#100yss

[100ysspress]

DR. MAE JEMISON TO LAUNCH LOOK UP AT 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF SPACEFLIGHT CELEBRATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 New Initiative to Connect and Inspire People Globally over the Year Culminating in a Day to LOOK UP Global Special Event

 LOS ANGELES, September 15, 2017 – Tonight, Dr. Mae Jemison the world’s first woman of color in space will oversee the launch of the LOOK UP worldwide initiative during the celebration of the 25th anniversary of her spaceflight in 1992.  

 LOOK UP over the next year will connect people worldwide, from all walks of life, culminating on a single day in August 2018 when everyone will be asked to LOOK UP and share what they see and their thoughts, hopes, fears, dreams and ideas for best path forward.  LOOK UP is a day, 24 hours, we acknowledge our oneness as Earthlings and concurrently our right to be a part of this greater universe.

 Why LOOK UP?  “It is critical that we realize that worldwide, that all our lives and well-being are inextricably woven into the fabric of this planet Earth and globally connected to the greater universe,” Jemison stated.  “This is not a choice; it is a reality.  Whether we as a species survive, progress and thrive depends upon how we embrace this reality.”

 Notables signing onto the goals of LOOK UP with Jemison, an engineer, physician, social scientist and NASA’s first African American woman astronaut, include:  LeVar Burton; Nichelle Nichols; Jill Tarter, Ph.D.; Halfu Osumare, Ph.D.; Amy Millman and Springboard Enterprises; MAKERS; Bayer Corporation; Scholastic, Inc.; 100 Year Starship; and, Yuri’s Night.

 LOOK UP is purposefully designed to build momentum and evolve as individuals and organizations around the globe are connected, propose and develop LOOK UP activities in schools, workplaces, communities and nations that will highlight what they learn from the sky.  The LOOK UP platform will facilitate these activities and the creation of a tapestry of the images, observations and activities that are woven together and can be accessed globally.  The LOOK UP website, www.lookuponesky.org will “go live” tonight and individuals and groups are urged to sign up to receive updates, challenges, opportunities and news, as well as to become part of the LOOK UP global community.

 Dr. Jill Tarter points to the fascination of the recent solar eclipse that swept North America and reminds us that “For millennia, across the world humans have looked to the sky to navigate their world.  We live both under one sky here on Earth and within the greater universe.  And while part of Earth, it is important to push to explore farther and to claim a place in the larger cosmos.”

 Jemison and colleagues from 100 Year Starship have been developing LOOK UP for over a year and believe it is critical in the world today to offer this platform to engage people across cultures, nations and economies in order to facilitate understanding and contributing to our shared future.  To LOOK UP and build a better, robust path forward that includes and benefits us all.

 LeVar Burton explains LOOK UP, “Let’s take one day to LOOK UP and recognize that we share not just the same origins, but the same sky.  And a growing ambition to be mature enough to leave home. LOOK UP and join the movement.”

  ABOUT MAE JEMISON, M.D.

Audacious and pioneering, polymath Dr. Mae Jemison is a leading voice for science, social responsibility and innovation.  Jemison leads 100 Year Starship®, a global initiative that is pushing the frontiers of space exploration – ensuring human interstellar travel in 100 years.  The world’s first woman of color in space, she is committed to applying advance space technology to enhance life on Earth.  Dr. Jemison draws upon her experience as a physician, inventor, environmental studies professor, science literacy advocate, development worker in Africa and founder of two tech start-ups.  Recently, LEGO announced her as one of five Women of LEGO NASA kit. She is the 2016-2017 Poling Chair at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.  A member of Fortune 500 boards, the National Academy of Medicine and the National Women’s Hall of Fame, Dr. Jemison was voted one of the top seven women leaders in a presidential ballot straw poll and was the first astronaut to appear on Star Trek. Dr. Jemison lives in Houston and is still learning important life lessons from her cats.

 For more information, visit www.drmae.com.

