Exploring the Arecibo Message: Humanity’s First Radio Signal to Alien Life and the Story of a Forgotten Half
Discover the fascinating story of the Arecibo message, humanity’s first radio signal sent to extraterrestrial life, and how it reflects cultural biases, gender representation, and the limits of 1970s science. Uncover insights into SETI pioneers Frank Drake and Carl Sagan’s efforts to connect with the cosmos.
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Why Did Humanity’s First Message to Alien Life Only Represent Half of Us?
In 1974, a pioneering group of scientists at the Arecibo Observatory sent humanity’s first intentional radio message into the cosmos, aiming to communicate with intelligent extraterrestrial life. This message, known as the Arecibo message, was a carefully crafted binary code that encoded basic information about Earth and human life, including a simple depiction of the human form. However, one notable choice has sparked conversations for decades: the image used to represent humanity depicted only a male figure, leaving out half of humankind.
From a modern perspective, this decision seems puzzling, if not exclusionary, leading many to wonder why this portrayal excluded a female figure or a more unisex design. But there’s more to this choice than meets the eye. The design challenges faced by Frank Drake and his team were not just artistic but deeply technical. Working within the constraints of 1,679 binary digits arranged in a 23 x 73 grid, the scientists had to ensure the image remained intelligible while avoiding visual ambiguity. According to Drake, attempts to create a unisex figure quickly became confusing; pixel limitations made it hard to depict a truly neutral or androgynous human without losing clarity.
The Arecibo Message: Humanity’s First Cosmic Communication
The Arecibo message was transmitted on November 16, 1974, as part of a dedication ceremony for the newly upgraded Arecibo radio telescope, then the largest single-dish radio telescope in the world. Designed by radio astronomer Frank Drake with assistance from Carl Sagan, the message consisted of binary code that, when decoded, formed images and numbers intended to represent basic aspects of human life.
Key Components of the Message
The message conveyed:
- Numbers 1 to 10 to establish a simple counting system
- Atomic numbers of key elements in DNA (hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus)
- A basic depiction of DNA’s double-helix structure
- A human figure with an average male height and the Earth’s population
- A diagram of our Solar System and an illustration of the Arecibo telescope itself
Each element was chosen carefully to maximize the potential for understanding. The message was sent to the Great Globular Cluster in Hercules, a location where the message could reach many stars at once.
Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico. Credit: Britannica/topic/Arecibo Observatory
Arecibo Observatory, Puerto Rico. Credit: Britannica/topic/Arecibo Observatory
Cultural Bias and Gender Representation in Cosmic Messaging
The inclusion of only a male figure sparked questions about the choices involved in representing humanity. Drake initially intended for the figure to be unisex, but with limited pixels, a gender-neutral design became challenging. The result was an image that leaned toward a masculine appearance, inadvertently excluding women.
Frank Drake himself reflected on this in his book Is Anyone Out There?, admitting that a unisex image would have looked too “apelike” due to pixel limitations. He noted that this outcome perhaps subconsciously mirrored his own self-image, suggesting that the scientists’ biases shaped the cosmic message.
Diversity Struggles and the Role of Gender in SETI
SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) was, and largely remains, a field dominated by a narrow demographic, particularly during its early years. Figures like Carl Sagan and Frank Drake were pioneers of SETI and sought to includeIn the 1970s, the field of SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) was new and filled with a sense of boundless possibility. Led by visionaries like Frank Drake and Carl Sagan, the search aimed to find intelligent life beyond Earth through radio signals. However, like many scientific fields at the time, SETI was shaped by a narrow demographic: primarily white men, whose backgrounds and biases subtly influenced their approach to communicating with the stars. This homogeneity within SETI affected the choices made in messages like the Arecibo message, as well as the depiction of humanity’s ambassadors.
Generated Concept art – Representation of scientists working on a SETI project
It’s crucial to note that Frank Drake and Carl Sagan were conscious of gender representation and sought to make the field more inclusive. For example, Drake’s approach to hiring summer research assistants at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) was considered progressive. When he admitted female students in 1960, the decision was met with resistance. Some colleagues viewed investing in female students as “unwise,” assuming they would eventually leave science for family life. Despite the backlash, Drake continued to admit women, providing invaluable early-career experience to notable students like Ellen Gundermann, who went on to make significant contributions to astronomy.
Sagan and Drake’s intentions were ahead of their time, but they were limited by the cultural and political climate of the 1970s. When it came to sensitive topics like nudity on the Pioneer plaque, for instance, Sagan chose to omit details from the female figure to avoid public backlash. Despite the efforts of SETI’s pioneers to make their field welcoming, cultural assumptions and the need to navigate existing societal norms meant that certain biases inevitably surfaced.
As SETI and related fields have grown, the scientific community has increasingly recognized the value of diverse perspectives in shaping research and messaging. Today, efforts to depict humanity in cosmic messages have become more inclusive, reflecting a broader awareness of gender and cultural diversity. Yet the early messages—whether the male figure in the Arecibo message or the gendered portrayal on the Pioneer plaque—serve as historical artifacts. They reflect the biases and struggles of their creators, capturing a time when the quest to communicate with the unknown was also a struggle to overcome cultural limitations here on Earth. diverse perspectives in their work. Yet, as was common in the 1970s, the influence of women and other underrepresented groups remained limited in such fields.
In the 1970s, Sagan and Drake also designed plaques for NASA’s Pioneer 10 and 11 probes, which carried simple line drawings of a man and a woman as representations of humanity. This design, too, sparked controversy due to its gendered and racially ambiguous portrayals.
Pioneering Women in Early SETI
Drake, credited with founding modern SETI in 1960 with his “Project Ozma” experiment, played a role in supporting the inclusion of women in astronomy. At the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO), Drake hired some of the first female research assistants, despite opposition from colleagues who felt investing in female students was unwise. In his 1992 memoir, Drake recounted that two of the twelve students he admitted were women, a decision that was seen as progressive.
Notable among these women was Ellen Gundermann, who went on to earn a Ph.D. in astronomy and conducted pioneering research that laid the foundation for our understanding of cosmic phenomena such as masers (astrophysical phenomena similar to lasers). Gundermann’s contributions highlight the often-overlooked roles of women in early space sciences.
Generated Concept art – scientists working on a SETI project
Humanity as Seen Through Cosmic Self-Portraits
The Arecibo message, along with other interstellar communication efforts, reveals much about humanity beyond its intended scientific content. Similar to self-portraiture in art, these messages serve as reflections of who we were at the time they were sent. Artists from Renaissance Europe, like Albrecht Dürer, used self-portraits to capture their identities and values for posterity. Drake’s choice to include a male figure in the Arecibo message could be seen as a parallel—a cultural self-portrait that unintentionally embodied the values, biases, and limitations of his time.
The field of space anthropology studies these depictions as forms of cosmic storytelling, a way of saying “we were here” that reaches beyond Earth. Our attempts to communicate with the unknown are often mirrors, reflecting the human experience.
A Legacy of Human Identity in the Cosmos
The 1970s marked a time of immense change, where advocates like Drake and Sagan pushed boundaries in a field that was still predominantly male. The messages they crafted in hopes of making contact with alien civilizations unintentionally captured these dynamics, with both their triumphs and biases.
As we continue to send messages into the cosmos, we are evolving in how we represent ourselves. The Arecibo message may lack inclusivity, but it serves as a timestamp of human identity and aspiration at a specific moment in history. Its story reminds us that every attempt to communicate—even with potential alien civilizations—reveals not only our values but also our growth over time.
