Deciphering an Alien Communiqué
If we received some sort of a message from another planet, how would it communicate with us? We've sent a few messages of our own on a gold plated copper disk, which you can see to the right. Can you decipher the message we sent? What on Earth,...or outside of the Solar System at this point, were we saying?

This lesson set puts forth a simple thought experiment. If you were given a card with all the directions for what needed to be done, what needed to be used and what the ultimate outcome would be, but there was no discernable language involved, could you decode the message?

Day One -- The Basic Task

Your task, if you choose to accept it, is to work with the message and the tools at hand to complete the problem? Here's how we'll be conducting this lab exercise. As you know, from your general classroom practice explanations, you have a "Table Group" that is determined by your assigned seating. This Table Group is also assigned a specific work table in the Lab Section of the classroom. When we transfer to the lab, you are supposed to take all your stools off the lab table, sit and await further instruction. Sometimes, like this time, some instructions will come by way of the class web site (like now). That means that any equipment on the table needs to be left alone until you are instructed to proceed. That assures that no equipment or experiments are damaged before instructions are given. In this specific case, we just need a common start.

So, we can begin after explicate instructions and the starting point is called. Basically, you'll have a palm card with the cryptic message and a bag of tools with which you can complete the task. Ain't language grand?

Work Always in Progress