On Tue, 13 Jun 2000, Jonathan Chang wrote:
> An earthen berm, implanted with magnets, will mark the boundaries of the
> toxic dump. Chambers with granite-slab walls, buried near the surface to
Ooh, implant them with "come find me" things...
> The messages will be written in seven languages, including English,
> Chinese, Russian and Navajo. Pictographs will relate universal messages on
Let's hope there are some good paleolinguists around then...
> Pictographs, such as the symbols that represent pedestrian crossings and
> no-smoking areas, transcend written language with simple visual cues.
Heh. Ha. BWAH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!
> The pictographs at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico will
> include drawings that warn of the harm caused by digging and drilling at the
> site.
We hope...
> messages to others beings in the universe. "To me, the question is not 'Would
> another civilization be smart enough to talk with us?' but, 'Can they be dumb
> enough?' " Vakoch said.
Here's a scary thought--what if WE are "the Ancients"? What if WE are
the smart ones?
> Radio technology, which has been used to broadcast messages to space, is
> only about 60 years old on Earth, he said, though it is possible that radio
> is rather primitive to other civilizations in the universe.
And it's also possible that "put rock on rock" is still too high-tech for
the rest of the universe to understand. We never hear about that
possibility.
> One of the challenges in sending messges to space is to send messages
> that show our sophistication rather than our ignorance, he said.
> "If we're going to communicate with another civilization, we have to show
> that we're an advanced civilization. The first impression could make a big
> difference."
I'd say if we want to communicate, we need to show that we're so
no-loadin' badass evil in the whole o' Hell that NOBODY can mess with us
and survive. Anybody remember what happened to the Tasmanians?