OUT OF THIS WORLD
Last month, prospective students offered places at the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing received a black vinyl disk with their offer letter containing the sounds of 15 pulsars — extremely dense and magnetic remnants of massive stars deep in the universe that spin and shoot powerful jets of radiation from their poles.
Pulsars, also known as rotating neutron stars, are so dense that a teaspoon of matter from them would weigh more than a billion metric tons, according to NASA. Since they emit bright, rotating streams of radiation, pulsars are often regarded as the lighthouses of the universe, with some scientists saying they could be used for navigation during interstellar travel.
Students and faculty from the university recorded the signals using the Five-hundredmeter Aperture Spherical Telescope in Guizhou province, the world’s largest single-dish radio telescope.
The signals, 13 of which were made public for the first time, were processed into audible samples, with some sounding like the beating of a baby’s heart and others like an air horn, the crackle of a firecracker or a galloping horse.
Li Shushen, the university’s president, said in a letter to prospective students that the “echoes of the universe” were meant to let them physically experience the scientific progress China has made, and encourage them to answer the call of duty to remain curious and eager to learn and explore science and innovation.
Li Di, FAST’s chief scientist and a professor at the university, said the latest and best data collected by the telescope had been presented to new students as a gift.
“The best astronomical instruments are actually built for the next generation of astronomers,” Li said in a welcome video to the students. “Science is a craft, and the best telescope should be wielded by the most meticulous and capable scientists. This responsibility will rest on your shoulders.”
Nie Jiahui, a high school graduate from Beijing who has accepted an offer to become a physics major student at the university, said he was thrilled to receive the special message from space.
“I will treasure this package for the rest of my life,” he said, adding he was eager to keep learning and contribute to the country’s scientific development.
Other universities have also sprinkled a touch of scientific panache in their offers.
Southeast University’s package plays the school’s anthem when opened. Tsinghua University included a laser-cut, detailed paper model of its historical Second Gate that stands up when the package is opened.
The package of Tsinghua also contained the social science classic FromtheSoil, by the pioneering Chinese sociologist and anthropologist Fei Xiao
tong. The book is an extensive yet accessible depiction of the moral and ethical characteristics of Chinese society in the mid-20th century.
“Hope you can take root in the soil of our motherland, grow, prosper and forge ahead into the future,” Qiu Yong, the president of Tsinghua University, said in a letter to prospective students.