In a new series entitled “SCI X SCI-FI», Yale Planetary Solutions will summon leading thinkers from all areas – futuristic and scientific, artists and engineers – to consider a prosperous and resilient future and to identify the types of knowledge that must be created, catalyzed and implemented to get there. The series is launching next week with a four-day visit, on March 31 to April 3, by the author of science fiction and the scientific editor, scientific writer and scientific editor Annalee Newitz.
Yale Planetary Solutions is a university initiative that unites leadership and experts across the campus and in disciplines, to advance solutions to the greatest environmental challenges with which the planet is confronted.
“Science fiction is not only to imagine the future-it is a question of shaping it,” said Julie Zimmerman, vice-prevôt of Yale for planetary solutions. “By bringing together scientists, engineers, humanists, artists and the Large community, SCI X SCI-FI triggers the creativity and collaboration necessary to transform daring ideas into real planetary solutions.”
As an unwanted SCI X SCI-FI “Creator in residence”, Newitz will participate in a series of events on campus and in New Haven, including a conversation with Carl Zimmer, scientific writer for the New York Times and the Yale speaker; A green chemistry and engineering breakfast in which students can present their research ideas; a seminar on “to avoid dystopia, in theory and in practice”; And a round closing table by the fireside on the “rewriting of the future of our climate by embracing creativity and optimism” at the free public library of New Haven. Their visit is supported by a Fellowship of Poyer in Journalism.
Newitz wrote three novels – “Terraformators, “the future of another chronology”, ” And “Autonomous,“Who won the Lambda Literary Award – and is the author of several non -fiction books, including”Stories are weapons: psychological war and American spirit“”Four lost cities: a secret history of urban age, ” And “Disperson, adapt and remember: how humans will survive a mass extinctionWho was a finalist of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize in Science.
In an interview, Newitz explains how science fiction offers a kind of “safe sand” scenarios to play a better future, why it is essential to summon science and human sciences, and why they are particularly delighted to visit a robotics laboratory in Yale.
Which future world do you want and how do you think we can get there? And given all the challenges we face to achieve a more utopian world, what are the alternative directions proposed by science fiction or the clin-fiction that we can learn?
Annalee Newitz: Instead of dividing our dreams into “utopia” and “dystopia”, I am interested in thinking of “Topias” or future which have elements of hope and struggle. I think that the best fiction offers us a practical image of a future world where things could better go – we could have negative carbon energy sources or sustainable agricultural practices – but at the same time, we will always have difficult problems around governance and allocation of resources. I think what science fiction offers is a safe sandbox where we can browse possible future scenarios, imagining unexpected side and tertiary effects of new technologies and politicians.
An excellent example is in the classic octavia butler trilogy “Lilith’s Brood”. Butler imagines that a group of foreigners saved the remains of humanity from a land ravaged by the nuclear war. These extraterrestrials live in complete harmony with their environment inside a space space for a planet, using neutral carbon organic technologies. Humanity has a chance to join their civilization, but only if they assimilate the culture of extraterrestrials, abandoning their human identity. Like all major science fiction authors, Butler reminds us that each step forward in the better future also involves sacrifice. We must prepare to compromise and transform ourselves.
How does the gathering of the Communities of Science and Human Sciences help us to reach a prosperous future?
Newitz: Regarding the environment, we already have the technical capacity to resolve the twins of climate and energy crises. Now we need new robust social and government systems to put our scientific knowledge at work. This is why we need culture experts who work hand in hand with science experts. We must convince our human compatriots to establish new relationships with the environment, and it is a cultural problem that can only be resolved by the help of human sciences.
What are you the most excited for your visit to Yale?
Newitz: Above all, I am delighted to meet the students, to learn what they work on and to make their point of view on the future. But I am also a giant Nerd, so I can’t wait to visit the Faboratory – the Laboratory of (Yale Mechanical Engineer) Rebecca Kramer -Vottiglio, which works on soft robots. One of the main characters in my next book “Automatic Noodle” is a sweet robot.
In the future iterations of SCI X Sci-Fi, Yale’s planetary solutions will continue to bring together scientists creating new knowledge to stimulate planetary solutions and creators, including authors, filmmakers and video game designers, among others. Registration for all events is free.