NASA 'Tree of Life' Project Wants to Connect Earth, Outer Space Through 'Singing Trees'

NASA scientists launched the "Tree of Life" project that will create a bizarre collaboration of "singing trees" and spacecraft. This time, the experts wanted to explore the limits of technology through this program.

If you are fond of reading science fiction stories, you know that this team-up sounds like that. It may sound bizarre at first, but let's take a look at how it would work in the long run.

'Singing Trees' and Machine

According to a report by Interesting Engineering on Monday, Nov.15, a group of NASA scientists wanted to create a memorable duet that will not involve humans. Instead, some members of the space agency pioneered an unusual collaboration of trees and spacecraft.

In short, the transmitted "songs" that will travel through radio waves will reach space through the machine in low Earth orbit. Meanwhile, the group of trees will serve as an antenna system for the project.

This is not a short-lived collaboration that will not only last for days, weeks, months, or even years. NASA's "Tree of Life Project" looked forward to bringing a long-lasting song that will last for two centuries.

There are digital sensors that will be attached to the trees. They will pick up signals and translate them into data points. After that, they will become frequencies that will be received by the spacecraft. The space vehicle will deliver them to space.

As per Space Song Foundation president Julia Christensen, the changes in temperature, water, and light at the trees will be aligned to the elements of the song. The sporadic modifications around the environment will alter the sound, the tune, and the loudness of the song.

"In the short term, we hear shifts in the song as day turns to night, as clouds pass over the tree, as seasons change, etc.," Oberlin College studio art program chair Christensen added.

How the 'Tree of Life' Project Started?

From another story written by CNET earlier this week, the said project served as an initiative for the creation of the Proxima B spacecraft. Scientists noted that the exoplanet is suitable to sustain human life.

While this is feasible to do at first glance, space travel could take a long time spanning an estimated duration of 6,300 years. This is one of the reasons why NASA wanted to discover an innovation that would improve technological exploration.

According to the same source, the Space Song Foundation artists could have picked up another subject for the "Trees of Life" project, but they still ended up selecting trees as communication systems.

For this reason, they chose trees because they could tell a lot of stories about life that could last for decades. Aside from combining science and art, Christensen said that this would also introduce a "long-view" approach to nature.

Space Song Foundation Kickstarter Project

To make the "Tree of Life" project more achievable, the foundation has been raising money. So far, the campaign has collected over $11,500 towards its goal of $15,000.

If the first test is successful, the first two "singing trees" will be made available in Los Angeles and New York. You can actually hear the songs in real-time.

In another report, NASA concluded the longest lunar eclipse of the century that will arrive soon. Elsewhere, the James Webb Space Telescope will be used by scientists to study the astrochemistry of the universe.

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Written by Joseph Henry