ARRIVAL INSTITUTE
  • Home

What happens next?

We finally make contact, How to read the message? What does it say? What is the meaning and intention? The Arrival Institute is devoted to the research on the semantics of the search and potential contact with divergent intelligences. The Arrival Institute conducts research that has traditionally been left unattended by conventional SETI programs that have focused on the technicalities of making contact but rather than on the mathematics of meaning.
RESEARCH

Steering the Field of Interstellar Communication Research From  The Technicalities of Transmission and Reception to Meaning, Syntax and Semantic Analysis​

In the scientific community's relentless pursuit of understanding the cosmos, the Arrival Institute emerges as a critical player committed to expanding the research horizons beyond traditional methodologies. Contemporary SETI initiatives have largely focused on specific facets of extraterrestrial communication, including:
​
  1. Radio Signal Frequencies: SETI research has primarily concentrated on the analysis of radio signal frequencies, scrutinising patterns that might indicate extraterrestrial transmissions. The bandwidth to receive a possible signal, and the scanning and storing capabilities to conduct a search.
  2. Reception Equipment: Extensive study has been conducted on the potential mediums to send or receive a message, from radio signals to laser, mostly encompassing a range of electromagnetic waves and even extending to more speculative domains such as neutrino communications. The field of SETI has mostly focused on getting larger arrays of ever larger radio telescopes.
  3. Transmission Substrate: The analysis of transmission substrates represents another focal area, with investigations centred on discerning the mediums through which interstellar messages may be conveyed, encompassing both recognised and as yet unidentified substrates.​
Despite some discussion around sending or receiving messages based on symbolic examples, such as sending the Arecibo message based on wild assumptions such as its prime number dimensions, sending a disk with terrestrial audio in the Voyager spaceships sent by humans, the design of simplistic artificial languages mostly for TV shows or games, or the wild speculations the type of messages we may receive from another intelligent civilisation, usually based on simplistic hypotheses such as receiving the initial segment of prime number as a signal, a notable gap exists in the serious study of the semantic and meaningful content that might be found in potential messages from other divergent intelligences.

The Arrival Institute aims to pioneer research in this neglected sphere, venturing beyond the traditional boundaries of hardware and physical technicalities.

At the Arrival Institute, the focus shifts toward a comprehensive examination of potential extraterrestrial communications, integrating multidisciplinary approaches to uncover not only the structure but also the underlying narratives and meanings encapsulated within hypothetical transmissions to construct a robust analytical framework.
​

By adopting a scholarly approach, the Arrival Institute seeks to establish itself as a leading entity in this innovative research domain, facilitating a nuanced exploration of potential divergent-intelligence communications as an academic commitment.

Publications

Optimal Spatial Deconvolution and Message Reconstruction from a Large Generative Model of Models
H. Zenil, A. Adams, F.S. Abrahão
[preprint]

On the Salient Limitations of the Methods of Assembly Theory and their Classification of Molecular Biosignatures
A. Uthamacumaran, F.S. Abrahão, N.A. Kiani, H. Zenil
[preprint]

Approximations of Algorithmic and Structural Complexity Validate Cognitive-behavioural Experimental Results
H. Zenil*, J.A.R. Marshall, J. Tegnér
vol. 16 Frontiers In Computational Neuroscience, 2023,
[online]
Algorithmically Probable Mutations Reproduce Aspects of Evolution, such as Convergence Rate, Genetic Memory, and Modularity
S. Hernández-Orozco, N.A. Kiani, H. Zenil
Royal Society Open Science, 5:180399, 2018
[online]
Algorithmic Complexity and Reprogrammability of Chemical Structure Networks
H. Zenil, N.A. Kiani, M-M. Shang, J. Tegnér
Parallel Processing Letters, vol. 28, 2018.
​[online, preprint]
Cross-boundary Behavioural Reprogrammability Reveals Evidence of Pervasive Universality
J. Riedel, H. Zenil
International Journal of Unconventional Computing, vol 13:14-15 pp. 309-357, 2018
​[online, preprint]
Slime mould: the fundamental mechanisms of biological cognition
J. Vallverdú, O. Castro, R. Mayne, M. Talanov, M. Levine, F. Baluska, Y. Gunji, A. Dussutourg, H. Zenil, A. Adamatzky
BioSystems, vol. 165, pp 57-70, 2018
[online, preprint]
Undecidability and Irreducibility Conditions for Open-Ended Evolution and Emergence
S. Hernández-Orozco, F. Hernández-Quiroz and H. Zenil
Artificial Life, vol. 24:1, pp. 56–70, 2018
[online, preprint]
The Limits of Decidable States on Open-Ended Evolution and Emergence
S. Hernández-Orozco, F. Hernández-Quiroz and H. Zenil*
Artificial Life, vol. 24(1) pp. 56-70, 2018.
​[online]
Formal Definitions of Unbounded Evolution and Innovation Reveal Universal Mechanisms for Open-Ended Evolution in Dynamical Systems
A. Adams, H. Zenil, P.W.C. Davies, S.I. Walker
Scientific Reports 7, No:997, 2017.
[online]

