For years scientists have told us the universe was created by the Big Bang. But now an Edinburgh professor, who has spent years studying the evolution of the Earth, says the first sound made on the planet was more of a gurgle. Aubrey Manning, professor of natural history at Edinburgh University, has travelled the world to recreate the sounds produced on earth billions of years ago. Modern-day locations as varied as Hawaii and the Scottish Borders have been used to reproduce the gurgles, bubbles and hisses of the Earth’s birth pangs. The noises would have been produced by the molten lava and gas on the volcanic surface of the newly created planet. Prof Manning recreated the noises for Sound of Life, a programme which he will present on BBC Radio 4. "I don’t think we’ve to take the big bang literally since there was no atmosphere and sound doesn’t travel in a vacuum," he said. The professor added the solar system was created out of stardust and at first all the planets were molten on the surface. "There would have been the hissing, roaring and gurgling of molten lava - the sounds one gets on the island of Hawaii today." Visitors to Hawaii can still hear lava bubbling from the island’s volcanoes.

"Then, as the Earth’s surface began to cool, there would have been the sound of running water, the grinding sounds of ice, the roaring of volcanoes. There would have been a huge amount of volcanic activity and meteors hitting the earth all the time," added the professor. "Coming a bit later would have been the sound of rocks being ground. We went to the area round Grey Mare’s Tail in the Borders to record the skittering sounds that rocks make as little bits break off, in what is the beginning of soil formation.

View: Full Article | Source: Edinburgh Evening News