'Alien' message from Mars decoded by father-daughter duo contain movement, suggest life
According to ESA, the Chaffins cracked the code after tirelessly running simulations and relying on their intuition. The decoded message turned out to be a dynamic visual signal made up of five configurations, each representing an amino acid—the building blocks of life. However, while the signal has been successfully decoded, its true meaning remains elusive. Decoding the message was just the beginning. Now, the challenge is to interpret its significance, and that task falls to citizen scientists like the Chaffins, who will seek to uncover any hidden messages within the data.
The project's creators have no immediate plans to verify any interpretations, but they are encouraging the public to submit their ideas. Daniela de Paulis, the media artist behind «A Sign in Space,» is also working on a book documenting the journey of the project, including the different interpretations that have emerged.
The initiative is part of an artistic collaboration with the SETI Institute, the European Space Agency, the Green Bank Observatory, and Italy's National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF). Its goal is to involve the global Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) community, experts from various fields, and the public in a collective effort to receive, decode, and interpret what could be a message from beyond Earth.
While this project was a simulated signal—designed by humans and reflecting our own concepts of communication—the process of decoding and interpreting a potential real message from extraterrestrial life
