{"id":18269,"date":"2018-11-16T20:41:22","date_gmt":"2018-11-16T12:41:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/44-years-after-its-first-message-to-aliens-arecibo-observatory-calls-for-follow-up\/"},"modified":"2018-11-16T20:41:22","modified_gmt":"2018-11-16T12:41:22","slug":"44-years-after-its-first-message-to-aliens-arecibo-observatory-calls-for-follow-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/44-years-after-its-first-message-to-aliens-arecibo-observatory-calls-for-follow-up\/","title":{"rendered":"44 years after its first message to aliens, Arecibo Observatory calls for follow-up"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_462733\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-462733\" style=\"width: 630px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full-width wp-image-462733\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181116-arecibo-630x360.png\" alt=\"Arecibo Message\" width=\"630\" height=\"360\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181116-arecibo-630x360.png 630w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181116-arecibo-768x438.png 768w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181116-arecibo.png 1016w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 630px) 100vw, 630px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-462733\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">A global contest will give the 1974 Arecibo Message a reboot. (Arecibo Observatory Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Arecibo Observatory today kicked off a student-focused competition to design a new message to beam to extraterrestrials, 44 years to the day since the first deliberate message was sent out from Arecibo\u2019s 1,000-foot-wide radio telescope.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur society and our technology have changed a lot since 1974,\u201d Francisco Cordova, the observatory\u2019s director, said in a news release. \u201cSo if we were assembling our message today, what would it say? What would it look like? What one would need to learn to be able to design the right updated message from the earthlings? Those are the questions we are posing to young people around the world through the New Arecibo Message \u2013 the global challenge.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not just about the message, however: Competitors will have to solve brain-teasing puzzles posted on Arecibo\u2019s website in order to qualify, get instructions, register and submit their designs. Along the way, they\u2019ll learn about space science, the scientific method and Arecibo\u2019s story.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have quite a few surprises in store for participants, and we will be sharing more details as the competition progresses,\u201d Cordova said.<\/p>\n<p><iframe title=\"OTD in Space - Nov. 16: Arecibo Observatory Broadcasts Interstellar Message\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/eKSKHZ6ChYo?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen=\"\" data-ratio=\"0.5625\" data-width=\"800\" data-height=\"450\" style=\"display: block; margin: 0px; width: 800px; height: 450px;\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>The contest is open to teams from around the world, in classes ranging from kindergarten to college. Each team should consist of five students plus an adult mentor \u2013 for example, a teacher, professor or professional scientist. The first challenge will be posted on Dec. 16.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTeams should wait until the release of the first&nbsp;challenge&nbsp;on December 16, since they will need to solve that challenge to be able to register,\u201d Abel M\u00e9ndez, director of the Planetary Habitability Laboratory at&nbsp;the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo, told me in an email. \u201cMeanwhile, team leaders should subscribe to the Arecibo newsletter for updates and start forming their own teams.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Clues and follow-up activities will be rolled out periodically over the next year, and the winning team is due to be revealed next fall during a celebration of the Arecibo Message\u2019s 45th anniversary.<\/p>\n<p>That first Arecibo Message was designed by astronomer Frank Drake, a pioneer in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence or SETI, in league with other astronomers including Carl Sagan.&nbsp;The message took the form of a 1,679-bit radio transmission, sent out from the Arecibo telescope in the direction of the M13 star cluster in the constellation Hercules.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_462742\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-462742\" style=\"width: 250px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-462742 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181116-arecibo-message.jpg\" alt=\"Arecibo Message\" width=\"250\" height=\"750\" srcset=\"https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181116-arecibo-message.jpg 250w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181116-arecibo-message-100x300.jpg 100w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181116-arecibo-message-200x600.jpg 200w, https:\/\/cdn.geekwire.