 Find Dr. Jemison on social media:

Twitter:  @maejemison

  ABOUT 100 YEAR STARSHIP™

100 Year Starship™ (100YSS) is building a global community to ensure that the capabilities for human interstellar travel beyond our solar system exist as soon as possible, and definitely within the next 100 years.  An independent, non-governmental, long-term initiative, 100YSS was started in 2012 with seed-funding through a competitive grant from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to foster the type of explosive innovation and technology and social advances born from addressing such an audacious challenge.  To bolster such innovation, 100YSS has programs and projects include research and innovation, across the physical and social sciences, the arts, entrepreneurship and education.  Based in Houston, 100YSS collaborates with international organizations, companies, universities and individuals including affiliate in Brussels, partnerships in Africa and Asia.

 For more information, visit www.100yss.org.

 Find us on social media:

Facebook:       www.facebook.com/100YearStarship

Twitter:            @100YSS

[100ysspress]

100 YEAR STARSHIP TO ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF THE 2016-17 CANOPUS AWARDS AT NEXUS 2017 IN LOS ANGELES IN SEPTEMBER

HOUSTON/LOS ANGELES, September 5, 2017 — 100 Year Starshipâ (100YSSâ) will announce the winners of the 2016-2017 Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Writing on Saturday, September 16 at Nexus 2017 – the space gathering to engage people of all walks of life – at the Le Meridien Delfina Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif.

 The Canopus Award is a writing prize recognizing the finest fiction and non-fiction works that engage broad audiences and enhance the understanding excitement and knowledge of interstellar space exploration and travel.  It is a key project of 100YSS, the independent, inclusive, long-term global initiative led by former astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison to ensure the capabilities for human travel beyond our solar system exist within the next 100 years. And, every step of the way, to apply the innovations and ideas from space exploration to improve life here on Earth.

 In April, 100YSS named the finalists in Canopus’ six fiction and non-fiction categories.  These finalists will join other award-winning authors, as well as social and physical scientists, as the winners are honored during Science Fiction Stories night. One of 100YSS’s most popular Nexus events, Science Fiction Stories Night brings together some of the most creative minds in science fiction to help fuel the imaginations and possibilities for current and budding science fiction writers.

 The 2016-2017 award category finalists include:

 “Previously Published Long-Form Fiction” (40,000 words or more):

·       The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager)

·       Dark Orbit by Carolyn Ives Gilman (Tor)

·       Seveneves by Neal Stephenson (HarperCollins)

·       The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, Translated by Ken Liu (Tor)

·       Arkwright by Allen Steele (Tor)  

 “Previously Published Short-Form Fiction” (between 1,000 and 40,000 words):

·       “Slow Bullets” by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon Publications)

·       “The Long Vigil” by Rhett C. Bruno (Perihelion)

·       “The Citadel of Weeping Pearls” by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s Science Fiction)

·       “Wavefronts of History and Memory” by David D. Levine (Analog Science Fiction and Fact)

·       “The Four Thousand, The Eight Hundred” by Greg Egan (Subterranean Press)

·       “Whom He May Devour” by Alex Shvartsman (Nautilus)

·       “Love and Relativity” by Stewart C. Baker (Flash Fiction Online)

“Previously Published Nonfiction” (between 1,000 and 40,000 words):

·       “A Terrestrial Planet Candidate in a Temperate Orbit Around Proxima” by Guillem Anglada-Escude, et al. (Nature)

·       “A Science Critique of Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson” by Stephen Baxter, James Benford, and Joseph Miller (Centauri Dreams)

·       Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planet by Buzz Aldrin and Marianne Dyson (National Geographic)

·       “Let’s All Go to Mars” by John Lanchester (London Review of Books)

·       “Our Worldship Broke!” by Jim Beall (Baen Books)

 “Original Fiction” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “The Quest for New Cydonia” by Russell Hemmell

·       “Luminosity” by Adeene Denton

·       “Mission” by Yoshifumi Kakiuchi

·       “Envoy” by K. G. Jewell

·       “Sleeping Westward” by Lorraine Schein

“Original Non-Fiction” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “Motivatingly Plausible Ways to Reach the Stars” by James Blodgett

