Caleb Scharf
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Thinker, writer, sometimes both at the same time. Senior Scientist for Astrobiology @NASAAmes. Personal account, anything expressed here is my fault alone.
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Articles by Caleb Scharf
We’re Evolving Beyond This Rock Right Now
Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. or Join now . Astronomy Life is already busy making its transition to being interplanetary The full Nautilus archive • eBooks & Special Editions • Ad-free reading The full Nautilus archive eBooks & Special Editions Ad-free reading To understand our strange future, we have to remember that we are a dying species, as are all species on the Earth.
Space Exploration Speaks to the Core of Who We Are Original
Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. Log in or Join now . We don’t often think of space exploration as something that affects our lives directly, but when you take a closer look, you find it touches almost every corner of our biosphere.
I've been thinking a lot recently about what large attention-based ML models (like LLMs and other Foundation Models) really mean for the development of human information and capabilities. In part… | Caleb Scharf
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THE GIANT LEAP | Kirkus Reviews
Yes: it's high time for a de-romanticized, de-mythified, close-up retelling of the U.S. Space Program's launching—the inside story of those first seven astronauts. But no: jazzy, jivey, exclamation-pointed, italicized Tom Wolfe "Mr. Overkill" hasn't really got the fight stuff for the job. Admittedly, he covers all the ground.
Flucht von der Erde
Heute 14:05 - 15:40 95 min. National Geographic HD16:9 USA 2012 Dokumentation Es ist ein Schreckensszenario, das wir nur aus Science-Fiction-Filmen kennen - und das uns doch jederzeit drohen könnte: Was wäre, wenn wir mit Sicherheit wüssten, dass die Erde in wenigen Jahrzehnten zerstört würde, ohne dass wir etwas dagegen unternehmen könnten? "Evacuate Earth" entwirft ein wissenschaftlich plausibles Szenario, wodurch dies eintreten könnte.
The Giant Leap
A leading astrobiologist argues that space travel is an evolutionary event at least as important as life’s first journey from sea to land “The Giant Leap is a detailed and provocative exploration of what it means for life as we know it to escape the bounds of the only planet where it has ever been.” —Sean Carroll, author of The Biggest Ideas in the Universe The story of life has always been one of great transitions, of crossing new frontiers.
The Giant Leap
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The Giant Leap
By clicking “Accept,” you agree to the use of cookies and similar technologies on your device as set forth in our Cookie Policy and our Privacy Policy. Please note that certain cookies are essential for this website to function properly and do not require user consent to be deployed.
Using artificial intelligence to transform astrobiology - Nature Astronomy
The search for life elsewhere involves variables across multiple scales in time and space, often nested hierarchically. We suggest that the emergence of artificial intelligence learning systems offers critically important ways to make progress.
To Find Life in the Universe, Find the Computation
1 hour ago A Texas man was mauled to death by a pack of dogs on Tuesday, authorities said, three days after the state's governor vetoed a bill that would have enacted harsher penalties for those who own vicious canines. The attack occurred around 5 a.m. Tuesday in Rockport, a city on the southern coast of …
To Find Life in the Universe, Find the Computation Original
What if the search for life in the universe is really a search for how the cosmos computes? That’s the intriguing, and perhaps unsettling, possibility that we are exploring as a part of our quest to find out whether or not we are alone. Since the beginnings of our scientific understanding of genetic inheritance in the 1800s and our discovery of molecules like DNA and RNA in the 1900s, we’ve seen that life is informational in nature. There is a “code” of sorts at the heart of living things.
Should We Really Be Messing with Asteroid Orbits?
ADVERTISEMENT Nautilus Members enjoy an ad-free experience. or Join now . Astronomy With one small error or manipulation, cosmic interference would spell disaster. Sign up for the free Nautilus newsletter: The full Nautilus archive • eBooks & Special Editions • Ad-free reading The full Nautilus archive eBooks & Special Editions Ad-free reading Things go bump in the cosmic night all the time.
We Might Already Speak the Same Language As ET
The Fermi paradox, the “where is everybody?” puzzle, is a persistent question in the search for life in the universe. It asks why, if life is not exceedingly rare in the cosmos, it hasn’t shown up on our doorstep. Equally we might ask why we haven’t even heard from alien life, through radio signals or any other means. A part of the answer could be that our present work on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is actually very limited.
We Might Already Speak the Same Language As ET
The Fermi paradox, the “where is everybody?” puzzle, is a persistent question in the search for life in the universe. It asks why, if life is not exceedingly rare in the cosmos, it hasn’t shown up on our doorstep. Equally we might ask why we haven’t even heard from alien life, through radio signals or any other means. A part of the answer could be that our present work on the search for extraterrestrial intelligence is actually very limited.
We Are the Aliens
Something very old, very powerful and very special has been unleashed on Earth. Humans are strange. For a global species, we're not particularly genetically diverse, thanks in part to how our ancient roaming explorations caused “founder effects” and “bottleneck events” that restricted our ancestral gene pool. We also have a truly outsize impact on the planetary environment without much in the way of natural attrition to trim our influence (at least not yet).
A Mirror of Our Best Selves
Occasionally our species manages to accomplish something that every single one of us (except perhaps for the most misanthropic curmudgeons) can enjoy as a sign that all hope is not lost, that we can still reach for the sublime. The James Webb Space Telescope is one of those accomplishments and allows us to peer into the universe and feel like we’re seeing reality for the first time.
A Mirror of Our Best Selves
Occasionally our species manages to accomplish something that every single one of us (except perhaps for the most misanthropic curmudgeons) can enjoy as a sign that all hope is not lost, that we can still reach for the sublime. The James Webb Space Telescope is one of those accomplishments and allows us to peer into the universe and feel like we’re seeing reality for the first time.
