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Sónar Festival attempts to contact aliens by sending music into space: Watch

Autechre, Nina Kraviz and Holly Herndon included on the intergalactic playlist…

Sónar Festival turns 25 with its 2018 event. To celebrate, the team has already begun sending high-powered transmissions from Norway with the hopes of contacting alien life forms on GJ273b, a potentially inhabitable planet 12.4 light years from Earth.

The project has been dubbed ‘Sónar Calling GJ273b’, and it won’t be complete until 2043, when the message is received back here on Earth. Transmissions are being sent via the EISCAT (European Incoherent SCATter Scientific Association) antenna in Norway and are anticipated to reach the Luyten’s Star system by March 2030.

According to the Sónar Calling site, tracks from Autechre, Kerri Chandler, Nina Kraviz, Holly Herndon, The Black Madonna and Modeselektor, in addition to hello messages and tutorials were sent in the first series of transmissions. More unique sonic offerings include the heartbeat of artist Alva Noto’s unborn daughter and a piece based on the first 449 prime numbers by Jean Michel Jarre referencing the film Encounters of the Third Kind.

The second transmission is set for April 2018 and Sónar is opening up the program for fan participation. “Three pieces created by the public will be selected and along with the tracks of the 33 artists, they will be sent at the end of April beyond the solar system,” offers the site. “The authors of the selected pieces will be invited to join us to celebrate the 25 years of Sónar with three guests.”

More details on how to participate here.

Sónar runs 14th through 16th June 2018. Tickets are already available here.

The 2018 Burning Man Festival also has a high-tech theme: I, Robot. 

Watch a documentary detailing the project below: