When scientists apply music to their work, the results can be beautiful. Canadian astrophysicists, for instance, recently translated the orbits of the exoplanet TRAPPIST-1 system into audio. The music was no random jumble of notes; the harmonized motion became a complex song. And the science-music relationship works the other way, too — as demonstrated by these five musicians.
Bryan “Dexter” Holland, the Offspring:
The pop-punk band the Offspring scored a hit with “Pretty Fly (for a White Guy),” which by 1999 was a radio staple. This month Offspring singer Bryan “Dexter” Holland scored his PhD. He graduated from the University of Southern California with a dissertation in molecular biology, completing the degree he’d put on hold when Offspring took off.
Brian May, Queen:
Some fans suspect Queen singer Freddie Mercury invoked astronomer Galileo Galilei in “Bohemian Rhapsody” as a wink at the band’s Brian May. The guitarist began his astrophysics research in 1970, then put his studies on hiatus for more than three decades. May returned to his celestial work and in 2007 published a PhD dissertation: “A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud.”
Mira Aroyo, Ladytron: While Bulgarian-born musician Mira Aroyo was working on her PhD in genetics at Oxford University in 1999, she joined up with the other three members of the British electronic outfit Ladytron. Aroyo has collaborated with other molecular geneticists to produce several papers on chromosome segregation.
