Humanity Sent A Symbolic Cosmic Message

In 1974, scientists beamed a radio signal into deep space containing basic facts about our species. Remarkably, this wasn't a real conversation attempt, but a symbolic stunt to show off our technology.

The signal was aimed at a dense cluster of stars located 25,000 light-years away. It encoded human DNA, our solar system, and even a stick figure representation of a person. Because of the vast distance, the message won't reach its target for tens of thousands of years. It served primarily as a celebration of the massive new radio telescope used to broadcast the data.