‘The Last Pictures’
October 3rd, 2012Via: Computerworld:
The problem: You want to send images into space and you want them to last 5 billion years. The solution: A gold-plated disc.
That’s the idea behind The Last Pictures project, which is scheduled to blast off in the next few months.
The project involves attaching a silicon disc encased in gold to the outside of a communications satellite. The disc will include just 100 etched photos, which are meant to be a cultural artifact for aliens to find if mankind is no longer here when they come knocking.
The disc, designed by researchers at MIT and Carleton College, is filled with images chosen by artist Trevor Paglen and a team he put together, who are working with the nonprofit arts organization Creative Time and the media and satellite company EchoStar.
More: The Last Pictures
This is a very misguided idea. What is the goal of sending out Earth’s great artworks into Space? Is the Chicago art museum hoping to boost paid attendance by getting ETs to come to the next exhibition?
The Allies of Humanity (www.AlliesOfHumanity.org) make it very clear that discretion is essential for humanity’s safe emergence into the greater community of worlds. Sending this out gives an advantage to those who have designs on our planet and its resources.
I’m kind of ambivalent about this. If ET’s eventually find this, they’ll probably just shake their tentacles in confusion.
I’m not so concerned about what ET has in store for us, I’m much more concerned what designs our worldwide elites have on our planet and resources.
I think such projects are relevant, though not for their apparent purpose. Actually sending such a record is useless. It’s so astronomically unlikely that anyone will ever find it. I mean, one satellite among all the other junk?
It’s a vanity project at best.
What’s important about it is that it forces us to think very carefully about how we communicate. Assuming we ever do contact an alien species, that’ll be the most important thing.