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/181116-arecibo-message-33x100.jpg 33w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 250px) 100vw, 250px\"><figcaption data-nosnippet=\"\" id=\"caption-attachment-462742\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The 1974 Arecibo Message was laid out as a 23-by-73 bit grid. Colors have been added to this version to aid in interpreting the message. Click on the image for a detailed interpretation on Wikipedia. (Cornell \/ NAIC \/ NSF \/ Arecibo Illustration)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Those bits were meant to be put together into a 23-by-73-bit grid. The shapes shown on the grid represent a variety of concepts ranging from the numbers 1 through 10 to the chemical constituents of DNA, our solar system\u2019s planets and the telescope itself \u2026 plus a stick figure that stands for humanity.<\/p>\n<p>Since that transmission, the three minutes\u2019 worth of radio waves have rippled out to a distance of 44 light-years, or less than 0.2 percent of the way to M13. Experts acknowledge that it\u2019s extremely unlikely the message will ever be detected and decoded by an alien civilization.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a purely symbolic event to show we could do it,\u201d said astronomer Donald Campbell, a professor emeritus at Cornell University who was a research associate at Arecibo when the message was sent.<\/p>\n<p>Other types of messages have been sent out periodically since then, but experts are still debating how wise it is to broadcast our existence. Most famously, the late physicist Stephen Hawking said letting extraterrestrials know where we are could turn out as badly for us as Christopher Columbus\u2019 arrival in the New World turned out for Native Americans.<\/p>\n<p>The downside of alien contact is explored in \u201cRemembrance of Earth\u2019s Past,\u201d a book trilogy by Chinese science-fiction author Liu Cixin that may be turned into an Amazon video series.<\/p>\n<p>On the other side of the argument, there\u2019s Douglas Vakoch, who has been focusing on the idea of sending messages to extraterrestrials as the president of METI International. Vakoch argues that any aliens who could pick up on intentional Arecibo-style transmissions would already know we exist, based on other radio signals we\u2019ve been sending out for decades.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI wish I could tell people that somehow we are going to be safer if we don\u2019t transmit,\u201d Vakoch told me at the International Space Development Conference in May, \u201cbut in good conscience, I can\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>To mark this date in SETI history, Google is featuring an Arecibo-themed Google Doodle on its search page in lots of locales around the world, including Puerto Rico but not including the U.S. mainland. If you\u2019re not in the zone, you can still check out the animated artwork and get the story behind it via Google\u2019s Doodle directory.<\/p>\n<p><iframe id=\"twitter-widget-0\" scrolling=\"no\" frameborder=\"0\" allowtransparency=\"true\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" class=\"\" style=\"position: absolute; visibility: hidden; width: 0px; height: 0px; display: block; flex-grow: 1;\" title=\"X Post\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/embed\/Tweet.html?creatorScreenName=b0yle&amp;dnt=true&amp;embedId=twitter-widget-0&amp;features=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%3D%3D&amp;frame=false&amp;hideCard=false&amp;hideThread=false&amp;id=1063409836140957696&amp;lang=en&amp;origin=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.geekwire.com%2F2018%2F44-years-first-message-aliens-arecibo-observatory-calls-follow%2F&amp;sessionId=67b236ba95f602db8e51825fc33835e4e5a69872&amp;siteScreenName=geekwire&amp;theme=light&amp;widgetsVersion=6a3ad42b224df%3A1778106238597&amp;width=550px\" data-tweet-id=\"1063409836140957696\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\" data-twitter-extracted-i1782802170628999467=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Our Arecibo Message was featured in today&#8217;s @Google doodle. Wait for the official announcement of the #NewAreciboMessage \u2013 the global challenge!<br \/>It is coming today! Keep tuned and get ready!!!#AreciboScience#GoogleDoodle pic.twitter.com\/LAkO1eO63w<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Arecibo Observatory (@NAICobservatory) November 16, 2018<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><script async=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p><em>The Arecibo Observatory is operated by the University of Central Florida in partnership with Sistema Ana G. Mendez Universidad Metropolitana and Yang Enterprises Inc., under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. The planetary radar program is supported by NASA\u2019s Near Earth Object Observation Program.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A global contest will give the 1974 Arecibo Message a reboot. (Arecibo Observatory Illustration) The Arecibo Observatory today kicked off a student-focused competition to design a new message to beam to extraterrestrials, 44 years to the day since the first deliberate message was sent out from Arecibo\u2019s 1,000-foot-wide radio telescope. \u201cOur society and our technology [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[4409,5122,2001,3754],"class_list":["post-18269","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-aliens","tag-arecibo","tag-radio-astronomy","tag-seti"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18269"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18269"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18269\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18269"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18269"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18269"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}