Our Message to Aliens

Place in Timeline: 105 YD

The Yggdrasil's Linear Radio Interferometer (LRI) has picked up an odd radio signal coming form a star. The patterns and frequency ranges are nothing like radio signals from any of the known celestial objects in our database. An analysis by SWAIN and the heads of the Astrophysics Division are convinced that this message has a high probability of being alien in origin. If true, this is a landmark discovery for humanity, both on the Yggdrasil and back on Earth. We have already included the "message" in a tight beam message towards Earth. We are unsure if they will be able to detect and receive it, or if they have picked up the message independently. Given the magnitude of this potential discovery, redundancy is best.

*** 

It's been two full Kahrsets, and we still can't make any sense of the message. It's like nothing we have ever seen! There appear to by multiple layers of information stacked on top of one another and encoded in everything from frequency, amplitude, pulsing, to even polarization. Our top people and SWAIN haven't been able to crack the code, but we are almost certain it was created by a sentient alien species.

***

Another full Kahrset, and nothing! SWAIN reports that without a cypher or a key to give us a starting point, we might be lost on this one. I've never encountered a code that SWAIN couldn't decipher. At this point, we have decided that the best course of action is to send a reply message in hopes of establishing contact. If we both know each other are out here in space, then we should be able to set up an exchange of language... hopefully; who knows how they perceive the universe. Everything we assume about language and communication might be out the window! Based on the complexity of the message, they are clearly a sophisticated sentience.

***

We've assembled a team of Drasilians that includes experts and laypeople, alike. Their goal is to craft a reply message about who we are as Drasilians, Earthlings, and humans. The Astrophysics Division has handed us a solution for the direction to send a response via the Yggdrasil's Earth-Connection-Network (ECN) high-gain tight beam radio transmitter. Over the next Kahrset, this team will come up with a way to tell our newfound neighbors who we are, where we come from, and, if possible, include a codex to help them decipher our language, number system, and science. In addition to the message, the team will select a package of images, sounds, videos, books, etc. that are representative of who humans are.

Clear Criteria for "Our Message to Aliens"

Not all of these need to be fully met. As a class, or at least as the group taking on this challenge, you can decide which ones you want to tackle.

Criterion 1 - The Message

You must craft a written message that explains who we are as humans. You can focus on who we are in general, who we are as Drasilians, or who we are as Earthlings. You can also decide on what you want to share about who we are, but I urge you to consider what might happen if the alien species finds out that you misrepresented us. That is, think about the ethics and future ramifications of your message. This may create a bit of a tension between what you want to share and what you want to omit about humanity. Or, you may decide the best course of action is to share everything because we are who we are, flaws and all.

It is up to you on what to include, how long the message should be, and how it represents us as humans.

Criterion 2 - The Data Packet

Make a data packet of media. You don't have to have the actual media files, but you should list them and have a brief description of what they are and why they are included.

What media do we include in our message? If we are going to send a sample of images, sounds, videos, books, etc., what should be included? What message-in-data-format do you want the data packet to contain? I encourage you to reference this material about the Voyager Golden Records, which was a project headed by Carl Sagan and Ann Druyan  (Dr. Lindsay's Slies about the Golden Records). Don't just replicate what they did. Use it as inspiration.

Criterion 3 - The Cipher

You do not have to do all of these. I expect the Cipher for how to translate the message to be quite a difficult challenge.

Attempt to come up with a way to guide the alien species to
1) Decipher the message: How is the data encoded in a way for the aliens to know how to access the information (Message + Data Packet)?

2) Understand Our Language(s): What might you include that would help them understand out languages so they could read the message?

3) Our Number System, Mathematics, Physics, and the Sciences: How will you help the aliens understand how we do math? This will be fundamental to sharing our science so they can understand our level of technological development. How would you summarize our technology and level of scientific understanding to them? Would you even have to describe what science is to them?

Rewards

+100 Yggdrasil Points
+ A lot of individual skill points, but this is based on the work completed.