Archive // We Are Sending Back

We Are Sending Back

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We haven't just been listening. For a century, humanity has been broadcasting its existence into the cosmos — sometimes deliberately, sometimes accidentally, and sometimes without even realising it.

The Pioneer plaques. The Golden Records. The Arecibo Message. The hundred years of radio and television leaking off this planet at the speed of light, creating a bubble of human noise now 200 light-years in diameter.

Every signal in this section is also a signal from space. Every probe we sent is a signal traveling through the same electromagnetic medium SETI searches. We are, simultaneously, the civilization doing the listening and the civilization broadcasting its presence.

The question SETI asks about others, the universe can ask about us.

File 001: arecibo-message

The Arecibo Message (1974): We Talked First

Date January 15, 2025
Section We Are Sending Back

The first intentional message to the stars: Frank Drake and Carl Sagan's 1,679-bit transmission to M13 from Puerto Rico's Arecibo telescope.
File 002: voyager-golden-rec

The Golden Record: A Playlist for the Universe

Date January 16, 2025
Section We Are Sending Back

The Voyager probes' 12-inch gold phonograph record: 116 images, 55 languages, and 90 minutes of Earth's greatest hits.
File 003: pioneer-plaque

The Pioneer Plaque: The First Hello

Date January 17, 2025
Section We Are Sending Back

Pioneer 10 and 11's gold-anodized aluminum message to the stars: human figures, a pulsar map, and the hydrogen atom.
File 004: active-seti

Active SETI: Should We Be Shouting?

Date January 18, 2025
Section We Are Sending Back

The controversial practice of intentionally transmitting messages to the stars—and why astronomers are deeply divided on the ethics of reaching out.
File 005: evpatoria-transmis

The Evpatoria Transmissions (1999–2008): Messages from Earth

Date January 19, 2025
Section We Are Sending Back

From a Ukrainian radar telescope, humanity beamed encyclopedias and music toward the nearest stars—some of SETI's most ambitious transmissions.
File 006: broadcasts-in-spac

Everything We've Accidentally Broadcast: The Radio Bubble Around Earth

Date January 20, 2025
Section We Are Sending Back

Earth's radio and television signals have been leaking into space for over a century, creating a bubble of human presence nearly 200 light-years across.
File 007: letters-from-the-s

Letters from the Surface: What Our Probes and Rovers Sent Home

Date January 21, 2025
Section We Are Sending Back

Voyager's 22-watt whisper across 23 billion kilometers. Curiosity's birthday song. Opportunity's final goodbye. Every signal from deep space was also a signal into deep space.