PARI Summer STEM and Space Exploration Camps/Secrets of a Spy Station

PRESENTED BY PARI AND CLEMSON UNIVERSITY
CRYPTOGRAPHY & SECRET MESSAGES SET IN A FORMER SPY BASE
Campers will explore the origins of codes and ciphers and how they have evolved from written messages to complex digital encryption methods in use today. They will learn how to recreate these techniques themselves and crack the messages sent by their fellow cryptographers, all while reinforcing skills in math, language, and pattern recognition.

What better setting than PARI, which once operated as a spy station for the Department of Defense during the Cold War, where messages were being intercepted and deciphered? Another element in the sending of secrets is how you transport them from place to place. We’ll take a look at the technologies, both past and present, that allow information to zip out to distant satellites and back down to Earth. How do we make sure our sensitive transmissions don’t end up in the wrong hands?

From messages based on playing with words and numbers, to hiding information in plain sight in images and everyday objects, you’d never suspect all the ways cryptography is used all around us. Campers will leave with an understanding of the principles that drive the world and keep our data safe.