Word: planetful
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...signal from another planet is ever received and deciphered, it would surely have an immeasurable impact on man. In one brief burst of information it would expand his horizons into infinity. In the process it would force him to re-examine some ancient questions. With his long heritage of Judeo-Christian culture, could Western man still be certain of his superior status in a God-created universe? Orthodox Christian theologians admit no doubts. There is, they insist, only one sovereign Lord of all creation, and he created man in his image. C.S. Lewis, prolific Protestant author and theologian...
...might the first intelligence from an extraterrestrial civilization be transmitted to earth? Basing his answer on a concept originally proposed in 1961 by Cornell Astronomer Frank Drake, Electrical Engineer Bernard Oliver composed a sample universal message that could conceivably have been sent from some distant planet. The information would be contained in a series of irregularly spaced pulses picked up by radio telescopes tuned to a wave length of 21 cm. (the natural frequency of radiation from a hydrogen atom and an obvious choice of an advanced civilization). Translated into print, the message would consist of an apparently meaningless sequence...
...different sexes and care for their young. The male figure is pointing to the fourth in a line of eight dots extending directly down from a sunlike circle in the upper left portion of the diagram. Thus it can be assumed that the intelligent race lives on the fourth planet circling the distant star...
...message also makes it evident that the transmitting race has learned spaceflight. How else would it know that there is water on the third planet (as shown by the waves extending from the third dot) with aquatic life flourishing beneath it? To the left of each of the planets are dots that can easily be identified as binary numbers. By assuming that the number opposite the first planet is one, the second planet two, and so on, scientists can spot the alien binary code. Giving their imaginations free rein, they can also recognize that the three groups of dots...
...steel that many Americans grew up with is not what he used to be. For one thing, his alter ego, Clark Kent, has given up the Daily Planet to become a newscaster for the Galaxy Broadcasting System, getting in and out of blue tights and red cape during commercial breaks. ("Personally, I still prefer Walter Cronkite," a mini-skirted Lois tells him. She, at least, is unchanged-as obnoxious as ever.) For another, Superman has succumbed to urban jitters; he obviously needs to spend some time on the couch. Just listen to some of his recent complaints...