·       “Microbots—The Seeds of Interstellar Civilization” by Robert Buckalew

·       “An Anthropic Program for the Long-Term Survival of Humankind” by Roberto Paura

·       “Terraforming Planets, Geoengineering Earth” by James Fleming

 “Original College Writing” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “A Kingdom of Ends” by Ryan Burgess

·       “Ethics in Space” by Greg Becker

   ABOUT NEXUS 2017 & 100 YEAR STARSHIP™

Organized and sponsored by 100YSS, Nexus 2017 is the space gathering designed to engage people from all walks of life.  It is a powerful three-day event open to the public. Attendees will be actively engaged by speakers, expert in array of fields, in seminars, interactive workshops and challenges, classes, receptions, networking, attendee presentations in the Idea Pools, celebrations and awards. Nexus is an evolution of the four prior public symposiums 100YSS has held since its inception in 2012.

 With its bold declaration, “Space. Radical. Vital. Down to Earth.,” Nexus invites everyone – artists and engineers, physicians and philosophers, rocket scientists and lawyers, financiers and storytellers, space enthusiasts and professionals, dancers and educators, young and old – to share and apply their unique experiences, skills and passions to commit to pursuing an extraordinary tomorrow, while building a better world today, both on Earth and in space.

 100 Year Starship™ (100YSS) is building a global community to ensure that the capabilities for human interstellar travel beyond our solar system exist as soon as possible, and definitely within the next 100 years.  An independent, non-governmental, long-term initiative, 100YSS was started in 2012 with seed-funding through a competitive grant from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to foster the type of explosive innovation and technology and social advances born from addressing such an audacious challenge.  To bolster such innovation, 100YSS has programs and projects include research and innovation, across the physical and social sciences, the arts, entrepreneurship and education.  Based in Houston, 100YSS collaborates with international organizations, companies, universities and individuals including affiliate in Brussels, partnerships in Africa and Asia.

 For more information, visit www.100yss.org.

 Find us on social media:

 Facebook:            www.facebook.com/100YearStarship

Twitter:                @100YSS

http://canopus.100yss.org

[100yearstarship]

100 YEAR STARSHIP TO ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF THE 2016-17 CANOPUS AWARDS AT NEXUS 2017 IN LOS ANGELES IN SEPTEMBER

HOUSTON/LOS ANGELES, September 5, 2017 — 100 Year Starshipâ (100YSSâ) will announce the winners of the 2016-2017 Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Writing on Saturday, September 16 at Nexus 2017 – the space gathering to engage people of all walks of life – at the Le Meridien Delfina Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif.

 The Canopus Award is a writing prize recognizing the finest fiction and non-fiction works that engage broad audiences and enhance the understanding excitement and knowledge of interstellar space exploration and travel.  It is a key project of 100YSS, the independent, inclusive, long-term global initiative led by former astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison to ensure the capabilities for human travel beyond our solar system exist within the next 100 years. And, every step of the way, to apply the innovations and ideas from space exploration to improve life here on Earth.

 In April, 100YSS named the finalists in Canopus’ six fiction and non-fiction categories.  These finalists will join other award-winning authors, as well as social and physical scientists, as the winners are honored during Science Fiction Stories night. One of 100YSS’s most popular Nexus events, Science Fiction Stories Night brings together some of the most creative minds in science fiction to help fuel the imaginations and possibilities for current and budding science fiction writers.

 The 2016-2017 award category finalists include:

 “Previously Published Long-Form Fiction” (40,000 words or more):

·       The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager)

·       Dark Orbit by Carolyn Ives Gilman (Tor)

·       Seveneves by Neal Stephenson (HarperCollins)

·       The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, Translated by Ken Liu (Tor)

·       Arkwright by Allen Steele (Tor)  

 “Previously Published Short-Form Fiction” (between 1,000 and 40,000 words):

·       “Slow Bullets” by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon Publications)

·       “The Long Vigil” by Rhett C. Bruno (Perihelion)

