I saw several articles last week about communicating with aliens. The challenge is like my job but with a Phd in astrophysics. I was naturally curious.
The first was a piece by America’s NSA spy organisation about the cryptographic aspects of deciphering alien messages. First seen on Wired News. The ideal (for us) signal would consist of:
These attention-getting signals would be followed by early “language lessons” interspersed with items of technical information to help bring us up to the level of our superiors, “them”
The second piece was on Slashdot and concerned a plan to transmit a special TV program to outer space in the hope of starting a dialogue. Apparently two naked presenters will discuss life, the universe and everything. I think I preferred the gold disc that went out with Voyager. More dignified (but curiously also featuring naked people).
The final piece of space-grammar that caught my eye this week was an article on Space.com. It concerns Neil Armstrong’s famous words: “That’s one small step for man but a giant leap for mankind.” It turns out, after careful analysis of the tapes that it was (as Armstrong has always claimed) “one small step for A man”.
If we can’t understand a signal from a human being on the moon, what chance do we have with little green men from Alpha Centauri?
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Although the good folks at Language Log have been working over this, and don’t yet agree with the esteemed astronaut….