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What would you tell the Universe about humanity?
Later this year, the Voyager 1 spacecraft will be one light-day away from Earth. Our most distant human-made object has taken almost 50 years to get to this milestone, 16 billion miles away - so distant that a radio signal from Earth now takes a full 24 hours to reach it. Its twin, Voyager 2, is not far behind. Both carry with them a Golden Record, a unique calling card for any intelligent species that finds them in the aeons to come. As science journalist Geraint Evans explores, these gold-plated LPs are an incredibly detailed catalogue not just of our species but of all life on Earth. Turn to his feature on page 66 to discover what we humans chose to tell the Galaxy about ourselves, and who decided what to include. The launch of the Golden Records was a shot in the dark - and the same could certainly be said of the search for dark matter. So far, billions have been spent on colossal experiments to find this hypothetical, invisible substance. Conducted deep underground in cathedral-like caverns, all these searches have come up emptyhanded. On page 28, she explains why the stream of negative results to date is driving scientists to build bigger, more advanced experiments. After all, the prize is understanding a mystery whose mass is thought to make up 27 per cent of the Universe. Enjoy the issue!
Chris Bramley, Editor
PS Our next issue goes on sale on Friday 18 September.
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