·       “The Citadel of Weeping Pearls” by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s Science Fiction)

·       “Wavefronts of History and Memory” by David D. Levine (Analog Science Fiction and Fact)

·       “The Four Thousand, The Eight Hundred” by Greg Egan (Subterranean Press)

·       “Whom He May Devour” by Alex Shvartsman (Nautilus)

·       “Love and Relativity” by Stewart C. Baker (Flash Fiction Online)

“Previously Published Nonfiction” (between 1,000 and 40,000 words):

·       “A Terrestrial Planet Candidate in a Temperate Orbit Around Proxima” by Guillem Anglada-Escude, et al. (Nature)

·       “A Science Critique of Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson” by Stephen Baxter, James Benford, and Joseph Miller (Centauri Dreams)

·       Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planet by Buzz Aldrin and Marianne Dyson (National Geographic)

·       “Let’s All Go to Mars” by John Lanchester (London Review of Books)

·       “Our Worldship Broke!” by Jim Beall (Baen Books)

 “Original Fiction” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “The Quest for New Cydonia” by Russell Hemmell

·       “Luminosity” by Adeene Denton

·       “Mission” by Yoshifumi Kakiuchi

·       “Envoy” by K. G. Jewell

·       “Sleeping Westward” by Lorraine Schein

“Original Non-Fiction” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “Motivatingly Plausible Ways to Reach the Stars” by James Blodgett

·       “Microbots—The Seeds of Interstellar Civilization” by Robert Buckalew

·       “An Anthropic Program for the Long-Term Survival of Humankind” by Roberto Paura

·       “Terraforming Planets, Geoengineering Earth” by James Fleming

 “Original College Writing” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “A Kingdom of Ends” by Ryan Burgess

·       “Ethics in Space” by Greg Becker

ABOUT NEXUS 2017 & 100 YEAR STARSHIP™

Organized and sponsored by 100YSS, Nexus 2017 is the space gathering designed to engage people from all walks of life.  It is a powerful three-day event open to the public. Attendees will be actively engaged by speakers, expert in array of fields, in seminars, interactive workshops and challenges, classes, receptions, networking, attendee presentations in the Idea Pools, celebrations and awards. Nexus is an evolution of the four prior public symposiums 100YSS has held since its inception in 2012.

 With its bold declaration, “Space. Radical. Vital. Down to Earth.,” Nexus invites everyone – artists and engineers, physicians and philosophers, rocket scientists and lawyers, financiers and storytellers, space enthusiasts and professionals, dancers and educators, young and old – to share and apply their unique experiences, skills and passions to commit to pursuing an extraordinary tomorrow, while building a better world today, both on Earth and in space.

 100 Year Starship™ (100YSS) is building a global community to ensure that the capabilities for human interstellar travel beyond our solar system exist as soon as possible, and definitely within the next 100 years.  An independent, non-governmental, long-term initiative, 100YSS was started in 2012 with seed-funding through a competitive grant from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to foster the type of explosive innovation and technology and social advances born from addressing such an audacious challenge.  To bolster such innovation, 100YSS has programs and projects include research and innovation, across the physical and social sciences, the arts, entrepreneurship and education.  Based in Houston, 100YSS collaborates with international organizations, companies, universities and individuals including affiliate in Brussels, partnerships in Africa and Asia.

 For more information, visit www.100yss.org.

 Find us on social media:

 Facebook:            www.facebook.com/100YearStarship

Twitter:                @100YSS

Web:                    http://canopus.100yss.org

[100yearstarship]

INCLUSIVE, INTERNATIONAL INTERSTELLAR CONFERENCE TO PREMIERE IN WORLD’S ENTERTAINMENT CENTER

100 Year Starship to Host Nexus 2017 Event in Los Angeles

HOUSTON/LOS ANGELES, August 28, 2017 – 100 Year Starshipâ (100YSSâ) announced today it will host Nexus 2017 -- the space gathering designed for people from all walks of life -- in Greater Los Angeles from September 14-17, 2017 at the Le Meridien Delfina Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif.   100YSS is the independent, inclusive, long-term global initiative led by former astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison to ensure the capabilities for human travel beyond our solar system exist within the next 100 years. And, every step of the way, to apply the innovations and ideas from space exploration to improve life here on Earth.

Nexus 2017 is a powerful three-day event open to the public.   Attendees will be actively engaged by speakers, expert in array of fields, in seminars, interactive workshops and challenges, classes, receptions, networking, attendee presentations in the Idea Pools, celebrations and awards.  Nexus is an evolution of the four prior public symposiums 100YSS has held since its inception in 2012.  

With its bold declaration, “Space. Radical. Vital. Down to Earth.,” Nexus invites everyone – artists and engineers, physicians and philosophers, rocket scientists and lawyers, financiers and storytellers, space enthusiasts and professionals, dancers and educators, young and old – to share and apply their unique experiences, skills and passions to commit to pursuing an extraordinary tomorrow, while building a better world today, both on Earth and in space.  

“Via Nexus, everyone can be at the confluence of science and culture, collaboratively sparking this grand evolution to expand beyond this beautiful planet we call home, while also nurturing our Earth home where the majority of us will live for untold generations to come,” said Dr. Jemison.  “100 Year Starship is transforming its approach so all people may claim their place at the table and experience, re-imagine, learn, celebrate and discuss the future of space exploration and its immediate impacts on the world today.”  

Nexus 2017 promotes experiences.  Attendees will engage in hands-on, transdisciplinary approaches that stretch their imaginations.  While considering today’s cutting-edge technology and the possibilities of the future, attendees will be challenged to discuss and take action on thought-provoking frontiers of science, civilization, culture, space, technology, society and culture, both now and in the future.  

Featured speakers include William Welser IV, Director of Engineering and Applied Science, RAND Corporation; Robert Franklin, Ph.D., President Emeritus, Morehouse College; Mike Perschon, Ph.D., English professor, MacEwen University, Canada (aka the Steampunk Scholar); Stephane Gres, Ph.D., Universite de Technologie de Compiegne, France; Karl Aspelund, Ph.D., Textiles professor, University of Rhode Island; Ronke Olabisi, Ph.D., Bioengineering professor, Rutgers University; and, Kurt Zatloukol, M.D., Medical University of Graz, Austria.

Artificial and Human Intelligence, Design Strategies, Sate of the Universe, Becoming an Interstellar Civilization, Modeling Health and Human Behavior, Women in Aerospace Industry and Radical Leaps are among the topics to be addressed.

According to Jemison, “Nexus is for anyone who wants to get their “geek” on -- or their “art and music,” “philosophical debate” or “R&D.”  Nexus is where people can collaborate, create, network, do and commit to their role in the humanity’s future on and beyond the Earth.”

In addition, several special events will be taking place in conjunction with Nexus, including:

25 Strong! Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Dr. Mae Jemison’s Historic Spaceflight (Friday night, September 15):  Held under the Space Shuttle Endeavour at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, 25 Strong! will explore what becomes possible when we bring together the extraordinary— space exploration— with compassion, innovation, creativity and social commitment to an audacious, inclusive future.  Attendees will walk the “Milky Way” and be a part of the launch of a worldwide global movement. Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Aloe Blacc and Kenji Williams & Bella Gaia will perform.

Science Fiction Stories Night & the Canopus Awards (Saturday night, September 16):  One of 100YSS’s most popular events, the evening will feature the announcement of the winners of the second Canopus Awards for Excellence in Interstellar Writing™, as well as discussions and book signings with award-winning authors and social and physical science experts.  

To register for full access passes, day passes or individual special event tickets, please visit: Https://nexus.100yss.net

[100ysspress]

INCLUSIVE, INTERNATIONAL INTERSTELLAR CONFERENCE TO PREMIERE IN WORLD’S ENTERTAINMENT CENTER

 100 Year Starship to Host Nexus 2017 Event in Los Angeles

HOUSTON/LOS ANGELES, August 28, 2017 – 100 Year Starshipâ (100YSSâ) announced today it will host Nexus 2017 -- the space gathering designed for people from all walks of life -- in Greater Los Angeles from September 14-17, 2017 at the Le Meridien Delfina Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif.   100YSS is the independent, inclusive, long-term global initiative led by former astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison to ensure the capabilities for human travel beyond our solar system exist within the next 100 years. And, every step of the way, to apply the innovations and ideas from space exploration to improve life here on Earth.

