There was a story on All Things Considered this evening about an observation made by a Carnegie Mellon grad student in Pittsburgh:

The Grant Building (no relation to myself), which has been continuously blinking out "PITTSBURGH" in Morse code from a red beacon on its roof since 1929, was apparently spelling "PITETSBKRRH" instead! He noticed it while waiting for July 4th fireworks to begin.

NPR asked him to go out and check on it again yesterday, and here was the result; whatever the problem is, it's gotten worse:


On a not-entirely-related note (but I have a lot of random links to post), I came across this map which gives an idea what Earth radio and television signals are currently arriving at nearby stars.

Regulus and Mizar are still pretty much in the dark, and Capella is getting ready to watch the final season of Star Trek and the moon landing. At Wolf 359, a Federation fleet is attempting to defend Earth from a Borg invasion, I mean, getting ready to watch Janet Jackson's boob slip out at the Super Bowl.

It's a neat diagram but I have to admit the idea of aliens really being able to watch Earth broadcasts seems a little dubious to me. I can't even pick up Channel 19 from Cleveland, and it's only 19 miles away. Does that signal really reach that far into space?

By the way, that first story really makes me wish I knew Morse code. It just seems like one of those useful things.

current weather: Partly Cloudy, 65, Wind: calm; This has been a very oddly temperate summer...

Tags: astronomy, maps, npr, pittsburgh, space, video
Current Location: 41.144N 81.501W
Current Mood: amused
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