'Alien' Signal Decoded (esa.int) 39
An anonymous reader quotes a report from the European Space Agency: White dots arranged in five clusters against a black background (PNG). This is the simulated extraterrestrial signal transmitted from Mars and deciphered by a father and a daughter on Earth after a year-long decoding effort. On June 7, 2024, media artist Daniela de Paulis received this simple, retro-looking image depicting five amino acids in her inbox. It was the solution to a cosmic puzzle beamed from ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) in May 2023, when the European spacecraft played alien as part of the multidisciplinary art project 'A Sign in Space.' After three radio astronomy observatories on Earth intercepted the signal, the challenge was first to extract the message from the raw data of the radio signal, and secondly to decode it. In just 10 days, a community of 5000 citizen scientists gathered online and managed to extract the signal. The second task took longer and required some visionary minds.
US citizens Ken and Keli Chaffin cracked the code following their intuition and running simulations for hours and days on end. The father and daughter team discovered that the message contained movement, suggesting some sort of cellular formation and life forms. Amino acids and proteins are the building blocks of life. Now that the cryptic signal has been deciphered, the quest for meaning begins. The interpretation of the message, like any art piece, remains open. Daniela crafted the message with a small group of astronomers and computer scientists, with support from ESA, the SETI Institute and the Green Bank Observatory. The artist and collaborators behind the project are now taking a step back and witnessing how citizen scientists are shaping the challenge on their own.
US citizens Ken and Keli Chaffin cracked the code following their intuition and running simulations for hours and days on end. The father and daughter team discovered that the message contained movement, suggesting some sort of cellular formation and life forms. Amino acids and proteins are the building blocks of life. Now that the cryptic signal has been deciphered, the quest for meaning begins. The interpretation of the message, like any art piece, remains open. Daniela crafted the message with a small group of astronomers and computer scientists, with support from ESA, the SETI Institute and the Green Bank Observatory. The artist and collaborators behind the project are now taking a step back and witnessing how citizen scientists are shaping the challenge on their own.
Some background (Score:5, Interesting)
Some background for people who aren't familiar...
Amino acids all have the same "top" section, an N-C-C=O,OH section which is linear, and a separate structure hanging down from the C in the middle. The different amino acids have the same top but different attached structures.
To make a protein you connect the tops of a bunch of amino acids together like a string with various shaped beads hanging down, and the extra structures electrostatically attract or repel each other in complicated ways, so that the string crumples up to make the complicated structure of the protein. If you take a rubber band and twist one end repeatedly until if forms a complicated knotty structure, that's similar to how chains of amino acids fold up to make proteins.
(Or you can think of the attached structures as having little magnets that attract and repel the magnets of other structures to make a complicated knotty structure, except that the forces are electrostatic and not magnetic.)
The image from the article shows what appears to be a set of amino acids shown diagrammatically, and from the structure you can deduce the image encodings of C atoms, N atoms, O atoms, and hydrogens that match exactly the top section of the known amino acids.
In the images, we see an amino acid with attached structure CH2-CH3, which I can't find in any of the amino acid diagrams online so... it's an alien amino acid? I also can't find CH2-CH2-CH3, nor CH2-CH2-NH2 which are also in the image.
Someone fact check me on this: they're all alien amino acids?
IIRC, the amino acids used on Earth are thought to be randomly chosen, in that there are other possible structures that could have been chosen by evolution but that we don't see. This came up in the context of whether humans could eat alien life (ie - alien plants): presumably alien life forms would use a different set of amino acids, some of which would be the same as the ones we use, but it's highly likely that they would have some that we don't use, and also that they would be missing ones that we require. The conclusion was that if we go to colonize a distant planet, we'll have to bring and grow our own foodstuffs.
('Sorta like the red weed of "War of the Worlds".)
Maybe someone with a biochem background can further decode the structures in the image?
Re: Some background (Score:2)
Thank you _so_ much for not making a "this is all bullshit" post. I appreciate the insight you've shown.
Re: (Score:1)
The title is still click-baity bullshit although...
Re:Some background (Score:4, Insightful)
The call was coming... from inside the house! (Solar system.)
Re: (Score:2)
Not only are there other possible amino acids, but all of our amino acids except glycine are chiral.
An alien life might use different amino acids and almost certainly use different chirality.
Re: (Score:3)
Not only are there other possible amino acids, but all of our amino acids except glycine are chiral.An alien life might use different amino acids and almost certainly use different chirality.
There are only two chiralities, left and right, so I'd call it more like a 50:50 chance that they use the same one.
Unless the encoding references neutrino spin, however, the message can't tell us the chirality. An image and the mirror of that image are both valid decodings of a stream.
