Hybrid and free to attend forthcoming symposium
Is it Time for Planet B?
Venue: on-site attendance: Quarry Hill Campus, Leeds City College, LS2 7BS, UK
and
Online – log-in details to be advised nearer the date
Date: Saturday, 21st January 2023
To register for this event please visit the link: https://norcel.net/bep/bep2023/
Contact: sohan@sohanjheeta.com
Humanity successively conquered planet Earth and entered the space age with the launch of Sputnik-1 in 1957. Fermi’s paradox about the absence of alien visitors might have a trivial solution if we were not to explore space. Should we consider extra-terrestrial human settlements now, and where do we see our future? Do we fall for a fallacy by thinking that we can migrate to “planet B”? Do we need to care about sustainability?
Stephen Hawking proposed a doomsday scenario in which humanity might have as little as 100 years before leaving Earth, but others have emphatically pointed out that there is no “planet B” and we must take good care to sustain an environment that supports our continuing presence on Earth. In fact, humanity cannot succeed in setting foot elsewhere without addressing the sustainability of the ecosystem it intends to live in. Any serious plan for human settlement beyond planet Earth will sooner, rather than later, reveal all the complexities of “spaceship Earth.” The hospitability of planet Earth is frequently taken for granted, but by comparing it with any other known place, it appears peculiarly precious. If there are places where humans can in principle survive, will they eventually go there? When is interstellar colonialization realistically going to happen, or is this a vision that is grounded on wrong premises? Whatever the answer is, the future of humanity depends on sound action and must not be left to speculative visions. Join us either in-person or online for our expert panel discussion to examine and discuss these issues. Please also have a look at our two short videos: https://vimeo.com/763421741 and https://vimeo.com/763152017.
Sohan Jheeta, Founder and Chairman of NoRCEL
