Now Hear This

If we had to assemble a taste of Earth today to send to the aliens, the gold record (aliens have standards, you know) would likely be populated with Kardashian references, information about political scandals and details of drug overdoses. But in 1977 none of these things were representative of life on our fair planet (at least, the Kardashians weren't), and so when NASA sent golden discs aboard Voyager 1 and 2, the scientists were able to keep things classy. The records included greetings in 55 different languages, a message from President Jimmy Carter, sounds of the sea and animals, and even musical offerings from around the globe. Thanks to the Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra and the Saint Louis Science Center, these noble sounds of our existence aren't completely lost to space — you can grab a listen to a re-creation of some of them at 7 p.m. at the James S. McDonnell Planetarium (in Forest Park at Clayton and Faulkner drives), as part of SciFest 09. This Science with the Symphony concert costs $10 to attend; tickets are available at www.scifeststl.org, as are more details about the rest of the festival.
Thu., Oct. 8, 2009