More from the intersection of science and music

On the origin of music by means of natural selection is an article over at science daily about using principles of evolution by processes of selection (in this case artificial rather than natural) to generate the "ideal" pop song.  I think it has already been written, it is called Pachelbel's Canon in D...

But seriously, if you want to check out how the sounds "evolved" into music, you can read the paper here (might still be behind a paywall, sorry), or you can sample some of the music here.  I think the crucial point where it starts to become "music" to me is between the 250th and 400th generations. But if you listen to any of the early versions and then skip down to the more current ones, it will blow your mind.