Comments on: Earth 1977, explained to an alien

Earth 1977, explained to an alien

Bravocharlie — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:32:56 -0800

Voyager's Golden Record This is life on earth 1977 as it will appear when Voyager 1 meets life (ETA 40.000 years from now)... and finds a turntable. Pioneers 10 and 11, which preceded Voyager, both carried small metal plaques identifying their time and place of origin for the benefit of any other spacefarers that might find them in the distant future. With this example before them, NASA placed a more ambitious message aboard Voyager 1 and 2-a kind of time capsule, intended to communicate a story of our world to extraterrestrials. The Voyager message is carried by a phonograph record-a 12-inch gold-plated copper disk containing sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth. Hello, ET!

By: gottabefunky

gottabefunky — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:37:31 -0800

At least they didn't send a golden 8-track.

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:41:51 -0800

Chuck Berry, 'nuff said.

By: wfc123

wfc123 — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:47:35 -0800

"SEND MORE CHUCK BERRY"

By: Smart Dalek

Smart Dalek — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:49:42 -0800

This is Megatron, leader of the Decepticons. And if you are hearing this, it means I failed...this time. But I know that Transwarp technology is being developed...and so I leave this message to any Decepticon descendants that may find- may find - may find...

By: birdhaus

birdhaus — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:51:51 -0800

Wait a minute---they put the record on the OUTSIDE of the space craft? I don't know about you guys, but my records got scratched if you looked at them funny. How is this one going to fare after 40,000 years exposed to deep space?

By: birdhaus

birdhaus — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:54:50 -0800

And thank god they didn't send any disco---this was the seventies after all. The aliens would fry us just for that.

By: rajbot

rajbot — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 12:57:15 -0800

Radio Lab has a fascinating interview with Ann Druyan, who worked with Carl Sagan on creating the record and ended up marrying him.

By: AJaffe

AJaffe — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:03:07 -0800

Metal Machine Music is what outer space most likely sounds like...

By: mmrtnt

mmrtnt — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:06:59 -0800

Dalek Help. Can't. Stop. Laughing.

By: octothorpe

octothorpe — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:09:48 -0800

Wait a minute---they put the record on the OUTSIDE of the space craft? From the first link: Each record is encased in a protective aluminum jacket...

By: mmrtnt

mmrtnt — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:13:08 -0800

Hey! Wait a minute! Doesn't NASA have to sell a few records before they get a gold one?

By: joseph_elmhurst

joseph_elmhurst — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:22:10 -0800

I had no idea that Blind Willie Johnson is on the record and that the Beatles aren't. "Dark Was the Night" is some transcendent (and, yes, dark) country blues.

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:27:10 -0800

I've been trying to put together my own music collection to replicate this for about 10 years now. ...I'm a lazy, lazy man.

By: y2karl

y2karl — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:29:32 -0800

Onsite Google search:Voyager 1 golden record Result 1: Voyager at 90 AU Result 2: Dark Was The Night--Cold Was The Ground by Blind Willie Johnson

By: joseph_elmhurst

joseph_elmhurst — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 13:30:52 -0800

I apologize for not reading your post before reading this one, y2karl.

By: BobFrapples

BobFrapples — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:09:44 -0800

Oh man... a record. That's already embarrassing... I can't even imagine the laughs it will get 40,000 years from now!

By: Mitheral

Mitheral — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:13:02 -0800

Records are perfect for this purpose. Because they can be scanned optically anyone with a good enough lense can figure out the data stream.

By: mmrtnt

mmrtnt — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:14:56 -0800

I can't even imagine the laughs it will get 40,000 years from now! Yeah. Especially if the aliens screw around and play it too fast and everyone sounds like the Chipmunks.

By: BobFrapples

BobFrapples — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:16:34 -0800

Yeah, but all the hip alien civilizations are already on Orange-Ray DVD's! Jesus... do we want them to think we're all a bunch of bumpkins??

By: joseph_elmhurst

joseph_elmhurst — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:24:29 -0800

Nah, dude, if they're intelligent enough to meet Voyager in flight and figure out how to interpret its messages, they'll totally know that analogue sounds so much better than digital. In fact, I have it from good sources that the aliens bought the 40th anniversary edition of Pet Sounds on 180 gram vinyl from the indie store on that gentrifying planet near Alpha Centauri.

By: the jam

the jam — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:30:08 -0800

Is it just me, or does the licking-eating-drinking photo make humanity look terrifying?

By: Afroblanco

Afroblanco — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:33:05 -0800

I love how, when making this record, they left out the whole "we are an evil race who destroys everything we touch" thing. If the aliens ever do find the record and decide to pay us a visit, boy are they in for a shocker.

By: Salted

Salted — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:39:13 -0800

The assumption that any alien intelligence can decode our images/data/media is pretty implausible, philosophically.

By: Potsy

Potsy — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:52:00 -0800

The diagrams on the cover give enough of a general explaination of how the record works that hopefully a civilization that understands a few basic physical principles could figure it out.

By: chimaera

chimaera — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 14:56:50 -0800

There are instructions, Salted.

By: Blazecock Pileon

Blazecock Pileon — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 15:29:51 -0800

There are instructions, Salted. Comprehensible to us, with a diagram. Still, it's the best we can manage.

By: damn dirty ape

damn dirty ape — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 15:55:31 -0800

>they left out the whole "we are an evil race who destroys everything we touch" thing. I never understood this ultra-cynical attitude. If theyre anything like us, then they too evolved from animals, are territorial, have racial/ethnical/national divisions, have self-interest, etc. If they didnt it would be doubtful they would thrive as a civilization. Its just as likely they would say "How peaceful they are, in their nuclear age they didnt destroy their planet once!"

By: Greg Nog

Greg Nog — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 16:07:56 -0800

Man, when are we gonna send up another image-filled plaque? It's time the aliens got to see goatse. Also, this episode of RadioLab starts with a great little story about the assembling of the Golden Record, featuring Carl Sagan's widow, Ann Druyan.

By: Sparx

Sparx — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 17:08:08 -0800

I love how they have a starmap so the alien hordes can pinpoint our precise location, and realise we must be eliminated before we can eat all the waffles. Also, the portly guy in the middle has taken a bite of waffle - turned it round, and is in the process of taking a bite from the other side. That's just stupid! All the flavour will run out.

By: scheptech

scheptech — Wed, 13 Dec 2006 22:54:34 -0800

The diagrams on the cover give enough of a general explaination of how the record works that hopefully a civilization that understands a few basic physical principles could figure it out. Presumably they'd have to recover the thing from space before it crashed or burned up in the atmosphere some place so yeah. Actually I think the instructions are laughably unnecessary considering that. Who's gonna be smart enough to save it from destruction and too dumb to figure out it's an analog recording?

By: Bravocharlie

Bravocharlie — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 01:05:54 -0800

Oh, that interview was great, rajbot.

By: mmrtnt

mmrtnt — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 08:38:35 -0800

By: jonmc

jonmc — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 10:52:30 -0800

Metal Machine Music is what outer space most likely sounds like... Well, outer space is mostly empty and devoid of content, so I figure it sounds like Jessica Simpson.

By: fixedgear

fixedgear — Thu, 14 Dec 2006 15:58:44 -0800

Did someone say Jessica Simpson?

By: etoile

etoile — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 08:53:13 -0800

I was going to say that "Murmurs of Earth" is available on PaperbackSwap.com, but then I requested it and that was the only copy. The paperback is on Amazon for $13.50 and the hardcover for $0.01, both as used items. I'll be reposting it on PBS when I'm done with it.