Mod parent up, please! (Score:2)
Not only are there other possible amino acids, but all of our amino acids except glycine are chiral.An alien life might use different amino acids and almost certainly use different chirality.
There are only two chiralities, left and right, so I'd call it more like a 50:50 chance that they use the same one.
Unless the encoding references neutrino spin, however, the message can't tell us the chirality. An image and the mirror of that image are both valid decodings of a stream.
Someone mod parent up, that's a brilliant and insightful point.
Suppose you get an image, or even a video, from an alien civilization. How do you tell whether they are left-handed or right-handed? All of our image/video data information is natively left-to-right, but there's no reason that the aliens wouldn't use the other direction.
As the parent points out, molecules are left- or right-handed, and the two chiralities have different chemical behaviours.
Also, a civilization advanced enough to make the image w
Re: (Score:2)
All of our image and video data information is left-to-right, but that's only because of who created the video formats. We have plenty of cultures that write right-to-left, and if one of them had made our video formats, you'd be arguing the opposite right now.
We use all amino acids with the same chirality - but is that required? Can life use a mixed set of chirality - some left and some right (but all of the same amino acid would be the same chirality I assume)? If so, the combinations are legion.
Re:Some background (Score:4, Insightful)
Well that's one of the big unsolved mysteries of biology. Why is all Earth-based life exclusively built on left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars? Is it pure random chance? Could life as we know it exist with right handed amino acids or left handed sugars? Or both? Does the chirality of the sugars have to be the opposite of the amino acids?
Many scientists (myself included) view the possibility of solving this mystery as among the biggest potential benefits of discovering non-terrestrial life.
The answer (Score:3)
Well that's one of the big unsolved mysteries of biology. Why is all Earth-based life exclusively built on left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars? Is it pure random chance? Could life as we know it exist with right handed amino acids or left handed sugars? Or both? Does the chirality of the sugars have to be the opposite of the amino acids?
Many scientists (myself included) view the possibility of solving this mystery as among the biggest potential benefits of discovering non-terrestrial life.
I believe the answer to this is in the book "The Left Hand of the Electron" by Isaac Asimov.
In that book, he outlines a specific particle interaction (originally from cosmic rays) that's chiral and eventually leads to the chirality of our life molecules, in that it makes one specific chirality more probable. It's highly complicated and even though IA explains it in simple terms I still didn't quite get it, so I can't post it here from memory.
Re: (Score:2)
I believe the answer to this is in the book "The Left Hand of the Electron" by Isaac Asimov.
One of my very favourite books. However the particle interaction you mention is merely a hypothesis. While it is still the dominant hypothesis among scientists AFAIK, it has not been conclusively proven (yet).
Sidenote: while the majority of Asimovs explanations are excellent, and his understanding of Physics was very good at the time, our knowledge of quantum mechanics has advanced a lot in the last half century since that book was published, rendering a small minority of Asimov's explanations misleading
Re: (Score:2)
Well that's one of the big unsolved mysteries of biology. Why is all Earth-based life exclusively built on left-handed amino acids and right-handed sugars? Is it pure random chance? Could life as we know it exist with right handed amino acids or left handed sugars? Or both? Does the chirality of the sugars have to be the opposite of the amino acids?
Many scientists (myself included) view the possibility of solving this mystery as among the biggest potential benefits of discovering non-terrestrial life.
Interesting discussion! While the idea of encountering alien life with a completely different biochemistry is fascinating, I'm a bit skeptical about how likely we are to detect it—especially with the current limitations of our exploratory technology. Michael Crichton’s "The Andromeda Strain" imagined life forms that defy Earth-based biochemistry, and while that makes for great science fiction, the reality is that space probes like the upcoming Europa Clipper have very limited capacity. They have
Re: Some background (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
This came up in the context of whether humans could eat alien life (ie - alien plants): presumably alien life forms would use a different set of amino acids, some of which would be the same as the ones we use, but it's highly likely that they would have some that we don't use, and also that they would be missing ones that we require. The conclusion was that if we go to colonize a distant planet, we'll have to bring and grow our own foodstuffs.
Reminds me of Speaker for the Dead, by Orson Scott Card. Short version of relevant part: humans go to an alien planet with alien life, and they can't eat anything there, and that alien life cycle is quite different from our own. I'm often surprised how much science fiction tends to get right.
The message: (Score:5, Funny)
Don't order the meatloaf
Re:The message: (Score:5, Funny)
Boy did I get it wrong, I thought it was, "Be sure to drink your Ovaltine"
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i decoded it as "we have the meats" and then went straight to arby's
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They were talking about their sizeable reproductive organs in their warning to Earthlings.
