Fine Structure Constant - Sixty Symbols

Why is 137 a magic number, both for thieves and alien hunters? More symbols at http://www.sixtysymbols.com/

• Category

  Science & Technology

[eldritchpineapple]

Can't be, we're expecting potential aliens to be advanced.

[BetterThanUltraLord]

they probably sent in binary. aliens know binary.

[700Fantomas007]

┌─┐

┴─┴

ಠ_ರೃ

[Radim Kopáček]

to zná každej blbec :D

[700Fantomas007]

Why not send the π?

[James Davis]

I'll note that the fine structure constant is the same in all systems of measure.

[gtg309v]

Terrible assumptions

[TheNightsway]

Definitely sent in binary, that's how our communication technology works. If anyone receives our message, they'll be using the same kind of technology, so they'll convert that to whatever base they use. 10001001

[unvergebeneid]

We're not gonna send them a sheet of paper with symbols on. Have a look at messages that were already sent. It's fairly trivial to introduce a binary number system from scratch.

Whether it actually makes sense to transmit a number to some aliens which they already know, just to demonstrate that we not only can build advanced radio telescopes but also understand basic physics ... that's a whole different question.

[SherwinGooch]

I submit that this is short-sighted: Considering cosmological time, with high probability a receiving AI will be of planetary size & have existed one-million yrs. It would view 137 or 1840 as representing knowledge on the order of 10k yr evolution of 100 billion gate (neuron) range - representing a relatively insect intelligence - and not worth burning with a magnifying glass, let alone conversing with.

Do you believe that physics is complete? Should we close the patent office?

[Daruqe]

1. I usually think of intuition and common sense as related

2. The imperial system isn't WRONG; the metric system is just simpler

3. That's exactly what I said in my first comment: it's outdated.

[Anthony Khodanian]

I agree, you are completely correct. I was simply using the word equation in repetition of what he said. A better word would be formula, or more specifically, it has a formual.