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Symposium on the Longevity of Human Civilization: Updates

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The daylong symposium will address the longevity of human civilization on Earth in light of world-changing technologies that can affect the Earth’s climate, food supply, changes to the biosphere, and the detection and prevention of disease. David H. Grinspoon, the first Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology at the Kluge Center, will lead the discussions.

The symposium occurs from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 12, and is free and open to the public. The events will take place in room 119 of the Library’s Thomas Jefferson Building, 10 First St. S.E., Washington, D.C. (view map). The event will be tweeted with the hashtag #LongCiv.

The full list of panel times and participants includes:

8:30 a.m.
Introductory Remarks
Mary A. Voytek, Senior Scientist for Astrobiology at NASA; and Carolyn T. Brown, Director of the Office of Scholarly Programs at the Library of Congress

9:00 a.m.
Greeting
Hon. Lamar Smith, U.S. Representative for Texas’s 21st Congressional District and Chairman of the House Committee on Science Space and Technology

9:05 a.m.
Setting the Stage
David Grinspoon, Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology at The John W. Kluge Center

9:15 a.m. – 10:25 a.m.
The Nature of Nature: What Should We Choose To Save?
David Biello – Journalist covering environmental issues in the United States and internationally
Odile Madden – Materials Scientist & Engineer, Smithsonian’s Museum Conservation Institute
Rick Potts – Paleoanthropologist, director of the Smithsonian’s Human Origins Program and curator of anthropology at the National Museum of Natural History

Break

10:45 a.m. – 11:55 a.m.
Seeing What’s in Store: The Future in the Literary and Scientific Imagination
Kim Stanley Robinson – Science fiction author
Ursula Heise – Professor of English, UCLA’s Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and Immediate Past President of the Association for the Study of Literature and the Environment
Steven Dick – Astronomer, author, historian of science, and 2014 Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology

Lunch Break

1:15 p.m. – 2:40 p.m.
Living with Ourselves: Can we Form a Healthy, Stable, Long-term Relationship with Technology and the Biosphere?
Seth Shostak – Senior Astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in Mountain View, California
Andrew Revkin – Non-fiction, science and environmental writer, New York Times DotEarth blog
Ken Caldeira – Atmospheric scientist at the Department of Global Ecology of the Carnegie Institution for Science
Jacob Haqq-Misra – Planetary Climatologist with a specialty in environmental ethics

Break

3:00 p.m. – 4:20 p.m.
Concluding Thoughts
An open discussion with all ten panelists and audience on questions posed throughout the day.

Each panel will be moderated by David Grinspoon, Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology at The John W. Kluge Center.

Full details are available on the event webpage:
http://www.loc.gov/loc/kluge/news/nasa-program-2013.html.

Join the conversation on Twitter: #LongCiv

The John W. Kluge Center was established at the Library of Congress in 2000 to foster a mutually enriching relationship between the world of ideas and the world of action, between scholars and political leaders. The Center attracts outstanding scholarly figures to Washington, D.C., facilitates their access to the Library’s remarkable collections, and helps them engage in conversation with policymakers and the public. Learn more at:http://www.loc.gov/kluge.

Did life originate on Mars? David thinks not. Read about the debate!

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Chemist Dr. Steve Benner, of the Florida-based Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution, makes an argument that elements (such as Molybdenum and Boron) control organics from turning into tar. Martian meteorite samples suggest that these elements were more abundant on Mars than on early Earth and play an important role in the origin of life. David suggests that the evidence isn’t all there.

WASHINGTON DC! Mark your calendars for September 12th! David will moderate the Library of Congress Symposium on the Longevity of Human Civilization!

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“Will human civilization on Earth be imperiled, or enhanced, by our own world-changing technologies? Will our technological abilities threaten our survival as a species, or even threaten the Earth as a whole, or will we come to live comfortably with these new powers? Baruch S. Blumberg NASA/Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology David Grinspoon convenes scientists, humanists, journalists, and authors to explore these questions from a wide range of perspectives, and to discuss the future of human civilization in an anthropocene world. Read the full press release announcing the event!”

An event not to be missed!