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[–] 1 point 22 hours ago (1 child)

as an infinte random string of values, the digits of pi will, sooner or later, contain any specific string of values.

i think it was Sagan's "Contact" where aliens sent a message to read the digits of pi from the x th place to the y th place, and that stretch could be read as instructions on how to build a machine to reply.

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  • [–] 4 points 21 hours ago

    It is believed that pi is "absolutely normal" in the strict mathematical definition: that in any base numbering system, any finite sequence of digits appears as frequently as any other sequence of that length. If that's true, then yes, a particular binary string, including one that corresponds to a particular digital file (like a particular mp4 file), can be found in pi.

    That said, it hasn't actually been proven that pi is normal. If it's not normal, then the number can be infinitely non-repeating and still never hit that particular sequence of digits.

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