[spectre] SETI - what message to send to E.T.?

[Andreas Broeckmann]

Date: Tue, 12 Mar 2002 13:41:09 -0800
To: isast@well.com
=46rom: Andrea Blum <isast@well.com>

 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 ARTISTS AND SCIENTISTS MEET TO PLAN MESSAGES TO E.T.
 A group of twenty artists, scientists and scholars from the humanities are
gathering in Paris on Monday (March 18) to understand better how we might
communicate the human sense of beauty to any intelligent civilizations that
could be circling other stars.
 The Art and Science of  Interstellar Message Composition workshop, to be
held in the Paris suburb of Boulogne Billancourt, will focus on aesthetic
messages that could be transmitted by radio waves or laser pulses.  These
communication techniques reflect the methods used by current observational
programs in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), including
the world=EDs most comprehensive search, being conducted by the SETI
Institute.
 =ECWhile the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence is a scientific
endeavor with more than 40 years of experience, woefully little thought has
gone into what we might say if we either make contact or find ourselves
ready to send messages of our own,=EE said chair of the workshop, Dr Douglas
Vakoch. =ECEven less is understood about the interplay between technical
methods and the aesthetic nature of the message.=EE
 Participants have backgrounds in a range of disciplines in the arts,
humanities, and sciences. Artists at the workshop provide expertise PRESS
RELEASE
 in drawing, musical composition, new media, painting, sculpture, and space
arts. Speakers from the humanities include scholars in history, law,
literature, and philosophy. Scientific disciplines represented include
astronomy, biology, computer science, engineering, mathematics, physics,
and psychology. More information at (http://publish.seti.org/art_science).=
=20
 The workshop is being sponsored by the SETI Institute;
Leonardo/l=EDObservatoire Leonardo des Arts et des Techno-Sciences (OLATS);
International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology (ISAST); the
International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Permanent SETI Study Group; and
the IAA SETI & Society Study Group.=20

 END

  NOTE TO EDITORS: Participation is by invitation only. Interested
journalists should contact workshop chair Douglas Vakoch
(artscienceinfo@seti.org), cell phone 408-306-4514. Limited space will be
available for media to be present on-site, but interviews outside of the
workshop can also be arranged.  A translator fluent in both French and
English will be available for interviews before or after the workshop.
 Additional information about sponsoring organizations is available at
(http://publish.seti.org/art_science/sponsors.php?language=3De).

 Contacts:

 SETI Institute
 Douglas Vakoch
 Cell phone: 408-306-4514 (in USA until March 13; in France March 14-22 at
same number)
 artscienceinfo@seti.org

 IAA SETI Permanent Study Group
 Carol Oliver
 Cell phone: +61 417 477 612
 coliver@els.mq.edu.au