Reflecting on our First Attempt to Speak with the Stars

Tomorrow marks the 50th anniversary of a transmission from the
Arecibo Observatory, intended as our first attempt to send a
message to intelligent life across the universe. Journalist Nadia
Drake talks about the careful crafting of the signal and her
personal connection with the astronomer who authored the
transmission: her father Frank Drake.  Recommended reading:
The Arecibo Message, Earth’s First Interstellar Transmission, Turns
50 Arecibo Observatory Shuts Down Its Science E-mail us at
sciencequickly@sciam.com if you have any questions, comments or
ideas for stories we should cover! Discover something new every
day: subscribe to Scientific American and sign up for Today in
Science, our daily newsletter.  Science Quickly is produced by
Rachel Feltman, Fonda Mwangi, Kelso Harper, Madison Goldberg and
Jeff DelViscio. This episode was hosted by Rachel Feltman with
guest Nadia Drake. Our show is edited by Fonda Mwangi with
fact-checking by Shayna Posses and Aaron Shattuck. The theme music
was composed by Dominic Smith. Learn more about your ad choices.
Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices