Lone Signal Launches The First Continuous, Collective, and Cohesive METI Experiment, Invites General Public To Participate

NEW YORK, June 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Lone Signal launches the first continuous mass METI (Messaging to Extraterrestrial Intelligence) initiative via the newly recommissioned Jamesburg Earth Station in Carmel, California.  Lone Signal will provide anyone with an Internet connection the opportunity to compose and transmit messages to stars suspected to harbor habitable planets orbiting within their circumstellar habitable zones – otherwise referred to as "goldilocks zones."  Lone Signal's mathematically based hailing message contains basic information about Earth and its encoding is the most advanced currently in use.  The company seeks to establish a stable, cohesive, and well-resourced interstellar beacon on our planet and is attempting to crowd-source the economic support necessary to do so; they invite all global citizens to join them in supporting the initiative by signing up and beaming at http://www.lonesignal.com.  Lone Signal's primary goals are to encourage individuals to begin to think less human-centrically by inviting them to entertain the possibility of intelligent life beyond our planet; their hope is that this type of thought will help downplay human differences and foster a sense of global community.  Participation in the community of beamers is intended to ignite a passion and an interest in science and exploration in people both young and old, thus inspiring a new generation of scientists and astronauts.  In essence, Lone Signal's mission is about connecting worlds while improving our own.

Lone Signal's first interstellar target is Gliese 526 – also referred to as HIP 67155 or HD 119850 – and is 17.6 light years from the Earth.  Gliese 526 is identified as a potentially habitable solar system in HabCat (The Catalog of Nearby Habitable Systems). This system's position in the sky – as well as its relatively close proximity to the Earth –makes it an ideal choice as Lone Signal's first target.

To experience Lone Signal and to beam, please visit http://www.lonesignal.com/ on June 18^th.  For technical specifications or information on the signal and hailing message, an in-depth document is available for download http://goo.gl/ORhFV.

Every Lone Signal "beamer" will have the opportunity to send one free 144-character text-based message into space.  Other key site features include:

• Share Beams / Track Beams – Once signed in, users can see how far their beam has traveled from Earth as well as share it with the beaming community on Lonesignal.com.
• Dedicate Beams – Parents, friends and loved ones can dedicate a beam to loved ones – for instance, the birth of a new child or the passing of a loved one – to be shared within the Lone Signal community, their respective social networks, and currently targeted stellar systems.
• Explore – The Explore section gives beamers current data on the Lone Signal beam, who is sending messages, from where on Earth, overall stats, etc.
• Blog / Social Media – Via the blog, twitter, and Facebook, the Lone Signal science team and other contributors will be posting opinion articles on associated topics of interest as well as sharing the latest science news and updates.

Maintaining Jamesburg Earth Station's considerably expensive equipment, powering the dish, running the web portal, and the upkeep for other technology critical to the service is not a cheap endeavor.  Sustaining Lone Signal's mission is not possible without crowd-funded support. 

After a user sends their initial free message, Lone Signal will be offering paid credit packages for purchase that allow users to transmit and share longer messages as well as images.  The initial text-only message (144 characters) is free because Lone Signal believes it is important that its service be universally accessible.  Beyond the initial free message, users may purchase credits based upon the following price structure:

• $0.99 buys 4 credits.
• $4.99 buys 40 credits.
• $19.99 buys 400 credits.
• $99.99 buys 4000 credits.

* Following the initial free message, each subsequent text-based message costs 1 credit.  Image-based messages cost 3 credits.

In order to universalize the content of Lone Signal's hailing message, astrophysicist and planetary scientist Michael W. Busch has created a binary encoding method that is embedded in Lone Signal's message stream – Dr. Busch is currently a Jansky Fellow at the National Radio Astronomy Observatory and is also a research scientist with the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science.  Binary language – using a system of 1's and 0's - is how computers communicate with each other.  Dr. Busch's encoding system is based upon what are known as mathematical "first principles."  In physics, "first principles" are said to reflect established laws that, theoretically, are relatively constant throughout the universe – for example, gravity and the structure of the hydrogen atom.   Dr. Busch's binary language essentially functions as Lone Signal's Rosetta Stone - by including a language based on physics and astronomy within Lone Signal's transmissions, the company vastly increases the probability that those who receive transmissions will be able to decode and experience what has been sent.

Led by its Chief Science Officer, Dr. Jacob Haqq-Misra, Lone Signal has worked diligently to ensure that its science and tech team has been consistently involved in the development of its operational strategy.  Dr. Haqq-Misra has asked for beamers to remember that space science and METI have come a long way since Voyager 1 launched in 1977.  With the advent and mass adoption of digital communication, humanity's capacity for broadcasting electromagnetic signals has grown exponentially. 

Before moving forward with transmissions, Lone Signal sponsored independent research examining the implications of transmitting toward stellar targets known or suspected to harbor planetary systems; this research was carried out in cooperation with Lone Signal's non-profit partner, Jamesburg Earth Station Technologies, LLC.  Jamesburg Earth Station Technologies, LLC holds the necessary FCC license for a METI experiment of this scale and is responsible for all transmissions.  This research was intended to evaluate the potential costs and benefits of a large-scale METI initiative and constitutes the first in-depth, scholarly analysis of its kind since the 1970's.  Beginning in the summer of 2011 and under the umbrella of the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, Dr. Haqq-Misra, headed a team of scientists in this risk analysis, culminating in the publication of their paper entitled "The Benefits and Harm of Transmitting into Space."

Lone Signal's visionary Co-Founders are creative entrepreneur Greg Kadel and film editor Pierre Fabre. Lone Signal's management team brings with it a unique blend of business experience. CEO, Jamie King, is a serial entrepreneur with extensive experience in the tech and gaming industries.  COO, Eric Eim, has a background in hospitality and hotel development.  CMO, Ernesto Qualizza, is an agent and producer with a vast array of contacts in the worlds of entertainment, PR, and fashion. Dr. Jacob Haqq-Misra is Lone Signal's CSO – he studies atmospheric dynamics and planetary habitability and has published over a dozen peer-reviewed journal articles.  Dr. Haqq-Misra holds a Ph.D. in Astrobiology & Meteorology as well as a M.S. in Meteorology from Penn State University; in addition to his role at Lone Signal, he is also a research scientist at the Blue Marble Space Institute of Science.

In future weeks, Long Signal will be announcing additional partnerships and initiatives that tie into the overall project goals as well as additional interstellar targets.

SOURCE Lone Signal