Space & Cosmology
What incredible discoveries lie beyond our planet?
Space exploration could unlock new discoveries and innovations that could change our world forever. Advances in space technology could enable human colonies on Mars, or resource extraction from asteroids, while also enhancing life here on Earth and helping us take better care of our own planet.Â
Learn all about space and cosmology under "Intro," understand potential risks under "Risks," discover the most hopeful scenarios under "Hope," and find out how to get involved under "Action."
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Cosmos
- The Far Future of Intelligent Life Across the Universe - Stuart Armstrong. On how a technologically mature civilization may be able to explore the universe. Video
- Visions, Ventures, Escape Velocities: A Collection of Space Futures - Ed Finn, Joey Eschrich. Dropbox link to a comprehensive book covering practical and philosophical matters of space exploration. Book
- Life As It Could Be: Astrobiology, Synthetic Biology, and the Future of Life - Library of Congress. Longish recording of the future of life in space. Video
- Space Governance - 80.000 Hours. Intro post with risks, near-term opportunities, and organizations. Forum/blog-postÂ
- Space Races: Settling the Universe Fast - Anders Sandberg. Examines the issue of the resource demands and constraints for very fast large-scale settlement. Academic paper
- Cosmos - Carl Sagan. Also Pale Blue Dot. An early inspirational account of our potential future in space, including early space images. Book
- What’s It Like in Space? - Ariel Waldman. An illustrative account of the constraints and possibilities for human life in space. Book
- How Space Exploration Replaced Religion in the USSR - Sasha Rospopina. On what it looked like to put space exploration first for the USSR. Article
- You Are Not Where You Think You Are, What Do Alien Civilizations Look Like? - Kurzgesagt. Explainer video on our place in the universe. Video
- The 12 Greatest Challenges for Space Exploration - Wired. Intro-level post on technical challenges we have to overcome for space exploration. Article
- The Edges of Our Universe - Toby Ord. Divides the universe into, affectable, observable, eventually observable, and ultimately observable universe. Academic paper
- Space is for Everyone - Rachel Lindberg. TED talk arguing for a democratic approach to space exploration. Video
- Space Law and Policy - Ali Prince. Discusses international cooperation and competition around space policy issues. Article
- Aerospace Knowledge Guide - Introduces useful terminology on space. Article
- Casey Handmer’s Blog – Casey Handmer. Discusses space exploration, climate change, and technological advancements, as well as theoretical discussions. Forum/blog-postÂ
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Fermi Paradox
- Fermi Paradox - After-On Podcast. A good intro to the Fermi Paradox, its implications for humanity’s survival, and potential solutions. Audio
- Stephen Webb on “Where is everybody?” Solutions to the Fermi Paradox - Rationally Speaking Podcast. Another intro to the paradox through a rationalist lens, including evaluating various solutions. Audio
- Dissolving the Fermi Paradox - Anders Sandberg, Eric Drexler, Toby Ord. Dissolving the Fermi paradox by showing that when the model is recast with realistic distributions of uncertainty, the Fermi paradox yields a substantive probability of there being no other intelligent life in our observable universe. Academic paper
- Eternity in 6 Hours - Intergalactic Spreading of Intelligent Life and Sharpening the Fermi paradox - Anders Sandberg, Stuart Armstrong. Extends the Fermi Paradox to other galaxies as well, showing that for a star-spanning civilizations it would be relatively easy to spread into other galaxies, thus sharpening the paradox. Academic paper
- That is not dead which can Eternal Lie: the Aestivation Hypothesis for Resolving The Fermi Paradox - Anders Sandberg, Stuart Armstrong, Milan Cirkovic. Suggests a solution to the Fermi Paradox that advanced civilizations may be in aestivation. Academic paper‍
- Rare Earth - Peter Ward. On why complex life is uncommon in the universe. Book
Staying up to date
- Planet Stories - A tool that lets everyone collapse and timelapse satellite images of almost anywhere in the world into stories to show change. Organizations/projects
- Universetoday - Beautiful imagery of the cosmos on that day. Website/Blog
- ShiftedSpace - Media and stories motivating action to clean up space. Website/Blog
- Astria Graph - Space object visualization and tracking service. Website/Blog
- Astronomy Podcast -Â Science-driven podcast on space. Audio
- Celestial Citizen - On economical, social, and moral questions in relation to space exploration. Audio
- NASA Â - On all things NASA and other noteworthy space news. Audio
- The Space Policy Show - Discusses a variety of space policy issues. Audio
- Space Policy Pod - Retired podcast with good episodes on space. Audio
- FQXI lectures- Foundational Question Institute. Audio‍
- Space seminar playlist - Foresight Institute. Various seminars on the long-term potential of humanity in space in the light of alien encounters and limited energy. Video
Organizations and projects
- The International Space Exploration Coordination Group - A forum set up by 14 space agencies to advance the Global Exploration Strategy through coordination of their mutual efforts in space exploration. Organizations/projects
- SETI - Our mission is to explore, understand, and explain the origin and nature of life in the universe, and to apply the knowledge gained to inspire and guide present and future generations. Organizations/projects
- FQXI- Foundational Question Institute catalyzes, supports, and disseminates research on questions at the foundations of physics and cosmology, particularly new frontiers and innovative ideas integral to a deep understanding of reality, but unlikely to be supported by conventional funding sources. The lectures are especially good. Organizations/projects
- Planetary Society - Know the cosmos and our place within it. Organizations/projects
- Open Lunar - Create a peaceful, cooperative, long term human presence on the Moon for the benefit of all life. Organizations/projects
- European Space Policy Institute - Provide recommendations, policy options and forward vision as to how Europe’s engagement in space can bring maximum benefit to society. Organizations/projects
- The Outer Space Institute - A network of world-leading space experts united by their commitment to highly innovative, transdisciplinary research that addresses grand challenges facing the continued use and exploration of space. Organizations/projects
- McGill’s Institute for Air & Space Law - Academic setting for teaching and research in the dual disciplines of international air law and space law. Organizations/projects
- NASA - America’s civil space program and the global leader in space exploration. Organizations/projects
- ESA - Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world. Organizations/projects
- JAXA - The Japanese national air and space agency. Organizations/projects
- Honeybee Robotics- R&D and Manufacturing engineering company that designs and builds unique solutions for our customers’ challenges, on Earth and in space. Organizations/projects
- Orbit Fab - we need a bustling in-space economy before we can have permanent jobs in space. Organizations/projects
- Luxemburg Space Agency - Promotes the commercial space sector in Luxembourg by providing support to the space industry, fostering new and existing businesses, developing human resources, offering access to financial solutions and supporting academic learning and research. Organizations/projects
- Clearspace - Sustainability in space. Organizations/projects
- Relativity Space - American aerospace manufacturing company. Organizations/projects
- Deep Space Food Challenge - NASA challenge to bring innovative food production to space. Organizations/projects
- Space Futures Initiative - Organization focused on research, education, and outreach to improve long-term futures in space for humanity. Organizations/projects
- Jus ad astra - Organization with the mission of bringing human rights to space. Organizations/projects
- Space Traffic Management Conference - Conference. Misc.
- ManyWorlds.space - This site is for everyone interested in the burgeoning field of exoplanet detection and research, from the general public to scientists in the field. Organizations/projects
- Space Generation Advisory Council  - Largest student and early professional network for space advocacy. Organizations/projects
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