7

We are going to generate information out of nothing (well, nothing and a bit of something) just by randomly bouncing a ball. The result will be a message you can use to protect humanity.

Let's use the random number generator from "Numerical Recipes":

x[n+1] = (1664525 * x[n] + 1013904223) mod 2^32


Behold, the primitive universe:

   |         SOMETHING (1)         |          NOTHING (0)          |
---+-------------------------------+-------------------------------+---------->
   |                               |                               |           x
   0                              22^7                             2^32

Starting from x[1] = 4111833843, bounce the ball within the primitive universe to generate a sequence of 34 bits:

  _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _

Now, condense each bracketed quintuple of bits into a single letter in a logical way:

  _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _   _
|       |       |   |   |   |       |   |   |               |   |   |   |       |   |   |   |   |   |               |                   |
|_______|_______|___|   |   |       |   |   |               |   |   |   |       |   |   |   |   |   |               |                   |
        |       |       |   |       |   |   |               |   |   |   |       |   |   |   |   |   |               |                   |
        |_______|_______|___|       |   |   |               |   |   |   |       |   |   |   |   |   |               |                   |
                |       |           |   |   |               |   |   |   |       |   |   |   |   |   |               |                   |
                |_______|___________|   |   |               |   |   |   |       |   |   |   |   |   |               |                   |
                        |               |   |               |   |   |   |       |   |   |   |   |   |               |                   |
                        |_______________|___|               |   |   |   |       |   |   |   |   |   |               |                   |
                                        |                   |   |   |   |       |   |   |   |   |   |               |                   |
                                        |___________________|   |   |   |       |   |   |   |   |   |               |                   |
                                                            |   |   |   |       |   |   |   |   |   |               |                   |
                                                            |___|___|___|_______|   |   |   |   |   |               |                   |
                                                                |   |   |       |   |   |   |   |   |               |                   |
                                                                |___|___|_______|___|   |   |   |   |               |                   |
                                                                    |   |       |       |   |   |   |               |                   |
                                                                    |___|_______|_______|   |   |   |               |                   |
                                                                        |       |           |   |   |               |                   |
                                                                        |_______|___________|   |   |               |                   |
                                                                                |               |   |               |                   |
                                                                                |_______________|___|               |                   |
                                                                                                |                   |                   |
                                                                                                |___________________|                   |
                                                                                                                    |                   |
                                                                                                                    |___________________|

Maintaining their order, write the 12 obtained letters into the intervals of the continuum below:

        _         _         _         _         _         _         _         _         _         _         _         _
   |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |
---+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------->
   |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |           x
   0        24^6      12^8      18^7      58^5      70^5      15^8     (7/6)^141  78^5      38^6    (12/11)^251  40^6      2^32

Starting from x[1] = 3047615877, bounce the ball within the letter continuum above to generate the message:

_  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _

Print this message out and keep it securely in your wallet, purse, back pocket, or under your pillow at all times.



If the message does not seem familiar, you can produce a translation with more bouncing of the ball.

Starting from x[1] = 3134682659, bounce the ball within the primitive universe to generate a selector sequence of 21 bits. Apply the selector sequence to the 21 letters of the message. I.e., if the selector sequence bit is "1" then select the corresponding letter and put it into the continuum below. If the selector sequence bit is "0" then skip the corresponding letter.

        _         _         _         _         _         _         _         _         _
   |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |
---+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------+---------->
   |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |         |           x
   0         2^30      5^13      2^31     15^8     (7/4)^39   38^6      23^7       3^20      2^32

Starting from x[1] = 1172112096, bounce the ball within the above continuum to generate the 13 letters of the translation:

_  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _  _
bobble
  • 10,245
  • 4
  • 32
  • 80
SlowMagic
  • 13,815
  • 32
  • 108

1 Answers1

8

Following the instructions gives us the following sequence:

image with the sequence of numbers generated by the RNG, as well as a diagram showing quintuplets highlighted and labelled with letters

Each of the numbers gives a bit, as the diagram shows. Extracting quintuplets of consecutive bits, and converting them to letters using five-bit binary (A=00001, B=00010...) gives the following sequence:
L R K N O A B D I G T U.

Now, we repeat, using the twelve letters we've extracted:

similar diagram to the above, starting with 3047615877, and containing a letter by each rather than a bit

The message appears to be GORT KLAATU BARADA NIKTO.

Well, I don't know what that means. (Never mind the fact that I spaced it in a particular way.) Let's try to translate it.

Following the directions a third time gives us the "selector sequence":

yet another similar diagram, but the message GORT KLAATU BARADA NIKTO has been placed by the 21 generated bits; the letters by 0s are faded and in red, while the letters by 1s are in bold

This selects the letters O R L B D N I K T.

And following the directions a fourth time, using our new mapping, gives the translation:

a fourth diagram like the others, giving letters like the second

ROBOT, DON'T KILL.


Context:

The message is a famous line from The Day the Earth Stood Still, and while its translation is never given, it's used to stop the robot Gort from using deadly force.

Deusovi
  • 146,248
  • 16
  • 519
  • 609
  • 3
    This is certainly very cool, but is it a puzzle? I can't see what one had to figure out by oneself. – BmyGuest May 05 '22 at 07:52
  • BmyGuest — Some people enjoy engaging themselves in a methodical, meditative process. Others prefer to ponder over a sudden-insight riddle until they get that "a-ha!" moment. If you are of the latter, you might enjoy these puzzles: https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/115629 https://puzzling.stackexchange.com/questions/111555 – SlowMagic May 05 '22 at 14:01
  • @BmyGuest Agreed - I didn't really have to do much except follow the directions. They were slightly obscured in a few places, but I'm not sure that really makes it a puzzle. – Deusovi May 05 '22 at 19:44