Nexus 2017 is a powerful three-day event open to the public.   Attendees will be actively engaged by speakers, expert in array of fields, in seminars, interactive workshops and challenges, classes, receptions, networking, attendee presentations in the Idea Pools, celebrations and awards.  Nexus is an evolution of the four prior public symposiums 100YSS has held since its inception in 2012.  

With its bold declaration, “Space. Radical. Vital. Down to Earth.,” Nexus invites everyone – artists and engineers, physicians and philosophers, rocket scientists and lawyers, financiers and storytellers, space enthusiasts and professionals, dancers and educators, young and old – to share and apply their unique experiences, skills and passions to commit to pursuing an extraordinary tomorrow, while building a better world today, both on Earth and in space.  

“Via Nexus, everyone can be at the confluence of science and culture, collaboratively sparking this grand evolution to expand beyond this beautiful planet we call home, while also nurturing our Earth home where the majority of us will live for untold generations to come,” said Dr. Jemison.  “100 Year Starship is transforming its approach so all people may claim their place at the table and experience, re-imagine, learn, celebrate and discuss the future of space exploration and its immediate impacts on the world today.”  

Nexus 2017 promotes experiences.  Attendees will engage in hands-on, transdisciplinary approaches that stretch their imaginations.  While considering today’s cutting-edge technology and the possibilities of the future, attendees will be challenged to discuss and take action on thought-provoking frontiers of science, civilization, culture, space, technology, society and culture, both now and in the future.  

Featured speakers include William Welser IV, Director of Engineering and Applied Science, RAND Corporation; Robert Franklin, Ph.D., President Emeritus, Morehouse College; Mike Perschon, Ph.D., English professor, MacEwen University, Canada (aka the Steampunk Scholar); Stephane Gres, Ph.D., Universite de Technologie de Compiegne, France; Karl Aspelund, Ph.D., Textiles professor, University of Rhode Island; Ronke Olabisi, Ph.D., Bioengineering professor, Rutgers University; and, Kurt Zatloukol, M.D., Medical University of Graz, Austria.

Artificial and Human Intelligence, Design Strategies, Sate of the Universe, Becoming an Interstellar Civilization, Modeling Health and Human Behavior, Women in Aerospace Industry and Radical Leaps are among the topics to be addressed.

According to Jemison, “Nexus is for anyone who wants to get their “geek” on -- or their “art and music,” “philosophical debate” or “R&D.”  Nexus is where people can collaborate, create, network, do and commit to their role in the humanity’s future on and beyond the Earth.”

In addition, several special events will be taking place in conjunction with Nexus, including:

Ÿ25 Strong! Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Dr. Mae Jemison’s Historic Spaceflight (Friday night, September 15):  Held under the Space Shuttle Endeavour at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, 25 Strong! will explore what becomes possible when we bring together the extraordinary— space exploration— with compassion, innovation, creativity and social commitment to an audacious, inclusive future.  Attendees will walk the “Milky Way” and be a part of the launch of a worldwide global movement. Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Aloe Blacc and Kenji Williams & Bella Gaia will perform.

ŸScience Fiction Stories Night & the Canopus Awards (Saturday night, September 16):  One of 100YSS’s most popular events, the evening will feature the announcement of the winners of the second Canopus Awards for Excellence in Interstellar Writing™, as well as discussions and book signings with award-winning authors and social and physical science experts.  

