Speaker: Ed Turner, Princeton University

Abstract: An ambitious program to send tiny (gram scale) nanocraft to nearby stars at speeds of an appreciable fraction of the speed of light by combining rapidly advancing technologies in micro-electronics, nano-technology, and photonics (lasers) has received generous private funding and is now in progress. The basic technological scheme and plan will be sketched out and a speculation on the possible nature of the payloads that might first cross interstellar space will be presented.

Participants:

  • Ed Turner, Princeton University
  • Michael Solomon, Chair Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas University Hospital Bioethics Committee and Co-Chair Medical Society of New Jersey Bioethics Committee
  • Ayako Fukui, Araya BI
  • Divya Bhardwaj, New School
  • Linda Cooper, Institute for Advanced Study
  • Bob MacLennan
  • Johnny Bontemps, science writer
  • Olaf Witkowski, Earth-Life Science Institute
  • Piet Hut, Institute for Advanced Study

Thursday, September 15, 12:30 p.m.
Institute for Advanced Study, 1 Einstein Drive, West Building Seminar Room, 2nd floor
Host by the Program in Interdisciplinary Studies