Sunday, June 04, 2023

Experts compete to decipher message from Mars

Possible to listen to a short extract translated into sounds


- RIPRODUZIONE RISERVATA

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 28 - The competition to decode a message from Mars that reached Earth on the evening of May 24 has started: the data, collected by radio telescopes at 21:16 Italian time, have already been processed and made available online at the website of the project 'A Sign in Space'.

In the space of a few hours, more than 1,300 people from all over the world, Italy included, took up this challenge, an experiment on the margins between science, art and science fiction, according to the National Astrophysics Institute (INAF), which set it up from an idea from the artist Daniela de Paulis, in collaboration with the European Space Agency, the SETI Institute, and the Green Bank Observatory.

The signal, which simulates a message sent by an extra-terrestrial civilization, was transmitted via radio waves by the Trace Gas Orbiter probe of the ExoMars mission, in orbit around Mars. "It reached Earth around 21:16 Italian time and it lasted half an hour, as had been predicted," said the INAF experts.

It was picked up by the Italian radio telescope at Medicina near Bologna, run by INAF, and two American radio telescopes, the Allen Telescope Array of the SETI Institute, in California, and the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope, as well as by various independent ham radio groups. (ANSA).

 


Alien Hunters are Enlisting the Public’s Help on an Ambitious Practice Run

Is it a multimedia art project? Or a rehearsal for alien contact? Let’s call it both.

BY UNIVERSE TODAY
AND ALAN BOYLE
MAY 27, 2023
honglouwawa/E+/Getty Images


Is it a multimedia art project? Or a rehearsal for alien contact? Let’s call it both: Researchers specializing in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence, or SETI, worked with a media artist to stage the receipt of an interstellar message — and a global effort to decode the message.

The project, titled “A Sign in Space,” is orchestrated by media artist Daniela de Paulis in collaboration with the SETI Institute, the European Space Agency, the Green Bank Observatory, and the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics (also known as INAF).

The metaphorical curtain rose on May 24, when ESA’s ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter transmitted an encoded radio message from Martian orbit to Earth at 3 p.m. Eastern.

Sixteen minutes after transmission, the signal was received by three radio telescope facilities that have previously played starring roles in the SETI quest: the SETI Institute’s Allen Telescope Array in California, the Robert C. Byrd Green Bank Telescope in West Virginia, and INAF’s Medicina Radio Astronomical Station in Italy.

The data transmission will be processed by the three radio astronomy teams and then will be made available to the public for decoding.

Processed data will be stored securely in collaboration with the Breakthrough Listen to Open Data Archive and Filecoin, a decentralized data storage network.

Anyone working to decode and interpret the message can discuss the process on a Discord server set up for the project. Findings and observations can be submitted to the team via a secure form on the project’s website.

“A Sign in Space” is also presenting a series of Zoom-based discussions in the weeks to come, focusing on the societal implications of detecting a signal from an extraterrestrial civilization. Check out the schedule of events on the SETI Institute website to register, and keep checking back for updates.

De Paulis, the artist behind “A Sign in Space,” is a former contemporary dancer and licensed radio operator who currently serves as artist-in-residence at the SETI Institute and the Green Bank Observatory. She has incorporated radio technologies and philosophies in her art projects since 2009 and is a regular host of the Wow! Signal Podcast.

“Throughout history, humanity has searched for meaning in powerful and transformative phenomena,” de Paulis said today in a news release. “Receiving a message from an extraterrestrial civilization would be a profoundly transformational experience for all humankind. ‘A Sign in Space’ offers the unprecedented opportunity to tangibly rehearse and prepare for this scenario through global collaboration, fostering an open-ended search for meaning across all cultures and disciplines.”

There already have been a few unplanned rehearsals for alien contact, sparked by false alarms encountered during SETI surveys. Those experiences suggest that any apparent detection of signals from an extraterrestrial civilization wouldn’t be kept secret for long.

“Rest assured that the first thing anyone would do upon detecting a tantalizing signal is to contact people at other observatories to request help in confirming the discovery,” SETI Institute astronomer Seth Shostak said. “Lots of people would know. Secrecy is neither a possibility nor a policy.”

“A Sign in Space” could shed light on what happens next.

“This experiment is an opportunity for the world to learn how the SETI community, in all its diversity, will work together to receive, process, analyze, and understand the meaning of a potential extraterrestrial signal,” said Wael Farah, project scientist for the Allen Telescope Array. “More than astronomy, communicating with E.T. will require a breadth of knowledge. With ‘A Sign in Space,’ we hope to make the initial steps towards bringing a community together to meet this challenge.”


 

Alien signal beamed to Earth from Mars for first time: Report


On Wednesday, the ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) flashed an encoded message to Earth from its orbit around Mars at 9 pm, stimulating a situation when a real signal from another civilisation is received by us.

The images shared by ESA comprises of observations from Mars Express’ 
High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC).

26 May 2023, 

For the first time, an alien signal has been beamed to Earth from Mars, confirmed European Space Agency on 26 May.

On Wednesday, the ESA's ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) flashed an encoded message to Earth from its orbit around Mars at 9 pm, stimulating a situation when a real signal from another civilisation is received by us, reported India Today.

“Throughout history, humanity has searched for meaning in powerful and transformative phenomena. Receiving a message from an extraterrestrial civilisation would be a profoundly transformational experience for all humankind," said Daniela de Paulis, the artist behind the 'A Sign in Space' project.

ALSO READ: Second tallest volcano on Mars is higher than Mount Everest. See pictures

An Artist in Residence at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute, Paulis, brought together a team of international experts, space scientists, and artists to create a project to explore the process of interpreting and decoding an extraterrestrial message.

As part of the project, the signal was beamed by the European probe and was received by the Green Bank Telescope (West Virginia), the Medicina Radio Astronomical Station (Italy), the Allen Telescope Array (California), and the Very Large Array (New Mexico).

"We’re asking individuals and groups to take part in decoding and interpreting the content of the message. The decoding and interpretation process will determine both the technical and cultural content of the message," the project website read.

The message has been designed and encoded by de Paulis and her team, and is currently undisclosed. Further, the project has requested people to send in their interpretation of the message.

“This experiment is an opportunity for the world to learn how the SETI community, in all its diversity, will work together to receive, process, analyze, and understand the meaning of a potential extraterrestrial signal," India Today quited ATA Project Scientist Dr Wael Farah as saying.

“More than astronomy, communicating with ET will require a breadth of knowledge. With 'A Sign in Space', we hope to make the initial steps towards bringing a community together to meet this challenge," Dr Farah added.

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