Who knew?
Heading home from PS Audio last week and listening to the radio, the subject moved to some billionaire who had bought himself a ride on one of Space X rockets and then space walked. When he got back into the space capsule and removed his suit, he remarked at what a strong smell there was inside the re-pressurized cabin.
Apparently, astronauts have for years described space as having a distinct smell, often comparing it to burning metal, Ozone, Gunpowder, Burnt meat, Burnt cakes, Welding, Urine, and Alcohol.
Delightful!
The smell is thought to be caused by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), which are organic molecular compounds that form in space dust and debris. PAHs are also found in some foods, coal, and oil.
I think what took me by surprise is the mere fact that since there's no air—scientists always talking about the emptiness of space—that there would be anything at all. And yet, apparently, there's all sorts of things we never dreamed of.
This got me thinking about our constant conundrum about measurements in audio (yes, admittedly, I am weird). When we think about the fact we cannot measure how something sounds it's tempting to imagine it's either true or untrue. Just like space is either empty or its full.
Come to find out that despite the appearance to the contrary, space is actually teeming with molecular activity—a sea of invisible organic compounds.
Since there's no doubt in most of our minds that immeasurable qualities of equipment sound remarkably and consistently different, then it would stand to good reason that we simply have not yet figured out how to measure that which we hear.
So I would put forth the challenge to our measurementist friends to try and figure out some mechanism of quantifying what we hear. A quality of sound analyzer.
What a wonderful legacy for someone to finally offer to our wonderful industry and hobby.
Sure would be more useful than the two camps pointing fingers at each other in denial.
