Xref: utzoo sci.bio:1318 sci.astro:2366 sci.philosophy.tech:664 Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!watson From: watson@ames.arc.nasa.gov (John S. Watson) Newsgroups: sci.bio,sci.astro,sci.philosophy.tech Subject: Re: DNA for interstellar messages Message-ID: <11370@ames.arc.nasa.gov> Date: 6 Jul 88 21:00:41 GMT Reply-To: watson@ames.arc.nasa.gov (John S. Watson) Organization: NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA Lines: 25 > Around the end of my undergduate career I remember reading a paper > on the possibility of using DNA sequences for interstellar communication. > The idea was that you launched your message into space as a virus, > and it replicated itself wherever it landed. This reminds me of the book CONTACT by Carl Sagen, where the scientist looks for a coded message from the creator(s) of the universe in the number PI, i.e: 3.1415...IFYOUCANREADTHISPHONEHOMEET...234328... I alway think of this whenever I see images of the Mandelbrot set and realize thoughs incredibly beautiful and complex pictures were made with iterations of the simple equation Xnew = Xold**2 + Constant (all complex numbers). Maybe our creator(s) stuck a message somewhere in our DNA, "Greetings", "may the Force be with you", "Have a Nice Day" or maybe a copywrite notices and patent numbers. :-) -- John "Metaman" Watson, IBM heir in hiding ARPA: watson@ames.arc.nasa.gov NASA Ames Research Center UUCP: ...!ames!watson Any opinions expressed herein are solely the responsibility of the author and do not represent the opinions of NASA or the U.S. Government, yet.