British Astronomers Turn To Interstellar Spam

Barrista En Flambe alerts us to a stunt that may reflect the desperate funding crisis in British astronomy: astronomers have agreed to beam a 30-second Doritos ad to a solar system 42 light years from Earth. The transmission is being directed at the solar system of 47 Ursae Majoris, a star similar to the Sun which has planets and may have a habitable zone.

Comments

It's worked...

[Otter]

I'm minutes away from lunch, and am now suddenly craving Cool Ranch Doritos. So Frito-Lay (or whoever makes those things) is already seeing some return on their investment in this publicity stunt -- I expect the astronomers to discover something amazing in return!

hopefully

[OrochimaruVoldemort]

that message won't be picked up by bad tempered, bureaucratic, officious, and callous vogons. they might report us to the galactic bureaucracy for spamming without a permit, sending the message without approval forms, advertising without a good cause, and tampering with an underdeveloped planet. i guess i've been reading hitchhikers guide to the galaxy too much.