By Rajni Pandey | November 12, 2024
In May 2023, an alien-like signal was beamed from Mars. Three observatories in the US and Italy picked up the mysterious transmission.
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Citizen scientists around the world joined forces to decode the signal, with teams accessing the raw data online and discussing theories in a global chat.
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Ken and Keli Chaffin, a dedicated father-daughter team, spent nearly a year decoding the signal, conducting thousands of mathematical simulations.
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Their breakthrough revealed clusters of amino acids—the building blocks of life—within the signal, hinting that biology might be at its core.
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The meaning of the signal remains a mystery. The designers left it open, sparking a wave of interpretations from scientists and enthusiasts alike.
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The initial visual resembled a “starmap,” sparking theories ranging from life forms to cosmic symbols. Each interpretation brings fresh possibilities.
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To simulate a true alien encounter, project designers gave no hints, allowing decoders to work independently, just as they would in a real-world scenario.
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With diverse perspectives from around the world, the project shows how cultures and backgrounds influence interpretations of extraterrestrial messages.
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SETI invites the public to share interpretations, acknowledging that an alien signal might always remain a mystery—leaving us to wonder what it truly means.
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