Planetary Habitability

Astrobiology Oceanographer Prof. Jody Deming (US), Experimental Architect Prof. Rachel Armstrong (UK), Neuroscientist Dr. Agata Kołodziejczyk (PO), Space Anthropologist Dr. Alice Gorman (AU), Artist Daniela de Paulis (IT).
Chair: Dr. Sarah Jane Pell (AU).
July 17 2020: 15:30-15:50
Prof. Jody Deming: Does the Ocean have memory?
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Shelly Carpenter, Jody Demming, Microbial Oceanography Arctic Astrobiology in Utqiagvik, 2018. Photo: Zac Cooper.

Bringing together artists and scientists to discuss specific aspects of ocean memory.

"The Ocean is filled with memory agents - the equivalent of neurons - and the ocean is acting as our brain. If things we are doing to it causes it to loose important memories built up over time on the planet, organisms may no longer be able to survive the insult of cliate warming, on the other hand, the ocean could be making new memories about how to defend against other types of polutants as they wash into the ocean in the not too distant future..."
July 17 2020: 15:50-16:10
Prof. Rachel Armstrong: Architecting liquid phase change
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Project Living Architecture, Rachel Armstrong, Simone Ferracina, University of Newcastle, 2017.

In what ways can changing the protocols for ‘life’ alters our expectations of architecture through its associated ideas, design possibilities and ethical concerns? In an era plunged into ecocide, new ways of imagining our ecologies may help us synthesize new relationships with Nature so that we may generate qualitatively alternative environmental impacts than the consumptive, polluting practices that modernity has set in motion.
"By imagining a liquid life, we may be able to alter the course of humanity’s impact on planetary systems"...

July 17 2020: 16:10-16:30
Dr. Agata Kołodziejczyk: Space gardens and bioreactors
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Agata Kołodziejczyk: bacterial cellulose manufacturing, Analogue Astronaut Centre, Poland. Photo: Matt Harasymczuk

Dr. Agata Kołodziejczyk specialises in neurobiology and astrobiology. She has designed, built and operated numerous international space analogue habitat stations (TRT 5), and flown experimental payloads. She is particularly interested in the influence of light from stars on the living organisms in the stratosphere and space. The scientific director of 20 Moon/Mars mission simulations in 2020; Agata conducts research and user studies such as prototypes of lighting synchronising biological clocks in spaces isolated from the sunlight. She also engages in experimental Hydroponics and Aquaponics, for example to is currently working on green technology to produce clothes in space using algae and kombucha bioreactors with full water and nutrient components reusability.

The dream of space sustaining another garden of life, begins here on Earth.
16:30-16:50 July 17 2020
Dr. Alice Gorman, True infinite
session-6-dr-space-junk.jpg Alice Gorman: Dr Space Junk vs the Universe: Archaeology and the Future
Dr. Alice Gorman delivers a thought-provoking reading on how we should protect our space legacy. She describes the reef of orbital detritus around our planet, including satellites, alive and dead, embedded in a sea of discarded hardware and debris from space collisions (deliberate and otherwise), as well as receding planetary probes and equipment abandoned on the Moon. She warns of the need for nations to cooperate in preserving and protecting the space environment, and points out the moral responsibility of spacefaring nations to deal on an equal basis with those that are not.
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July 17 2020: 16:50-17:00
Daniela De Paulis: Cogito in Space
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Monday Nov 5, 2018 the latest art project of Daniela De Paulis (artist in residence at the Dwingeloo Radio Telescope) ‘COGITO in Space’ was launched in the Van der Hulst auditorium of ASTRON and the Dwingeloo Radio Telescope. Image: Sandro Bocci.

COGITO in Space is an interdisciplinary art project which allows participants to send their brain activity into space, as a symbolic action for shifting awareness from an Earth-centered perspective to a cosmos-wide perspective. Developed with Frank White, author of The Overview Effect: Space Exploration and Human Evolution, the collaborative project speculates on the creative and philosophical possibilities of exploring the cosmos with the mind.
As part of COGITO in Space, we established a brain lab inside the cabin of the Dwingeloo radio telescope in The Netherlands, for visitors to send their brain activity into outer space, while experiencing a video in virtual reality (VR). ‘The Overview Effect' inspired the design of our custom cinematic experience. Three neuroscientists prepared the visitor experience with a highly sensitive electroencephalogram (EEG) device and software developed for the project, which enables the neuroscientists to record the stream of consciousness as participants view the VR.


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