The European Space Agency reports on the team who successfully decoded an “alien” transmission actually sent by a probe orbiting Mars as part of a multidisciplinary project serving as a test run for radio contact with real extraterrestrial civilizations. Father-daughter citizen-scientists Ken and Keli Chaffin successfully translated the transmission, which when properly processed unveiled images of five amino acids, the building blocks of life:
The cooperative challenge directed by media artist Daniela de Paulis with the support of ESA, the SETI Institute and the Green Bank Observatory is not over yet. The interpretation of the message, like any art piece, remains open.
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It took the perseverance of a father and his daughter to solve the cosmic puzzle. On 7 June 2024, Daniela received the decoded message from Ken and Keli Chaffin. The US citizens explained that it was a simple image with five amino acids in a molecular diagram with a few pixels in between.
“Ken and Keli ran simulations for hours and days on end, following their intuition and persevering beyond despair. These are extraordinary people who took up the task with great motivation and faith both in their instinct and knowledge,” explains Daniela.
Ken, a retired software developer and musician, worked every single day on his computer committed to finding the solution. “When the results didn’t come, his daughter Keli encouraged him to carry on and to follow his intuition,” adds Daniela.
“There was something in their search beyond rationality, close to obsession. If we ever receive a signal from an intelligent civilisation, we will need visionary people like them,” she believes.
Ken and Keli 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. “They successfully found the ingredients of the recipe, but now it is time to interpret it,” says Daniela.
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Video and pictures at the link.