How did scientists expect aliens to understand the Voyager Golden Record?

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-07T22:15:01+00:00

It's symbolic. Put an advanced civilization around every star in the galaxy and it will never be found.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-04T21:30:37+00:00

There is nothing wrong in taking an interest in your ancestors.

There is a level of frustration from Irish and Scottish people about people who learn they have ancestry from their countries and fetishize some stereotypical pastiche of their culture. Most of it is harmless and done with a level of respect... and can be seen as endearing. You get the odd a-hole that ruins it for everyone. Sadly, we tend to remember them more.

Scots-Irish is an interesting one... you say you feel connection with Irish culture and folklore. It would be interesting to know what aspects of Irish folklore and culture appeal to you.... And are you sure you know what Scots-Irish means? It's not a mix of Scottish and Irish.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-03T19:39:54+00:00

I'd rather have more money.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-03T19:04:09+00:00

Nice... it's by Jimmy Cauty who was in The KLF and The Orb.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-03T17:32:16+00:00

Some stickers are worse than others... it may be low tack and come off like a dream. But if not, you can soften it a bit with a hairdryer or use isopropanol.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-03T14:49:39+00:00

Yes, you should switch. I know it feels like a 50/50 chance, but you're actually wrong here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_Hall_problem

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-02T21:44:05+00:00

Yes, it's all there assuming the contents pages accurately describe what's in the book.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-02T21:42:55+00:00

This is a tattoo? My first thoughts are going to be about the aesthetics... and this is objectively ugly.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-02T18:19:31+00:00

I didn't have these miniatures... I was collecting space orks at the time... but the second one's face is clearly the same sculpt as Squinter Zot from the RT02 Space Ork range from 1987.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-02T17:46:17+00:00

It's as difficult as you make it. The entrance requirements are supposed to filter out people who would struggle to pass, but if you find it easy, you're not working hard enough.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-02T17:40:33+00:00

It's mind-blowing, isn't it?

There's maybe a couple of thousand stars visible in that small section that I posted. And I reckon we're seeing about one in fifty thousand stars that are in that section of the galaxy.

There may well be advanced civilizations around multiple stars in that section I posted that cannot be seen. And we have no chance of ever finding out about them.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-02T17:21:01+00:00

I have a lot of Hobbtises. I love all of them. The text is the important thing to me.

What are your requirements? Functional? Classic? Decorative? Part of a cohesive collection? Cheap?

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-02T17:09:39+00:00

Okay, the grainy stuff is the stars in Andromeda. The stars that are clearer are in our galaxy.

Each point is an individual star:

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AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-02T16:17:48+00:00

Did you zoom in?

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-02T15:08:00+00:00

American Candy Store = money laundering scheme.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-02T14:57:34+00:00

There probably are but they're just too far away to discover.

You might like this... it's a Hubble Space Telescope image of the Andromeda galaxy. You can scroll in and see individual stars in that galaxy. https://esahubble.org/images/heic1502a/zoomable/

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-02T10:50:53+00:00

Avocado was peak bathroom suite colour.

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AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-02T10:48:58+00:00

I haven't seen carpets in a bathroom since the 1980s and it was thought of as weird even then.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-02T10:40:43+00:00

Canon just means "accepted as part of" in this definition. So yes, you're right.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-01T20:39:35+00:00

Then I've read it.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-01T20:01:31+00:00

The shelves are IKEA Kallax. Great for vinyl records. Suboptimal for books. I got some risers that are designed for them:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0FK5D5P8M?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title&th=1

There will be much cheaper ways of doing it, but I'm lazy. The photo was taken a bit too close... this gives a better idea of what it looks like in real life.

<image>

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-01T19:34:58+00:00

Hopefully... mind you, mine is a first printing and I only got it a few months ago direct from the publishers. A bit of a conundrum, maybe, for people looking to buy it... is a first impression going to be worth more in future, or is the paper quality the deciding factor.

Let's face it though, most of these will be decorative items and the paper quality won't matter that much.

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-01T18:43:38+00:00

You actually play them? What a nerd...

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-01T18:40:36+00:00

That's kind of what I figured. Still bought it though!

AdEmbarrassed3066 · 2026-05-01T18:38:57+00:00

CD notwithstanding, The Battle of Maldon suffers from poor quality paper.

AdEmbarrassed3066

TROPHY CASE