Podcast: Sustained Solar System Exploration

Live from the 2015 Astrobiology Science Conference in Chicago, our BlueSciCon podcast for June features a lively discussion of our collective ideas for the “Sustained Exploration of the Inner Solar System.” We are currently promoting our essay contest for undergraduate students with the same theme, and we hope that our discussion will help to stimulate ideas in many of our essay contest participants. We purposefully excluded Mars from the conversation (only because Mars gets a lot of attention…), and so […]

June 14, 2015

BlueSciCon Episode 39: Sustained Exploration of the Inner Solar System

Live from AbSciCon 2015 Beverages: Various Listen: [mp3 download] Questions to consider: How can human civilization develop a successful strategy for the sustained exploration of the inner solar system for the next 200 years? What planets and astronomical bodies should we target? Can space exploration be profitable? Is space colonization desirable? [ca_audio url=”http://beerwith.bmsis.org/BlueSciCon_39_JUN2015.mp3″ width=”500″ height=”27″ css_class=”codeart-google-mp3-player”]

May 27, 2015

Podcast: Complementary Currency

Our “BlueSciCon” podcast for May features a conversation with our 2014 essay contest winner Kamir Hiam titled “Redesigning Human Motivation and Aiming for the Stars“. Space exploration requires costly investment, and the lack of an immediate return on this capital provides little economic incentive for a long-term exploratory program. Likewise, optimal solutions to environmental challenges sometimes compete against marketplace forces, which can create difficulties in motivating new behaviors. In his winning essay, Kamir Haim proposes that “complementary currency” could provide […]

May 7, 2015

BlueSciCon Episode 38: Redesigning Human Motivation and Aiming for the Stars

Kamir Hiam Listen: [mp3 download] Questions to consider: How does the modern global market economy inhibit innovative solutions to civilization’s environmental challenges? What is complementary currency, and how do new forms of complementary currency emerge? How can complementary currencies help to direct human behavior? Could too many forms of complementary currency lead to an economic “bubble”, followed by a market collapse? How can innovative economic ideas foster the human exploration of space? [ca_audio url=”http://beerwith.bmsis.org/BlueSciCon_38_MAY2015.mp3″ width=”500″ height=”27″ css_class=”codeart-google-mp3-player”]

April 28, 2015

Podcast: The Descent of Math

Our “BlueSciCon” podcast for April features a conversation with Dr. Sara Walker about her recent essay titled “The Descent of Math“. Scientists and philosophers have often remarked that it seems incredible that we are able to understand the universe at all. Our civilization’s ability to manipulate the physical environment has allowed us to create possibilities that were never before seen in history. In her essay for FQXi’s current contest, Dr. Walker discusses the possibility that evolutionary processes tend toward producing […]

April 13, 2015

BlueSciCon Episode 37: The Descent of Math

Dr. Sara Walker Beverage: Seltzer Water Listen: [mp3 download] Questions to consider: Why does the universe seem comprehensible, and why should beings like us be here to comprehend it? How does our knowledge about the laws of physics permit us to access new physical states of the world? Do other creatures–such as birds or beavers–engage in knowledge manipulation of their environments? Are there early examples of the emergence of math, prior to the evolution of humans? Is the development of […]

April 8, 2015

Podcast: Winter-Safe Deterrence

Our “BlueSciCon” podcast for March features a conversation with Dr. Seth Baum of the Global Catastrophic Risk Institute and Kathryn McLaughlin of Biosecu.re about the concept of “Winter-Safe Deterrence“. The stockpiles of nuclear weapons held by nations today hold the power to destroy civilization several times over, and the risk of nuclear winter–a catastrophic reduction in global temperatures due to soot from nuclear war–gives us reason to question whether we should maintain such massive stockpiles at all. Yet deterrence provides […]

March 26, 2015

BlueSciCon Episode 36: Winter-Safe Deterrence

Dr. Seth Baum & Kathryn McLaughlin Beverage: Yuengling (United States – Pennsylvania) Listen: [mp3 download] Questions to consider: What would be the consequences of a global nuclear winter? How significant is the threat of nuclear winter today? Is deterrence the primary motivation for states to acquire nuclear weapons? Can we achieve deterrence while eliminating the risk of nuclear winter? Are biological weapons a viable alternative, or do they carry too many unknown risks to serve as a winter-safe deterrent? [ca_audio […]

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