How do we ensure the survival of our civilization over future millennia? Yesterday Heath Rezabek discussed installations called Vessels that would contain both archives and habitats to offset existential risk. Today Rezabek's collaborator, author Nick Nielsen, broadens the view with an examination of risk itself and three possible responses for protecting our culture. Nick is the author of two books, The Political Economy of Globalization (Palgrave Macmillan, 2000) and Variations on the Theme of Life (Trafford, 2007). In addition to his recent talk at Starship Congress in Dallas, he presented "The Moral Imperative of Human Spaceflight" in 2011 at the 100 Year Starship Symposium in Orlando, and "The Large Scale Structure of Spacefaring Civilization" at the 2012 100YSS conference. In addition, he authors two blogs: Grand Strategy: The View from Oregon and Grand Strategy Annex, focusing on the future of civilization and the philosophical implications of contemporary events. Mr. Nielsen...

At the recent Starship Congress in Dallas, writer, librarian and futurist Heath Rezabek discussed the Vessel Archives proposal -- a strategy for sustaining and conveying Earth's cultural and biological heritage -- which was directly inspired by Gregory Benford's idea of a Library of Life. Working with author Nick Nielsen, Rezabek is concerned with existential risk -- Xrisk -- and the need to ensure the survival of our species and its creations in the event of catastrophe. Rezabek and Nielsen's presentation was the runner up for the Alpha Centauri Prize awarded at the Congress, and it was so compelling that I asked the two authors to offer a version of it on Centauri Dreams. Heath's work follows below, while we'll look at Nick's in tomorrow's post. Both writers will be returning on a regular basis for updates and further thoughts on their work. by Heath Rezabek Some challenges are too daunting to approach alone. Existential risk is certainly one; bringing a comprehensive strategy to a...

Neil McAleer is probably best known in these pages for his fine biography Visionary: The Odyssey of Arthur C. Clarke (Clarke Project, 2012), but this is just one of his titles. In fact, his book The Omni Space Almanac won the 1988 Robert S. Ball Award from the Aviation and Space Writers Association, and his work has appeared in magazines from Discover to the Smithsonian's Air & Space and in many newspapers. A recent note from Neil reminded me that August 25th marked one year since the death of Neil Armstrong. This reminiscence of the astronaut brings Armstrong wonderfully to mind and gives us a bit more of Clarke, leaving me to wonder only how time has gone by so quickly in the days since the death of both men. McAleer's article also gives me a chance to pause in Starship Congress coverage as I begin to collect papers from many of the presenters, the first of which we'll be looking at a bit later this week. by Neil McAleer From the great deep to the great deep he goes. -- Alfred Lord...

With the beginning of a new week it's time to ponder how best to move forward with coverage not only of the recent Starship Congress in Dallas, but the upcoming 100 Year Starship Symposium in Houston. For that matter, I still have material from the Starship Century event in San Diego, a gathering I was unable to attend but which continues to be available online. The Starship Congress videos are also up for those who missed Dallas, and I'm going to assume the Houston conclave will likewise be recorded. Watching online can't match the interaction and conversation of being there, but getting to hear the presentations is a major plus. What I'll be doing as Houston approaches is continuing to reflect on the conferences I've attended so far this year while also trying to keep up with ongoing news. In the days since Dallas I have continued to speak with a number of presenters who will be joining us, as Charles Quarra did on Friday, with reports on their own work. Several have also agreed to...

Starship Congress, toward which I am headed as you read this, begins on Thursday. In the nine years and counting that I've been writing Centauri Dreams, I've been happy to see how many conferences have taken to archiving or, even better, streaming their proceedings so that those who can't attend can follow along. Live streaming from Starship Congress will be available here, according to Icarus Interstellar. And if you're a Twitter person, the tag for the conference is to be #starshipcon, which should be an active place to watch. Further information here. I'm posting this automatically because today is a travel day, and another conference brings up the inevitable question about how best to cover it. I've tried every method in the book but have learned that so-called 'live blogging' just doesn't work, at least for me. I can crank out constant updates but I wind up with a muddled notion of the big picture and my notes aren't as detailed as I would like. I tried to tweet my way through...

As we approach Starship Congress in Dallas, the Institute for Interstellar Studies has announced the creation of the Alpha Centauri Prize Awards, the first of which will be the 'Progenitor Award,' to be bestowed at this year's Starship Congress on August 18. The winner will receive a certificate and $500 cash award donated by Icarus Interstellar, the organization behind the Dallas meetings. The winner is to be chosen from among those presenting at the Starship Congress. The Dallas gathering that convenes this Thursday will be the third major interstellar conference so far this year, following conclaves in Huntsville (Tennessee Valley Interstellar Workshop), San Diego (Starship Century) and preceding September's 100 Year Starship Symposium. In addition, a conference on The Philosophy of the Starship was held by I4IS in London in May. In that suddenly quickened climate for interstellar studies the judges for the Alpha Centauri Prize Progenitor Award are being asked to make their...

If you can get your head around the idea that architecture can 'grow' by using the tools of synthetic biology and 'smart' chemistry, you'll see that what goes on inside a starship may be radically different from anything we've imagined before. Rachel Armstrong has done outstanding research in the area of sustainable solutions for both natural and engineered environments, and works daily on design issues raised by new materials. It's not surprising to find Dr. Armstrong involved with Project Persephone, the attempt by Icarus Interstellar to model environments aboard a long-duration starship that might spend centuries or more getting to its destination. Image: Sustainability savant Rachel Armstrong, whose work involves 'living architecture' that makes it possible for buildings to be constructed with some of the attributes of biological systems. Credit: Icarus Interstellar. When Richard Obousy reported in these pages last March about developments at Icarus, he noted the challenges posed...

The creator of the Galaxy Garden (Kona, Hawaii), Jon Lomberg is an artist working in many media whose work continues to resonate in the space community and the public at large. Centauri Dreams readers will know that he worked with Frank Drake in designing the cover for the Voyager Interstellar Record and the sequence of 120 photographs and diagrams portraying Earth and its inhabitants (soon to become the first human artwork to leave the Solar System). But they'll also remember COSMOS, the series for which Jon served as chief artist. In fact, he worked as Carl Sagan's principal artistic collaborator for many years, including key work on the film CONTACT. Here Jon extends his ideas on nature, art and astronomy to venues much larger than the Galaxy Garden itself, a proposal that would model our staggeringly beautiful cosmos. For more on the concept, be aware that Jon discussed these ideas in his talk at the recent Starship Century conference, a video of which is available. by Jon...