year.
The project originated five years ago, when Sean Conran – a musician known as Obscura Hail – joined me on my weekly science segment on FBi Radio. Conran composed new songs in response to the science news stories I shared as part of the show. In a matter of minutes, the depth of emotion and engagement achieved with his music was palpable, even from the intimacy of the broadcast studio.