To register for full access passes, day passes or individual special event tickets, please visit

www.nexus.100yss.net

[100ysspress]

100 YEAR STARSHIP NAMES FINALISTS IN 2016-17 CANOPUS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN INTERSTELLAR WRITING

HOUSTON, April 11, 2017 — 100 Year Starshipâ (100YSSâ) today named the finalists in the 2016-17 Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Writing. The Canopus Award is a writing prize recognizing the finest fiction and non-fiction works that engage broad audiences and enhance the understanding excitement, and knowledge of interstellar space exploration and travel.  

 Winners will be announced and honored at the 100YSS Nexus on Saturday, August 12 in Los Angeles.

 Award category finalists are as listed below.

 “Previously Published Long-Form Fiction” (40,000 words or more):

·       The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager)

·       Dark Orbit by Carolyn Ives Gilman (Tor)

·       Seveneves by Neal Stephenson (HarperCollins)

·       The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, Translated by Ken Liu (Tor)

·       Arkwright by Allen Steele (Tor)  

  “Previously Published Short-Form Fiction” (between 1,000 and 40,000 words):

·       “Slow Bullets” by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon Publications)

·       “The Long Vigil” by Rhett C. Bruno (Perihelion)

·       “The Citadel of Weeping Pearls” by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s Science Fiction)

·       “Wavefronts of History and Memory” by David D. Levine (Analog Science Fiction and Fact)

·       “The Four Thousand, The Eight Hundred” by Greg Egan (Subterranean Press)

·       “Whom He May Devour” by Alex Shvartsman (Nautilus)

·       “Love and Relativity” by Stewart C. Baker (Flash Fiction Online)

  “Previously Published Nonfiction” (between 1,000 and 40,000 words):

·       “A Terrestrial Planet Candidate in a Temperate Orbit Around Proxima” by Guillem Anglada-Escude, et al. (Nature)

·       “A Science Critique of Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson” by Stephen Baxter, James Benford, and Joseph Miller (Centauri Dreams)

·       Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planet by Buzz Aldrin and Marianne Dyson (National Geographic)

·       “Let’s All Go to Mars” by John Lanchester (London Review of Books)

·       “Our Worldship Broke!” by Jim Beall (Baen Books)

  “Original Fiction” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “The Quest for New Cydonia” by Russell Hemmell

·       “Luminosity” by Adeene Denton

·       “Mission” by Yoshifumi Kakiuchi

·       “Envoy” by K. G. Jewell

·       “Sleeping Westward” by Lorraine Schein

“Original Non-Fiction” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “Motivatingly Plausible Ways to Reach the Stars” by James Blodgett

·       “Microbots—The Seeds of Interstellar Civilization” by Robert Buckalew

·       “An Anthropic Program for the Long-Term Survival of Humankind” by Roberto Paura

·       “Terraforming Planets, Geoengineering Earth” by James Fleming

  “Original College Writing” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “A Kingdom of Ends” by Ryan Burgess

·       “Ethics in Space” by Greg Becker

 For more information about award criteria, visit http://canopus.100yss.org

   ABOUT 100 YEAR STARSHIP™

100 Year Starship™ (100YSS) is building a global community to ensure that the capabilities for human interstellar travel beyond our solar system exist as soon as possible, and definitely within the next 100 years.  An independent, non-governmental, long-term initiative, 100YSS was started in 2012 with seed-funding through a competitive grant from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to foster the type of explosive innovation and technology and social advances born from addressing such an audacious challenge.  To bolster such innovation, 100YSS has programs and projects include research and innovation, across the physical and social sciences, the arts, entrepreneurship and education.  Based in Houston, 100YSS collaborates with international organizations, companies, universities and individuals including affiliate in Brussels, partnerships in Africa and Asia.

For more information, visit www.100yss.org.

[leftoverballoons]

I found a book about the 100 year starship, and the design for The Horizon looks a lot like Bill Cipher (not to mention the colors)

[100yearstarship]

Science Movie Review: Arrival

by Ronke Olabisi, PhD, 100YSS Researcher

This contains no spoilers. Do yourself a favor, do not read reviews with spoilers. This movie is worth watching unadulterated.