Damn... (Score:2)
I had my bets on "CowboyNeal's Greatest Hits."
Stanislaw Lem: His master's voice (Score:2)
Re:Stanislaw Lem: His master's voice (Score:4, Insightful)
Aliens which cannot think about physical structures through abstraction aren't likely going to be capable of sending us a message that we will understand, so it's a rational kind of message to practice decoding. How would you even get to the point of interstellar communications without schematics?
Re: (Score:2)
How would you even get to the point of interstellar communications without schematics?
The same way most abilities emerge in nature, evolution by natural selection. You're assuming a technological solution to interstellar communication, which I would argue is not a particularly valid assumption.
Re: (Score:2)
You're assuming a technological solution to interstellar communication, which I would argue is not a particularly valid assumption.
It costs energy to make such communications, so if they are not beneficial in some way then there's no reason to evolve them. An organism which doesn't have them will outcompete one that does because it's not wasting energy on that. And it is a waste, because of the time scale involved in waiting for a response.
Evolution & long time scales [Re:Stanislaw Lem (Score:2)
It costs energy to make such communications, so if they are not beneficial in some way then there's no reason to evolve them.
Humans evolved. Humans do many many things that are not beneficial in any obvious way.
An organism which doesn't have them will outcompete one that does because it's not wasting energy on that. And it is a waste, because of the time scale involved in waiting for a response.
The species Homo Sapiens is not even a quarter of a million years old. A species that has been around for, say, ten million years may have a different idea of time scales.
And, not all terrestrial species experience death by old age. There could be individuals that have been around for ten million years.
Re: (Score:2)
Humans evolved. Humans do many many things that are not beneficial in any obvious way.
All of the things that we evolved to do are or were beneficial in some way which is obvious to a person who has studied the things.
The species Homo Sapiens is not even a quarter of a million years old. A species that has been around for, say, ten million years may have a different idea of time scales.
It might, sure. But the odds of their idea being several orders of magnitude different are limited by physical laws.
not all terrestrial species experience death by old age. There could be individuals that have been around for ten million years.
There could be. But all of those species so far are not very smart, because cogitation is expensive.
Re: (Score:2)
It costs energy to make such communications, so if they are not beneficial in some way then there's no reason to evolve them.
Humans evolved. Humans do many many things that are not beneficial in any obvious way.
All of the things that we evolved to do are or were beneficial in some way which is obvious to a person who has studied the things.
I think this is basically a circular argument: Humans evolved, therefore anything humans do must be beneficial. Humans do things like build enormous stone monuments, like stonehenge or the pyramids; humans product abstract art with no clear benefit; humans pray and sacrifice to gods who may not even exist. Humans do many many things with no obvious beneficial purpose.
If you are using this to make the argument that extraterrestrial species with a completely unknown biology and completely unknown evolutionary
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know if I'm successfully communicating my central point about the value of cogitation.
Living things have energy limitations, you can't do everything in one package. There are lots of routes to success as defined by being able to breed offspring which themselves survive to breed, which is the only thing that matters to evolution. What succeeds varies based on environment including competition. Nothing else on this planet seems to be as smart and capable as we are, they make it up in other ways. But t
Re: (Score:2)
I don't know if I'm successfully communicating my central point about the value of cogitation.
Correct. But mainly, nothing you wrote supports the claim you made.
The point you were defending is that extraterrestrials won't communicate across interstellar distances, because it takes energy, and it's not beneficial. Humans, however, apparently do many things that take energy and are not "beneficial" in any obvious way.
You are trying to predict the motivations of species you know nothing about, using your interpretation of evolutionary theory, but your evolutionary psychoanalysis doesn't even work for
since the message is of human origin, (Score:2)
It's a Shopping list (Score:2)
Fresh Moondust, preferably organic
Meteor Spice, medium heat, no black holes
Earthling Scented Air Freshener, limited edition “Florida” scent
Hydro-Oxide Elixirs, two gallons, extra sparkly
Brainwave Snacks, crunchy, for long space travels
Anti-Gravity Bubblegum, low-cal, anti-stick
Neutron Cheese, sharp, with dark matter crust
Human Food Specimens, assorted: chips, donuts, kale (for science)
Extra Terrestrial WiFi Boosters, galaxy-wide coverage
Holographic Pants, size nebulous, breathable
Solar-Powered T
This is how you get ... (Score:2)
intuition (Score:2)
Intuition. In other words, using knowledge of what HUMANS would probably do.
'[Human Generated]' Signal Decoded (Score:1)
Life. Don't talk to me about life. (Score:2)