Biologic message sent to space

[jerrywickey]

In 1974 the Arecibo radio telescope transmitted a radio signal into interstellar space. The intended content of the message was almost entirely biological information. Among which information was the inaccurate number of nucleotides in human DNA. In 1974 we believed that there were in excess of 4 billion base pairs in human DNA.

 

What would a group of humans with an interest and varying degrees of education in biology make of such a message, if they had intercepted it?

 

Anybody want to take a crack at cracking the code?

 

Anyone can look up what the message means by simply Googling "1974 Arecibo radio message" But thinking people might prefer to "decipher" the message on their own. Just to find out if another group of humans or aliens might be able to figure it out.

 

If you chose not to Google the info and look at the signal instead just as you might have seen it with out prior knowledge of it, you may learn some things about how communication works.

 

What follows is a representation of the actual information as it might be received, "demodulated" and recorded by some alien radio receiver intercepting the signal at some unknown time and at some unknown place.

 

While, the likelihood of receiving a response from an intelligent ET from this outward bound radio message is very slight for many reasons, the raw data that was transmitted is interesting in itself as a study of the nature of information.

 

I have tried several times to post things that are interesting to me in the attempt to find a few people who find the same wonder and the same motivation to investigate primarily for our own understanding and only secondarily for the advancement of others. The reason for the inversion of priorities is simply self edification is the more likely of the two. However, every thread is hijacked with criticisms that don't advance the thread. They are far off topic. This destroys my enjoyment and makes the thread impossible to follow.

 

I regret the missed opportunity which would have been available to me and the other on topic replies to these posts which were obliterated by thread hijacking.

 

So as a response, I am changing direction. From now on, I will discuss things which are interesting with people in person. I will share fun things with this gang.

 

Lets see if this can stay on topic. To help keep this on topic: Replies telling why ET response is unlikely should be another thread. Replies suggesting I am stupid or uneducated should also be directed to another thread. Just start a thread called Jerry is Stupid and go to town on it. Replies suggesting interpretations of the data are preferred.

 

The purpose of this thread is to investigate the commonality of all information. Not to discuss the likelyhood of alien intelligance. The information you are about to see communicates basic information about biology. This section of this forum should include people who know some things about biology. Lets find out?

 

 

=============NEWS FLASH=============

 

A radio transmission of an arraignment not likely of natural origin was recorded.

 

Please help in deciphering this signal.

 

To help your investigation you will find comments on 1) the signal's origin, 2) the reason for the certainty that the signal contains information, 3) the signal's mode of transmission, 4) the signals contents and some suggestions as to the meaning.

 

Signal Origin:

 

No star system is currently in the vicinity from which direction the signal came. But, a star having eight planets of highly regular orbits and one of elliptical orbit would have intersected the signal path and would have been present at that location exactly at the time the signal traveling at light speed would have passed that point. The likelihood of intelligent origin from within that star system is elevated.

 

 

Information in the Signal:

 

The signal flip flops between two very close frequencies 794 times and the time between the shortest flip flop is exactly one 1679th the total length of the signal.

 

This flip flop can be described as four different modes. 1) Rising in frequency 2) falling in frequency 3) remaining at the higher frequency and 4) remaining at the lower frequency. The respective number of these four modes is not natural or the likely result of any natural phenomena.

 

Rising occurred 221 times

falling occurred 221 times (this two being same would be expected of course)

remaining high occurred 176 times

remaining low occurred 1060 times (this discrepancy suggests order is present)

 

Change of frequency in one time frame

 

/ - 221 rising

\ - 221 falling

¯ - 176 remaining high

_ - 1061 remaining low

 

Change of frequency in three time frames

 

___ - 899 remaingin low three time periods in a row

__/ - 160 rising after remaining low

\__ - 160 falling and remaining low curiosly the same

/¯\ - 130 rises and falls

/¯¯ - 91 rising and remaining high

¯¯\ - 91 falling from a sustained high curiously the same

¯¯¯ - 85 remains high

\_/ - 61 falls then rises

 

1697 is a curious number but may not mean anything. 1697 is only the product of two prime numbers 73 and 23. The significance of this may be nothing, however.

 

The actual signal now follows. Represented as the rising and falling frequency changes. The same data is represented three times. It is the same data but broken to fit on a page.

 

(I understand cultures alien to us might be as comfortable with a long line of data as they are with breaking it up into segments to fit it on a page as we are. What would you make of a long line of data? Anything? This is one of the important questions, the answer to which will tell us if information follows the same rules everywhere. Does the information in DNA share characteristics with data on a written page?)

