Enigma One (2022)

 

First session of the middle school "Enigma" class.  Just as last year we lead off with a mental exercise called "Interstellar".  They first had to consider what sort of message they would chose to broadcast out into the cosmos....and how they would do it.  Then they were given some shocking information detected by astronomers.  We are definitely NOT alone.  But what are the aliens saying?  Given the origin of the signal what might they know about us?  

They eventually figured out that the pattern of light on/light off was a simple binary code which formed a picture.  While they ate snacks we walked through how many signaling devices - an on/off light, an arm raised or not - it takes to convey a specific "message".  One device, we'll call it a bit, can give two distinct messages.  yes/no, 1/0, Hi! or I ignore you.

I tossed a copy of The Gulag Archipelago on the table and asked how many "bits" it would take to encode it.  Of course the answer is 8 ( 8 bits gives you 256 possible combinations, enough for alphabet with caps, numbers 10-9, punctuation, special characters and a few left over for foreign letters and maybe a couple of emojis.  8 bits also makes one byte.)

Congratulations were in order and forthcoming, as they had just discovered the basis for digital computer storage.

As always in Enigma the final answer is a code that opens a padlock.  Contained within the (literal) Black Box was a greeting from Elsewhere and a batch of snacks far better than the usual nutritious granola crap they get fed.

Because I can't predict the ability of a group until I actually meet them I also had a backup shorter challenge....

I'm keeping quiet on this one.  They handled it well but feel it has potential for the staff challenge if we make it just a teeny bit harder!  Smart kids.  The staff has reasons for concern.