Onde sulle Onde, or Waves upon Waves, is a public scientific experiment to be held at 9pm on Friday, June 24, in the Piazza San Marco…

…and we’re all invided.

For the first time in since Guglielmo Marconi (1895), radio waves derived from new physical applications — and discovered by the Venetian astrophysicist Fabrizio Tamburini in collaboration with his Swedish colleague Bo Thidé — will be generated and transmitted from the top of San Giorgio bell tower the Palazzo Ducale, where they will take audio and visual form. Of what type remains to be seen — a surprise, to be sure!

These radio signals pertain to properties identified by Tamburini regarding the physical principle of the orbital angular momentum of light, which allows one single bandwidth to carry an extremely high number of frequencies thereby increasing the potential for telecommunications, as well as resolution power for microscopes and telescopes. These are applications that have already been scientifically ascertained and lab-tested and which, in the near future, could represent a small leap forward in a number various fields (telecommunications, physics, astronomy, medicine, etc.) — and for humanity as a whole.

It’s a particular point of pride that Tamburini is both Venetian and maintains residency here in the city. The sponsors of the event are hoping that Venice, with this public experiment propagated throughout the world and taking place in the presence of leading international scientists — some of whom are part of the Nobel Prize Committee — will help reestablish Venice’s role in the development of scientific and technological innovation.

So head for the San Marco Molo at the water’s edge on Friday to see just what sort of onde wave over the bacino…hard to imagine science taking a more delightful form that this.