[spectre] LEONARDO CO-SPONSORS COMPOSING MESSAGES TO THE COSMOS: PARIS WORKSHOP

[Melinda Klayman]

PRESS RELEASE     * * *     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 23, 2003

Contact:    Douglas Vakoch                    Diane Richards
            Workshop Chair                    Public Information Officer
            SETI Institute                    SETI Institute
            Cell: 06 32 80 13 30 (France)     Phone: (650) 960-4514(USA)
            altruism at seti.org                 drichards at seti.org


LEONARDO CO-SPONSORS COMPOSING MESSAGES TO THE COSMOS: PARIS WORKSHOP

A group of twenty artists, scientists, and scholars from the humanities will
gather in Paris, March 23 and 24 (Sunday and Monday), to understand how we
might communicate the idea of altruism to any intelligent civilizations that
could be circling other stars.

The workshop‹³Encoding Altruism: The Art and Science of Interstellar Message
Composition²‹will focus on messages that could be transmitted by radio waves
or laser pulses. These communication techniques reflect the methods used in
the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), including the world's
most comprehensive search, Project Phoenix, being conducted by the SETI
Institute.

³As SETI programs become increasingly powerful, we need to think seriously
about what to do if we succeed. Should we reply? If so, what should we say?²
asked chair of the workshop, Dr. Douglas Vakoch. ³How could we convey
concepts as seemingly abstract as altruism or our sense of beauty?²

Participants from a dozen countries will ponder these questions and other
topics, including - Creating interactive interstellar messages. - Preparing
for interstellar contact by studying animal communication. - Explaining the
logic of altruism. - Conveying religious views of altruism through
artificial languages. - Composing interstellar "music" inspired by the
structure of DNA.

More information including complete biographies and abstracts is available
online at http://publish.seti.org/art_science/2003/

The workshop is being sponsored by the SETI Institute; Leonardo/OLATS
(Leonardo Observatory for the Arts and TechnoSciences); the John Templeton
Foundation; the International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology
(ISAST); and the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA) Permanent SETI
Study Group.

END

NOTE TO EDITORS: Participation is by invitation only. Interested journalists
should contact workshop chair Douglas Vakoch (altruism at seti.org), cell 06 32
80 13 30 (in France).

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