Earth at the Crossroads

Tantalizing new discoveries suggest that we are probably not alone in the universe. And yet, as Enrico Fermi said in 1950: where is everybody? Are habitable worlds rare, unlikely, and therefore cosmically precious? Or is life easily overwhelmed by changing planetary conditions? Do technological societies in particular face an inevitable “Great Filter” that causes their extinction? These questions link the search for extraterrestrial life to the urgent environmental challenges facing our own civilization, from deadly pandemics to human-caused climate change. On November 18th, 2021, Georgetown University and the SETI Institute united scholars, journalists, artists and activists in conversations to explore what the search for alien life may reveal about the future of life on Earth. These conversations were open to Georgetown students and were livestreamed to the general public. They culminated in a closed-session roundtable discussion consisting of the program panelists, intended to draft a proclamation on the state of Earth’s environment and its future potential in a cosmic context. 

The five panels at the November event introduced audience members to the ‘L’ variable of the Drake equation and its relevance to questions about humanity’s impact on Earth’s climate and its long term implications for our survival as a technological civilization. Subsequent panels explored the topic of ‘habitability’ in the context of the search for life beyond Earth and its relevance to understanding life on our own planet. Habitability was discussed in the context of life on Earth, habitability in the Solar System, and the habitability of exoplanets or planets orbiting distant stars. Each panel discussion was recorded as a separate session and they are available for viewing in the links below.
 

• Introduction
• A Planetary Perspective: Meet the L Variable
• Habitability at Home
• Habitability in the Solar System
• Habitability Beyond
• Habitability at Home Redux

The event also included a Georgetown University Student panel on Planetary Protection, a presentation of topical artistic programs from the artists of the Institute’s Artist-in-Residence program, and a workshop on the Library of the Great Silence.

Videos of each of these program events can be found here:

• Planetary Protection: A Student Perspective
• SETI Artist-in-Residence Program Performance
• Library of the Great Silence Workshop

Short Videos:

• Habitability Beyond, Seth Shostak
• Habitability In The Solar System, Nathalie Cabrol
• Meet The L Variable, Nadia Drake
• Habitability At Home, Jill Tarter
• Habitability At Home Redux, Dava Sobel