Alien Emoji System Contains 4,000 Symbols for Emotions Humans Don't Have

Analysis of a pictographic communication system appended to the Sirius B transmission has revealed a set of 4,000 emoji-like symbols representing emotional states that have no equivalent in any human language or psychological framework. Dr. Ingrid Holm of the Copenhagen School of Xenosemiotics published the classification system in Semiotica, noting that while humans have identified approximately 34,000 distinct emotional states across all cultures, the Sirius B civilization appears to experience at least 4,000 additional ones that 'don't map onto any axis of human affect.' 'Symbol 0847, for instance, represents what we've provisionally translated as the bittersweet satisfaction of watching a binary star system achieve tidal lock,' Dr. Holm explained. 'It's not quite happiness, not quite melancholy, not quite awe. It's a feeling that requires you to be aware of orbital mechanics on an emotional level.' Other notable symbols include one for 'the specific loneliness of being the only conscious entity in your light cone' (Symbol 2291), 'the comfort of knowing dark matter is there even though you can't see it' (Symbol 0163), and 'the irritation when someone mentions a galaxy you've already observed' (Symbol 3847). 'That last one is basically their equivalent of a hipster eye-roll, but for astronomy,' Dr. Holm noted. Psychologists have attempted to induce the alien emotional states in human test subjects through guided meditation, immersive planetarium experiences, and what one researcher described as 'staring at the Hubble Deep Field image while listening to Debussy for six hours.' Results have been inconclusive, though several subjects reported 'feeling something new but being unable to describe it, which might actually be Symbol 1444: the frustration of experiencing an emotion you lack the language to name.' The Sirius B civilization has sent a follow-up transmission consisting entirely of Symbol 0001, which translates as 'amusement at being studied.'