2 June - Different theories about the Message
Now that the message is confirmed, dozens of different theories about its interpretation have appeared. Each of them has its own dedicated thread in the #interpretation-chat channel in Discord, which now is much more active than ever. Here are some of the different topics seen around.
Does the Fourier transform give any useful information? This is similar to the pattern that you would get if you perforated the message on a piece of cardboard and shined light through it, due to diffraction.
Link: https://discord.com/channels/1066055437457297469/1114065866997370900/1114108253509521448
Does the message match the absorption spectrum of some chemical element?
Link: https://discord.com/channels/1066055437457297469/1113915557293604966/1114210423504380027
Is there any information encoded in how the message was split into pieces for transmission?
Link: https://discordapp.com/channels/1066055437457297469/1114029303341006849/1114032414625370182
Maybe the message has multiple parts, with each part separated by a delimiter.
Could the message be related to some fundamental physical constant, such as the fine structure constant?
Aliens would surely include a way to contact them in a message. How does the message contain the location of the extraterrestrial intelligence?
And finally, many graphical patterns: a pentagram, a mouse...
Link: https://discordapp.com/channels/1066055437457297469/1113919686640406578/1113925856184762530
The 4 sine waves replicate the 4 states of elements; earth, water, air, and fire
I now think that Timing Sub-structure? is a dead end as a line of inquiry, for _this_ Message, that is. As I understand it, the mechanism of delivering the Message to Earth in this simulation did not make use of such timing differences to separate bits into groups, so no such timing sub-structure exists in the data. Therefore, it would make this line of inquiry is moot.
However, if I were an ETI that was in control of the manner by which a signal was being sent, I would absolutely use such a system of encoding timings, because it can encode further information into the Message than simply the actual bits sent. So, for a _real_ Message, I would be looking immediately for any timing information contained in the bit-stream...