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Fermilab Calls For Code Crackers

Posted by kdawson on from the finding-patterns-where-none-may-exist dept.

atrocious cowpat passes along a call for help from symmetry magazine, the joint publication of Fermilab and SLAC, noting: "Could be just plain gibberish, it could be something like those wonderfully weird letters to the Mount Wilson observatory, or it could be a message from aliens who just happened to have gotten their hands (tentacles/exoskeleton) on a fax machine." "A little over a year ago, the Fermilab Office of Public Affairs received a curious letter in code (4.4-MB image here). It has been sitting in our files all that time and we haven't had much of a chance to look into breaking the code, nor are we particularly expert at this!"

8 of 392 comments (clear)

  1. Well, obvious stuff: by morgan_greywolf · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Three "stanzas" maybe.

    Starting with the "middle" stanza, that appears to be some sort of "key" perhaps. Each of the different symbols correspond to a different hexadecimal digit.

    In the first stanza, each grouping of lines has 1, 2 or 3 lines.

    In the last stanza, each group of lines is only 1 or 2 lines.

    Maybe the last stanza is binary?

    And maybe the first stanza is base 3?

    Anyone else care to wager a guess?

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  2. The dots by personalo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    My question is: Are the tiny dots in the background a dirty fax or photocopier artifact or are they, in fact, the code.

  3. Google recruiting? by spydum · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Perhaps Google is targeting Fermilab scientists for hiring.. Don't they have a history of using strange riddles and puzzles for hiring purposes?

    1. Re:Google recruiting? by BigJClark · · Score: 4, Interesting


      EA posted billboards all over Vancouver, BC awhile, that had char *msg[] = { "10", "43", "14" } (not real values) and essentially it was the ascii decimal equivilant of "Now Hiring".

      I thought that was pretty trick.

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  4. Source? by aleph42 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Any hint on the source, or at least why they consider it important?

    Not to be harsh, but if I send some random code letter to some lab, I guess (hope) it won't make the news, even on slashdot.

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  5. Re:The raw numbers by Iamthecheese · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If I change the 1s to 0 and the 2s to 1, I get some interesting bits.
    "J)IEQ)"""$curren;\QHquot;$)T

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  6. Re:Real problem solvers comment here by bodan · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Not a critique as such and only vaguely on topic: Does anyone else find it interesting that parent found it natural to represent ternary using 1-2-3 and binary using 0-1?

    That was actually my first instinct too when I was "reading" the thing...

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  7. FRANK SHOEMAKER WOULD CALL THIS NOISE by wirelessbuzzers · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The first part is ternary, with 3 substituted for 0. It's somewhat miswrapped, but it appears to say "FRANK SHOEMAKER WOULD CALL THIS NOISE".

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