The musical tastes of scientists

As a scientist who spends a lot of time listening to music, I was interested to see the report in this week's Nature on the two groups of University of California researchers who have made working radios using nanotubes, not only for the scientific interest but also the rather different choices of signal to use to demonstrate the process.

One went for the obvious joke - Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys. The second went for the obscure - 17th century harp music.

In practical terms, the researchers suggest this could lead to smaller, cheaper, and more efficient wireless devices. One of the groups suggests these could be made small enough to pass through the human bloodstream.