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.
-
Third judge rejects DOJ's Epstein records requestSpeed Read Judge Richard Berman was the third and final federal judge to reject DOJ petitions to unseal Epstein-related grand jury material
-
'It's our financialized economy in miniature'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
Texas OKs gerrymander sought by TrumpSpeed Read The House approved a new congressional map aimed at flipping Democratic-held seats to Republican control
-
Atoms into gold: alchemy's modern resurgenceUnder the radar The practice of alchemy has been attempted for thousands of years
-
Hurricanes are not exclusive to Earth. They can happen in space.Under the radar These storms may cause navigational problems
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
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