The Information-theoretic and Algorithmic Approach to Human, Animal and Artificial Cognition
N. Gauvrit, H. Zenil, J. Tegnér
In G. Dodig-Crnkovic and R. Giovagnoli (Eds.) Representation and reality : Humans, animals and machines.
Springer, pp 117-139, 2017.
[preprint]
Reprogramming Matter, Life and Purpose
H. Zenil
International Journal of Unconventional Computing, vol. 13.3, p. 221–233, 2017.
​[online, preprint]
Quantifying Non-trivial Open-Ended Evolution Reveals Necessary and Sufficient Conditions
A. Adams, H. Zenil, P.C.W. Davies and S.I. Walker
Second Workshop on Open-Ended Evolution, 15th International Conference on the Synthesis and Simulation of Living Systems (ALIFE), 2016.
[online, preprint]

Asymptotic Intrinsic Universality and Reprogrammability by Behavioural Emulation
H. Zenil and J. Riedel
Advances in Unconventional Computation. A. Adamatzky (ed)
Springer Verlag, pp. 205-220, 2016.
[preprint]

Algorithmicity and Programmability in Natural Computing with the Game of Life as an In Silico Case Study
H. Zenil
Journal of Experimental & Theoretical Artificial Intelligence, Volume 27, Issue 1, pp. 109-121, 2015.
​[online]
Exploring Programmable Self-Assembly in Non DNA-based Computing
G. Terrazas, H. Zenil and N. Krasnogor
Natural Computing, vol 12(4): 499–515, 2013. doi:10.1007/s11047-013-9397-2
​[online, preprint]
Algorithmic Complexity of Animal Behaviour: From Communication to Cognition
H. Zenil
International Conference on the Theory and Practice of Natural Computing (TPNC) 2013. Cáceres, Spain, Cáceres, Spain
Testing Biological Models for Non-linear Sensitivity with a Programmability Test
H. Zenil, G. Ball and J. Tegnér
In P. Liò, O. Miglino, G. Nicosia, S. Nolfi and M. Pavone (eds), Advances in Artificial Intelligence, ECAL 2013, pp. 1222-1223,
MIT Press, 2013.
​[online]
Turing Patterns with Turing Machines: Emergence and Low-level Structure Formation
H. Zenil
Natural Computing, vol. 12(2): 291-303, 2013.
[online, preprint]
A Turing Test-Inspired Approach to Natural Computation
H. Zenil
In G. Primiero and L. De Mol (eds.), Turing in Context II, Historical and Contemporary Research in Logic, Computing Machinery and Artificial Intelligence. Proceedings by the Royal Flemish Academy of Belgium for Science and the Arts, Belgium, 2013.

Some Aspects of Computation Essential to Evolution and Life
H. Zenil and J.A.R. Marshall
Ubiquity, vol. 2013, no. April, pp 1-16.
​[online, preprint]
Life as Thermodynamic Evidence of Algorithmic Structure in Natural Environments
H. Zenil, C. Gershenson, J.A.R. Marshall and D. Rosenblueth
Entropy, 14(11), 2173-2191, 2012.
​[online]
Image Information Content Characterization and Classification by Physical Complexity
H. Zenil, J.-P. Delahaye and C. Gaucherel
Complexity, vol. 17-3, pages 26-42, 2012.

[preprint]
On the Algorithmic Nature of the World
H. Zenil and J-P. Delahaye
In G. Dodig-Crnkovic and M. Burgin (eds), Information and Computation, World Scientific Publishing Company, 2010.
​[preprint]
On the Possible Computational Power of the Human Mind
H. Zenil and F. Hernandez-Quiroz
In Worldviews, Science and Us, Philosophy and Complexity, C. Gershenson, D. Aerts, and B. Edmonds (eds),
World Scientific Publishing Company, 2007.

Videos

On the media

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home