expression

Major improvements have been made
to facilities at the Arecibo Observatory permitting the generation of a radio transmission beam of unprecedented strength. This signal is detectable
by radio telescopes
throughout the Milky Way Galaxy.
As the first use of this remarkable new facility, the Arecibo staff thought it was highly appropriate to send a simple and brief signal tothe fringes of the Galaxy telling the
existance and nature
of human life.

The message consists of a
1679 bit picture portraying a counting scheme, five biologically significant atoms, (H,C,O,N and P), the generic structure of the four purines and pyramidine bases of DNA; a schematic of the DNA double helix with an order-order-of magnitude estimate of the number of base
pairs; a representation of
a human being and
his or her dimensions; a depiction fo the solar system
with an indication that human beings inhabit the third planet and an estimate of human population of Earth;
and finally a schematic
representation of
the Arecibo
Observatory
and a
picture
of its
dimensions.

Jonathan Louie

C O M M U N I C A T I O N / D E S I G N
www.sinuous.com