 There is a certain beauty in sadness. Not in the enduring or the surviving of sadness, but in the choosing of it. In the caregivers who choose to enter palliative care for children, who choose to befriend these wonderful children despite knowing the sadness they must endure at the friendship’s inevitable end. In the May-December romances where one partner chooses to love despite knowing that they will most certainly outlive that love. The beauty in choosing to serve the homeless, the poor, refugees, or any suffering group for which there will always be more, an unstoppable flow that will never be staunched.

 This beauty is embodied in Dr. Louise Banks, a linguist who at the film’s start we witness suffer a tremendous loss. We follow her moving throughout her day, unsmiling, and barely noticing the crowds clustered about televisions tuned to news coverage have likely been populated by the students in her now empty classes. When she is prompted to check in, she follows with interest like the rest of us and is recruited by the military to translate the alien speech. It is an interesting endeavor, particularly since we have yet to successfully communicate with whales, who have complex language and as different an anatomy to us as the film’s aliens.

 However, in the film, the aliens have technology and are also attempting to communicate with us. Here we learn about the alien language while learning more about our own. We learn how subtle characteristics of language can affect one’s world view. Certain languages have masculine and feminine forms and native speakers of these tend to view certain nouns as male or female. For instance, to an English speaker the word “university” is gender-neutral, while to a Spanish speaker it is feminine. Speakers of the Australian aboriginal language do not use words such as left foot or right hand, but will indicate their east foot and south hand, depending on the direction they are facing. Thus, they always know what direction they are facing. Such distinctions affect how one views the world around them. Such distinctions define how we interact with our environment.

 Exposure to certain types of speech can affect our levels of anxiety; people who regularly watch ratings-based news channels with “if it bleeds it leads” philosophies are substantially more prone to develop stress, anxiety, depression, or post-traumatic stress disorders. The film explores these myriad effects of speech and language on people and cultures, while teaching us about the visiting aliens as we learn their language. As different groups from around the world make headway with their translations, the culture and language of the linguists inform their translations. Since our world is one in which we so easily misunderstand each other, the inevitable outcome is that we transfer these misunderstandings to the aliens.

 The film deftly acquaints us with these aliens, with Dr. Banks as our guide, negotiator, and translator. Woven throughout the film are moments of awe, nail-biting tension, and beauty. We experience the revelations with Dr. Banks, we see the beauty in her choices and we do not know that we would do the same. The special effects are superb — it is an accomplishment to successfully impart a sense of immense weight to something that is floating. It is very rare that a film is better than the story it was adapted from (Ted Chiang’s The Story of Your Life), but somehow this story that was just essentially a long linguistics lesson, is the best science fiction film I have seen in a while.

Rating: Gourmet movie.

The science:

It was a pretty wise choice to limit the understanding to our perspective and not attempt to explain the science. That way, there was nothing that they could get woefully wrong.

 Aliens: the aliens are essentially octopi amputees. With 7 limbs and a bulbous upper part, I could only see an octopus missing a leg. Then I was reminded of Europa where the aliens also look like octupi. Not that aliens wouldn’t look like octopi, but what is this fascination with octopi? It would be interesting to see aliens that actually looked like nothing we had ever seen before.

 Alien ships: there are scenes where the gravity is manipulated by the aliens. It is disorienting and was depicted as diminishing before gradually changing directions. Since gravity is experienced as acceleration, and acceleration is the second derivative of position with respect to time, the change in gravity over time would be a cubic expression, hence continuous rather than discontinuous. In other words, the gravity change should be smooth — its depiction was accurate.

 Linguistics: Yes. So much yes. The approach that one would make when learning a language with no known corollary would have to be very basic. The commonalities needed and approach taken by Dr. Banks was appropriate. But also, more and more studies speak to the effect that language has on our minds. Aboriginal Australians are essentially human GPSs because their language requires them to be. In certain languages there aren’t additional words for the numbers 11-20, but direct translations of them would be ten-one, ten-two… two-tens. Child speakers of these languages tend to be accelerated over English speakers with arithmetic because they don’t have to figure out that ten plus two equals twelve, their language tells them.

Arrival is in theatres November 11, 2016.