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It goes back to the starfish. That's when the light bulb really popped over my head. We'd found one on the beach and I was struck by what astonishing creatures they are, talking with Dad about how they regenerate. I'd learned in school how severed fragments could grow into new adults and it seemed so utterly removed from the human experience. Lose a limb and it becomes another you? What would that be like? Dad smiled and said, "Nick, you and that starfish come from the same planet. Imagine how different a creature from another planet might be."

Mind blown.

A few years before then, I'd recorded a message for potential extraterrestrial civilizations to discover. Surreal to say, but that sort of thing was normal in my household. Dad was a world-famous astronomer; Mom was the artist who drew the iconic Pioneer plaque. Together with Frank Drake, Ann Druyan, Tim Ferris and Jon Lomberg,...