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The 27 Club – Not a Club You Want To Be a Member Of

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Photo: Feliciano Guimaraes

There have been so many rock stars who have died at age 27 that there is a club named for them – the “27 Club”. Not only did they all die at age 27, but they died under some shady circumstances.

  • Brian Jones of the Rolling Stones “drowned in a swimming pool” … or was he murdered? Ironically 27 Club members number 2 and 4 dedicated tributes to the deceased star.
  • Jimi Hendrix took way too many sleeping pills and asphyxiated on his own vomit (which contained mostly red wine).
  • Janis Joplic OD’d on heroin because her dealer gave her too potent of a stash. A good dealer always checks his potency.
  • Jim Morrison died of “heart failure” and no biopsy was preformed. Or was it another heroin overdose?
  • Kurt Cobain died of a self-inflicted shotgun wound to the face. But was he able to pull the trigger with 3 times the lethal dose of heroin in his bloodstream? If so that is an impressive tolerance.

Statistically this is an anomaly. But is this just a weird coincidence or could there be an explanation behind it? Is it plausible that successful musicians take absurd, suicidal risks at age 27, after becoming wildly popular? If that isn’t weird enough, is it true that Kurt Cobain aspired to be a member of the 27 Club as a kid? (As claimed by his sister in his biography Heavier Than Heaven.)

Why Merle Haggard Out Travels Lady Gaga – What You Should Know About Radio Waves

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Photo: Peter Megyeri

The radio is a perfect example of an old technology that we completely take for granted – do you know how it works or are you just cluelessly upset when all you hear is static? These older technologies are much easier to wrap my head around – if a some guy in the 19th century could figure it out, I should be able to understand the basic idea. I’m not going to focus on how a radio transmitter physically creates the signal or receiver is able to turn it into sound, but rather the basic theory and some interesting things to know.

What is the major difference between AM and FM?
AM stands for amplitude modulation. This means the sound determines the amplitude of the radio wave. FM stands for frequency modulation – the sound alters the frequency of the radio wave. The transmitter is able to turn the sound being created into the appropriate wave. Here is an example of a sound and how it would look as an AM and FM wave:

Source: Berserkerus

Another major difference is that AM radio waves are a much lower frequency than FM. Think of AM having the wavelength of a football field and FM the ball. In reality you can broadcast amplitude modulation or frequency modulation at any frequency, but high quality FM audio must be a high frequency to allow for the differences (or modulation) in frequency.

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