The Arecibo Message

A JS1K Submission based on the Arecibo Message in 999 bytes.

Watch and listen to the Arecibo Message like an alien civilization intercepting an interstellar transmission from earth!

See the graphical representation of the signal assemble itself in front of your eyes as you hear audio playback of the signal being processed.

The Arecibo Message is an interstellar message we (humans) sent into space using the Arecibo radio telescope in 1974. The original message contained 1679 binary bits, a number which can only be subdivided equally to produce a 23 by 73 (or 73 by 23) grid on which the binary values can be plotted to produce an image.

The image encodes:

• numbers 1-10
• atomic numbers of the building blocks of DNA: hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus
• formulas for DNA sugars and bases
• the number of nucleotides in DNA
• the DNA double helix
• a human figure and his dimensions
• the human population of earth
• a chart of earth's location in our solar system
• diagram of the Arecibo telescope and its dimensions

The Arecibo Message is our first “Hello World” to the universe and hopefully communicates for all of history, to all out there who might be listening, that human ambition is something that cannot be contained by gravity, time, or space.

More information on the Arecibo Message: wikipedia.org/wiki/Arecibo_message

JS1K Links

• JS1K Submission: js1k.com/2017-magic/demo/2843
• Submission Details: js1k.com/2017-magic/details/2843

Files

JavaScript

• arecibo.js the annotated source
• arecibo.min.js the submission entry

HTML

• shim.html the demo inside the JS1K shim
• standalone.html the demo in a standalone HTML file

Tools

• autogolfer.js custom minification & optimization script
• autogolfer.html web-based UI for autogolfer
• run-length-encoder.html web-based demo of RLE encoder

Media

• Youtube Submission Video

• Youtube WIP Preview