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YOUR RECORD
We asked you to tell us what you’d put on a new Golden Record. Here’s what you chose.
Special thanks to our guest curators, SETI astronomer Seth Shostak, Brain Pickings editor Maria Popova, and science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson. We've also included a few SciFri staff favorites. -
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"Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech."— Emily M., Colorado -
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"Apollo 11 moon landing and Neil Armstrong's 'one small step.'"— Ricky W., Saint Simons Island, Georgia -
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"People on bicycles! Elegant, ubiquitous, timeless, brilliantly efficient."— Barbara K., Cottage City, Maryland
Credit: [onbekend] [CC BY-SA 3.0 nl], via Wikimedia Commons -
"The inspiral waveform from the first detection of a black hole merger by the LIGO collaboration."— Seth T., Acton, Massachusetts -
Credit: LIGO
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"The 'Earthrise' image from Apollo 8."— Scott A., Denver, Iowa
Credit: NASA -
"The Benedictus section of Beethoven's 'Missa Solemnis.'"— Richard P., Yountville, California
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"John Coltrane's legendary 'A Love Supreme' is love/understanding for all, no matter the ethnicity, and love for Earth."— Elizabeth C., San Leandro, California -
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"Universal first communication of all human beings: the cry of a newborn baby."— Cathrine G., Folsom, California -
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"You have to include Wikipedia. Not just for the information, but because it’s in so many languages. It’s a Rosetta Stone for the digital age."— Barbara G., Austin, Texas
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"'Fanfare For the Common Man,' by Aaron Copland. :)"— Cynthia B., Tuscon, Arizona
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"Dolphin vocalizations."— Susan F., Pensacola, Florida -
Dolphins from John Anderson on Vimeo.
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"Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon album."— Bill D., Osage, Iowa
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"Imagery of cooking, plating, eating, and enjoying food."— Pamela N., Berkeley, California -
How to Cook a Lobster from DailyAmpersand on Vimeo.
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"I would have someone put a GoPro on themselves and document their day. It should be a regular person doing regular things."— Chris M., Kansas City, Missouri -
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"‘Ain't No Mountain High Enough,’ by Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell."— Marc E., New York, New York -
"‘Good Vibrations,’ by the Beach Boys."— Robert L., Doylestown, Pennsylvania
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"The sound or video of a human child being tickled at about age 4. I think it would say so much about complicated human culture."— Richard C., Buffalo, New York -
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"Ribosome: a complex molecular machine that builds proteins fundamental to life on Earth."— Christine Z., Jersey City, New Jersey
Credit: LadyofHats [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
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"The sound of a birdsong dawn chorus. Different choruses from around the world illustrate local diversity."— Edward R., San Jose, CaliforniaCredit: juskiddink -
"The periodic table. It will act as a galactic 'Rosetta Stone.' Any advanced race has a periodic table and can use it to translate writing."— David E., Independence, Kentucky
Credit: Sandbh (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons
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Additionally, our guest curators wanted these included on our new Golden Record.
A poem by Pablo Neruda. — Joosefu L., The Philippines
The Little Prince. — chosen by guest curator Maria Popova
A picture of New York City from 1,000 feet. — chosen by guest curator Seth Shostak
Google's servers. — chosen by guest curator Seth Shostak
A digital representation of the Standard Model of the universe. — Joel M., Hickory, NC
Beethoven's Ninth. — Judy E., Portland, OR
The human genome. — submitted by several
Pi. — chosen by guest curator Kim Stanley Robinson
American Film Institute's 100 greatest films. — chosen by guest curator Kim Stanley Robinson
A rainbow over Sedona, Arizona. — Jim M., Chandler, Arizona
The trajectory of the original Voyager spacecraft. — Richard P., Bakersfield, California
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Explore the sights and sounds of the original 1977 Golden Record in full 360 video.
Just click and drag your cursor around on the screen to move through the video. You can even watch it in VR if you have Google Cardboard or another VR set-up by clicking the “binocular” icon on the bottom of the video player.
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The History
Science Friday spoke with two of the original Golden Record’s curators — SETI researcher Frank Drake and writer Ann Druyan — about creating this enduring testament to Earth.