 

The first representation breaks the data into pieces each of 41 equel lengths. This leaves two time slices vacant on the last line.

 

But using the prime number factors of 1679 we find that the data can be represented with out any missing time slices, because the data can be equally divided among all the lines.

 

 

_____/\/\/\/\___________/\/\____/\/\_____

_/\_/\__/\__/\__/\_/\/¯\_/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

/\_/\_/\_________________________________

___/¯\__________________/¯\/\____________

______/¯\/\_________________/\/\/\_______

__________/¯¯¯¯\_________________________

______/¯\___/¯¯\__/¯\___/¯\__/\__________

__/¯\_/\___/¯\/\__/¯\__/¯\___/¯\/\/¯¯¯¯\/

¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\________________________

_/\________________/\____________________

_______/\________________/¯¯¯¯¯\_________

___/¯¯¯¯\______________________/¯\___/¯\_

__/¯¯\__/¯\__/\______/\________/\___/¯\/\

___/¯\__/¯¯\_/¯\/\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯

\_________________________/\_____/¯\_____

___/\__________/¯\______________/\____/¯\

_________/¯¯¯¯¯\____/¯\_____/¯¯¯¯\_______

__/¯\____________/\_______/\_______/\____

/\_____/¯\______/\______/¯\___/¯\_____/\_

________/¯\__/\___/¯\______________/¯\_/¯

\____________/¯\__/\___/¯\________/¯\___/

¯\_____/\______/\_____/\_______/\____/\__

____/¯\_______/\__/\_______/¯\_______/\__

/\________/\______/\____/\______/\______/

\______/\___________/¯\________/¯\_______

/¯\________/\__/¯¯\/\/¯\__________/\_____

_/\_____________/\____/¯¯¯¯\___________/\

___/\/¯¯\/\_/\/¯\/¯\_____/\_/¯¯\_/\_/¯¯¯¯

¯¯\/¯¯\___/¯¯\____/¯\/¯¯\________/\/\____

/¯¯\/¯\_/\_____/\/\____/¯¯¯¯¯\_/\_____/\/

\____/¯\_____/\____/¯\/¯\________________

__________________/¯¯\____/\_____________

/¯¯\/\/\__/\/\/\/\/\/\_/¯¯\________/\/\/\

/\_______________/\/\_____________/¯¯¯¯\_

______________/¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\___________/¯¯\__

____/¯¯\________/¯\__________/¯\______/¯\

/\________/\/¯\____/¯\_/¯\______/¯\_/¯\__

_/\__/\/\____/\/\__/\___/\__/\_/\__/\_/\_

_/\_______/\__/\/\__/\___________/\___/\_

__/\___________/\________/\_____________/

\_/\/\__________/¯¯¯\_/¯¯¯¯\/\_/¯¯¯\__

 

 

_____/\/\/\/\__________

_/\/\____/\/\______/\_/

\__/\__/\__/\_/\/¯\_/\/

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\_/\_/\__

_______________________

___________/¯\_________

_________/¯\/\_________

_________/¯\/\_________

________/\/\/\_________

________/¯¯¯¯\_________

______________________/

¯\___/¯¯\__/¯\___/¯\__/

\____________/¯\_/\___/

¯\/\__/¯\__/¯\___/¯\/\/

¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\

_______________________

__/\________________/\_

_______________________

___/\________________/¯

¯¯¯¯\____________/¯¯¯¯\

______________________/

¯\___/¯\___/¯¯\__/¯\__/

\______/\________/\___/

¯\/\___/¯\__/¯¯\_/¯\/\/

¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\

_______________________

__/\_____/¯\________/\_

_________/¯\___________

___/\____/¯\_________/¯

¯¯¯¯\____/¯\_____/¯¯¯¯\

_________/¯\___________

_/\_______/\_______/\__

__/\_____/¯\______/\___

___/¯\___/¯\_____/\____

_____/¯\__/\___/¯\_____

_________/¯\_/¯\_______

_____/¯\__/\___/¯\_____

___/¯\___/¯\_____/\____

__/\_____/\_______/\___

_/\______/¯\_______/\__

/\_______/¯\_______/\__

/\________/\______/\___

_/\______/\______/\____

__/\___________/¯\_____

___/¯\_______/¯\_______

_/\__/¯¯\/\/¯\_________

_/\______/\____________

_/\____/¯¯¯¯\__________

_/\___/\/¯¯\/\_/\/¯\/¯\

_____/\_/¯¯\_/\_/¯¯¯¯¯¯

\/¯¯\___/¯¯\____/¯\/¯¯\

________/\/\____/¯¯\/¯\

_/\_____/\/\____/¯¯¯¯¯\

_/\_____/\/\____/¯\____

_/\____/¯\/¯\__________

_______________________

_/¯¯\____/\____________

_/¯¯\/\/\__/\/\/\/\/\/\

_/¯¯\________/\/\/\/\__

_____________/\/\______

_______/¯¯¯¯\__________

_____/¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\________

___/¯¯\______/¯¯\______

__/¯\__________/¯\_____

_/¯\/\________/\/¯\____

/¯\_/¯\______/¯\_/¯\___

/\__/\/\____/\/\__/\___

/\__/\_/\__/\_/\__/\___

____/\__/\/\__/\_______

____/\___/\___/\_______

____/\________/\_______

______/\_/\/\__________

/¯¯¯\_/¯¯¯¯\/\_/¯¯¯\___

 

 

 

_____/\/\/\/\___________/\/\____/\/\______/\_/\__/\__/\__/\_/\/¯\_/\/\/\/

\/\/\/\/\/\_/\_/\____________________________________/¯\_________________

_/¯\/\__________________/¯\/\_________________/\/\/\_________________/¯¯¯

¯\_______________________________/¯\___/¯¯\__/¯\___/¯\__/\____________/¯\

_/\___/¯\/\__/¯\__/¯\___/¯\/\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\____________________

_____/\________________/\___________________________/\________________/¯¯

¯¯¯\____________/¯¯¯¯\______________________/¯\___/¯\___/¯¯\__/¯\__/\____

__/\________/\___/¯\/\___/¯\__/¯¯\_/¯\/\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\/¯¯¯¯\_________

________________/\_____/¯\________/\__________/¯\______________/\____/¯\_

________/¯¯¯¯¯\____/¯\_____/¯¯¯¯\_________/¯\____________/\_______/\_____

__/\____/\_____/¯\______/\______/¯\___/¯\_____/\_________/¯\__/\___/¯\___

___________/¯\_/¯\____________/¯\__/\___/¯\________/¯\___/¯\_____/\______

/\_____/\_______/\____/\______/¯\_______/\__/\_______/¯\_______/\__/\____

____/\______/\____/\______/\______/\______/\___________/¯\________/¯\____

___/¯\________/\__/¯¯\/\/¯\__________/\______/\_____________/\____/¯¯¯¯\_

__________/\___/\/¯¯\/\_/\/¯\/¯\_____/\_/¯¯\_/\_/¯¯¯¯¯¯\/¯¯\___/¯¯\____/¯

\/¯¯\________/\/\____/¯¯\/¯\_/\_____/\/\____/¯¯¯¯¯\_/\_____/\/\____/¯\___

__/\____/¯\/¯\__________________________________/¯¯\____/\_____________/¯

¯\/\/\__/\/\/\/\/\/\_/¯¯\________/\/\/\/\_______________/\/\_____________

/¯¯¯¯\_______________/¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\___________/¯¯\______/¯¯\________/¯\______

____/¯\______/¯\/\________/\/¯\____/¯\_/¯\______/¯\_/¯\___/\__/\/\____/\/

\__/\___/\__/\_/\__/\_/\__/\_______/\__/\/\__/\___________/\___/\___/\___

________/\________/\_____________/\_/\/\__________/¯¯¯\_/¯¯¯¯\/\_/¯¯¯\___

 

It appears certain that if information is contained in this signal, the second representation would be the most likely interpretation. Since many straight lines seem to appear.

 

What could it possibly mean? Or is it simply random information?

 

Jerry

[ecoli]

In 1974 the Arecibo radio telescope transmitted a radio signal into interstellar space. The intended content of the message was almost entirely biological information. Among which information was the inaccurate number of nucleotides in human DNA. In 1974 we believed that there were in excess of 4 billion base pairs in human DNA.

 

uh... Watson and Crick discovered the double helical structure of DNA in the 50s, realizing that there only four base pairs.

[jerrywickey]

Of course! There are four nucleotides, (actually five. U and T are very similar, U appearing in RNA while T appears in DNA) each pairing with its compliment. But the message sent into space intended to indicate the size of human DNA as being comprised of a total of 4 billion nucleotides, each one of these would be one of the four. A T C G.

 

We have since found that human DNA is only 3.2 billion nucleotides long.

 

Did you have a comment relavant to what someone unfamiliar with the message sent might see in the message? Or how the message might be inturpreted?

 

Jerry