Vessel Archives: A Strategic Approach to Existential Risk, Human Survival, and the Future of Earth-Originating Life (Preprint submission version)
Creators: name: Rezabek, Heath
Publisher: name: Figshare
Year: 2013
Subjects: subject: Environmental Chemistry
subject: Geometry
subject: Quantum Mechanics
subject: Geochemistry
subject: FOS: Earth and related environmental sciences
subject: Agricultural Engineering
subject: Thermodynamics
subject: Planetary Science
subject: Environmental Science
subject: Entropy
subject: Oceanography
subject: Organic Chemistry
subject: FOS: Chemical sciences
subject: Galactic Astronomy
subject: Cosmology
subject: Planetary Geology
subject: Stellar Astronomy
subject: Literature
subject: Geography
subject: Molecular Biology
subject: Neuroscience
subject: Cell Biology
subject: Genetics
subject: FOS: Biological sciences
subject: Performing Arts
subject: Behavioral Neuroscience
subject: Statistics
subject: FOS: Mathematics
subject: Probability
subject: Science Policy
subject: Nuclear Engineering
subject: Philosophy
subject: FOS: Philosophy, ethics and religion
subject: Genetic Engineering
subject: Mechanical Engineering
subject: FOS: Mechanical engineering
subject: Archaeology
subject: History
subject: Bioinformatics
subject: FOS: Computer and information sciences
subject: Mental Health
subject: Theoretical Computer Science
subject: Applied Computer Science
subject: Ecology
subject: Law
subject: FOS: Law
subject: Geophysics
subject: Atmospheric Sciences
subject: Microbiology
subject: Medicine
subject: Biochemistry
subject: Biophysics
subject: Geology
subject: Paleontology
subject: Sociology
subject: FOS: Sociology
subject: Design
subject: Immunology
subject: FOS: Clinical medicine
subject: Software Engineering
subject: Biotechnology
subject: Computer Engineering
subject: Economics
subject: Anthropology
subject: Evolutionary Biology
subject: Paleoclimatology
subject: Physical Geography
subject: Hydrology
subject: Inorganic Chemistry
subject: Education
subject: Computational Biology
subject: Botany
subject: Cheminformatics
subject: Aerospace Engineering
subject: Marine Biology
subject: Developmental Biology
subject: Plant Biology
subject: Astrophysics
subject: Biological Engineering
subject: Crystallography

description: Preprint submission version of paper for the 100 Year Starship Symposium Proceedings (2012):
 
<em><strong>Vessel Archives: A Strategic Approach to Existential Risk, Human Survival, and the Future of Earth-Originating Life.</strong></em>
 
<strong>Abstract:</strong>
The abundance of ancient worlds detected by the Kepler Mission and others brings the persistence of the Fermi Paradox into stark relief. If an existential (sterilizing) risk to Earth emerged before an interstellar civilization were established, it could eliminate the prospects for complex life across an unknowable span of future time. In the absence of evidence of interstellar life, we must cultivate life on Earth as if the future of life in our region of the universe depended on it. Near-term, humanity must rise to its potential. Long-term, life must find a way. In this paper, we will propose an open project to collaboratively plan and build what we call Vessel Archives: Compact, focused habitats that foster our most sustainable methods and our most aspirational traces during our immediate challenges, emphasizing 100 Year Starship efforts as a milestone on our journey. Yet Vessel Archives would also serve as long-term cultural, biological, and geological archives within self-sustaining biospheres. We explore definitions and classifications of existential risk; the roots of Vessel Archives in architecture and archival; using the techniques of synthetic biology to encode digital data in DNA; tension between curation and sampling through the lens of Benford’s “Library of Life” proposal; and the aspiration that Vessel Archives serve as galvanizing beacons for humanity.
 
<strong>Keywords:</strong>
Existential Risk
Archival
Biophilic Design
Pattern Language
Arcology
Synthetic Biology