Back in 1977, NASA launched two probes to have a good poke about our solar system. Voyager 1 and 2 were sent to journey through various points of interest, including passes of Jupiter, Saturn and the far reaches of our near-planetary neighbours. Once they'd completed their missions, they were to drift into the big inky black, occasionally reporting back to Earth.
With this long-distance epilogue in mind, NASA equipped both crafts with a neat first-contact extra: should either probe encounter intelligent life drifting about in space, they would discover an impression of Earth's culture with a gold-plated audio-visual disc, etched with "sounds of Earth" - from crying babies to musical scores.
The Voyager Golden Records have re-entered the public consciousness thanks to the release of a NASA SoundCloud playlist, featuring all 19 'sounds' that were felt to give the best impression of life on Earth. It's an interesting array of recordings - an attempt to illustrate humankind's earliest technologies and the development of skills, from tools to Morse Code, along with clips of wildlife.
It's not about to become your new favourite playlist, but it's a slice of audio history far more significant than anything you'll hear on Beats One.
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