Illustrations by Jaimee Lee Haddad/L'Orient Today
In 1974, humanity sent a message to space through the Arecibo observatory in Puerto Rico. A binary code strung together to carry the essentials of who we are: our counting system, the fundamental chemicals of DNA, a sketch of a human figure, the solar system’s position, and the Arecibo telescope itself. It was very much a technological flex — less so a real attempt to chat with extraterrestrials. Note that they haven’t replied yet.Fifty years later, humanity still insists on its great leaps forward. Last week, Elon Musk, unofficial ambassador of Mars and the U.S. and fresh off being named head of Trump’s Joint Department of Budget Cuts, met with Iranian U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani in New York. Bashar al-Assad is somehow still clinging to Syria’s presidency, Israel turned Hezbollah pagers into fireworks, and climate policy debates...
In 1974, humanity sent a message to space through the Arecibo observatory in Puerto Rico. A binary code strung together to carry the essentials of who we are: our counting system, the fundamental chemicals of DNA, a sketch of a human figure, the solar system’s position, and the Arecibo telescope itself. It was very much a technological flex — less so a real attempt to chat with extraterrestrials. Note that they haven’t replied yet.Fifty years later, humanity still insists on its great leaps forward. Last week, Elon Musk, unofficial ambassador of Mars and the U.S. and fresh off being named head of Trump’s Joint Department of Budget Cuts, met with Iranian U.N. Ambassador Amir Saeid Iravani in New York. Bashar al-Assad is somehow still clinging to Syria’s presidency, Israel turned Hezbollah pagers into fireworks, and climate...