Science & Technology

This Is What the Birth of the Universe Sounded Like | Mark Whittle | TED

What sound came after the Big Bang? Astronomer Mark Whittle takes us back to the infant cosmos, where massive sound waves pulsed through primordial gas in a pattern that’s still traceable across the galaxy today. Working with sound artist Ander Mikalson and composer Caroline Shaw, he turns those ancient tones into a glorious, awe-inspiring choral…

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What sound came after the Big Bang? Astronomer Mark Whittle takes us back to the infant cosmos, where massive sound waves pulsed through primordial gas in a pattern that’s still traceable across the galaxy today. Working with sound artist Ander Mikalson and composer Caroline Shaw, he turns those ancient tones into a glorious, awe-inspiring choral work. (Recorded at TED2026 on April 15, 2026)

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12 Comments

  1. @julianshepherd2038

    September 17, 2026 at 11:02 am

    A vacuum
    Not like a Dyson
    It would have been a Hoover back then

    • @JesterMoon-l3i

      September 17, 2026 at 9:03 pm

      🎉

  2. @anonymoussource7999

    September 17, 2026 at 11:08 am

    The big bang sounded like a big fart 💩💥💥💥

  3. @GardenLives

    September 17, 2026 at 11:58 am

    Sentient atoms now peer back to deeply understand their own chaotic birth, stubbornly ignoring their inevitable proton decay

  4. @NeathVideos

    September 17, 2026 at 12:35 pm

    The big silence 🤫

  5. @lane9043

    September 17, 2026 at 12:47 pm

    So cool that they had a choir perform this sound. If the universe were sentient, I’m sure it would be a startling and give it a fond nostalgia.

  6. @wildman2012

    September 17, 2026 at 1:17 pm

    Everyone knows it was “Ka-Blammmo!”

  7. @YohannesKebede-n8y

    September 17, 2026 at 3:09 pm

    I definitely didn’t have manifesting figured out. I kept trying different techniques, getting nowhere and wondering what I was doing wrong. Amara Lorne arche type quiz helped me understand that I was using methods that simply didn’t match me. Nothing magically changed overnight, but it finally gave me some direction. It’s free, so you might as well try it.

  8. @lisaashely7498

    September 17, 2026 at 3:29 pm

    Repping Richmond, VA here. Totally would have gone there to watch that if I had known of it. Awesome. 👏🏻

  9. @HarryGuit

    September 17, 2026 at 4:52 pm

    Sorry but that makes no sense. The Big Bang couldn‘t produce a sound because there was no atmosphere, no gases of any kind. You can take anything that produces some back and forth movement and feed it into an amplifier and speaker.

  10. @JesterMoon-l3i

    September 17, 2026 at 9:03 pm

    Take A Moment Relax and enjoy a wordsmith at play, thank you for sharing TED

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