Swift Quakes and new podcast music inspired by the fine-structure constant

<p>Whether you’re a Swiftie, a devout metalhead, or a 1980s synth pop aficionado, there is something for every musical taste in this month’s <em>Physics World Stories</em>.</p> <p>In part one, podcast host Andrew Glester is joined by <a href="https://geology.wwu.edu/people/caplanj">Jacqueline Caplan-Auerbach</a>, a geophysicist at Western Washington University, US. She has analysed &#8220;Swift quakes&#8221;, a seismological phenomenon during <a href="https://www.taylorswift.com/tour/">Taylor Swift&#8217;s Eras tour</a>, answering two important questions. Are the quakes triggered by the music or the crowd? And how does their magnitude compare with similar events like the 2011 &#8220;<a href="https://www.nfl.com/100/originals/100-greatest/plays-13">Beast quake</a>&#8221; triggered by celebrations at an American Football game between the Seattle Seahawks and the New Orleans Saints. It turns out that Swifties (dedicated Taylor Swift fans) are queuing up to share data for geophysics resea...