Los tiraderos de basura en Marte
Por supuesto, vivir en Marte nos obligaría a producir menos basura. Después de todo, una gran cantidad de desechos humanos terrestres provienen de la industrialización a gran escala de nuestras sociedades y el transporte de alimentos y bienes a través de todo el planeta, algo que una sociedad más pequeña en Marte no enfrentaría.
What Do You Actually Do With Garbage on Mars?
An artist’s impression of the Martian settlement SpaceX has envisioned. Image: SpaceX It’s very likely that, even with the best intentions, a large human presence on another world like Mars will produce substantial amounts of garbage. The best that we can do is to figure out the least burdensome and least damaging way to store this trash until a future population has the capacity to deal with it.
Things You Haven't Thought Regarding a Colonization of Mars
Things You Haven't Thought Regarding a Colonization of Mars Our track record on Earth and other worlds is garbage.
Want to Colonize Mars? What’s Your Plan for Trash?
The machines we’ve sent to Mars are great at selling real estate. They transmit hauntingly beautiful, color-balanced images of ancient and untouched hills and valleys, and the fractured, alien rocks of a world that has billions of years of history to tell.
We Better Think Twice About What We Say to ET
Parents around the world tell their children to be careful about speaking to strangers. It’s good advice for our innocent offspring, because even if the risk of a dangerous interaction is very small, the consequences could be very great. Yet when it comes to the idea of sending unsolicited messages out into the cosmos to try to get a response from technological alien life, we seem to forget these sensible domestic rules.
We Better Think Twice About What We Say to ET
Parents around the world tell their children to be careful about speaking to strangers. It’s good advice for our innocent offspring, because even if the risk of a dangerous interaction is very small, the consequences could be very great. Yet when it comes to the idea of sending unsolicited messages out into the cosmos to try to get a response from technological alien life, we seem to forget these sensible domestic rules.
How many humans can the solar system support?
Back in the 1800s, in the halcyon days of evidence-free speculation on life in the universe, the Scottish “natural theologist” Thomas Dick famously proposed that our solar system could harbor about 22 trillion beings. That figure may sound preposterous, but Dick wasn’t entirely out of step with the scientific mood of the time.
Commentary: The rule of information
I recently hiked a snow-covered trail renowned for its lack of cell service. Yet somehow, as I passed from one bend to another, a radio signal leaked into my almost-dead smartphone. Torn out of my reverie in the frigid air and under blue skies, without thinking I began scrolling through my messages.
The Worrisome Rise of NFTs
Humans are very good at inventing commodities, and we’ve been at it for a long time. See that pebble over there? Well, that’s a better pebble than all these others, and if you give me something in exchange for it, I’ll let you take ownership. It’ll be your pebble, forever. And soon there will be a market in pebbles, a pebble community, pebble exhibitions and auctions filled with pebble speculators, pebble exchanges, and pebble artists.
The Worrisome Rise of NFTs
Resume Reading — The Worrisome Rise of NFTs Close You've read 1 of 2 free monthly articles. Learn More. Close An astrobiologist says non-fungible tokens do not bode well for our species’s future. Caleb Scharf By Caleb Scharf January 12, 2022 Humans are very good at inventing commodities, and we’ve been at it for a long time. See that pebble over there? Well, that’s…By Caleb Scharf Humans are very good at inventing commodities, and we’ve been at it for a long time. See that pebble over there?
The Worrisome Rise of NFTs
Humans are very good at inventing commodities, and we’ve been at it for a long time. See that pebble over there? Well, that’s a better pebble than all these others, and if you give me something in exchange for it, I’ll let you take ownership. It’ll be your pebble, forever. And soon there will be a market in pebbles, a pebble community, pebble exhibitions and auctions filled with pebble speculators, pebble exchanges, and pebble artists.
A Wrinkle in Nature Could Lead to Alien Life
Happy Holidays. In this special issue we are reprinting our top stories of the past year. This article first appeared online in our “Universality” issue in April, 2021. I grew up in a small village in a very rural part of England. It was a landscape capped with the huge skies of a low-lying coastal zone. Gently rolling fields, long hedgerows, and a lot of farms.
A Wrinkle in Nature Could Lead to Alien Life
Happy Holidays. In this special issue we are reprinting our top stories of the past year. This article first appeared online in our “Universality” issue in April, 2021. I grew up in a small village in a very rural part of England. It was a landscape capped with the huge skies of a low-lying coastal zone. Gently rolling fields, long hedgerows, and a lot of farms.
Exoplanet Exergy: Why Useful Work Matters for Planetary Habitabilty
The circumstellar habitable zone and its various refinements serves as a useful entry point for discussing the potential for a planet to generate and sustain life. But little attention is paid to the quality of available energy in the form of stellar photons for phototrophic (e.g., photosynthetic) life.
Looking for Life on Mars
Terri Randall’s hope when she makes films about space exploration—like Chasing Pluto, for example, or Death Dive to Saturn—is that viewers share scientists’ excitement. That rush of success and discovery. “Look at this moment, and look at his eyes, and look at what he’s so excited to do, and work on for so many years, and take so many risks to answer big questions,” Randall says.
Write On! Radio - Larry Watson + Caleb Scharf
Originally aired September 7, 2021. Ian welcomes Larry Watson onto the show to discuss his new novel, Lives of Eddie Pritchard, and the new film of his book Let Him Go. After the break, Josh welcomes astronomer and author Caleb Scharf to discuss his new book, Ascent of Information. Write On! Radio – Larry Watson + Caleb Scharf Write On! Radio
The Information We Create Has a Life of Its Own
You are here: Home All News The Information We Create Has a Life of Its Own In his new book, astronomer Caleb Scharf explores how our relationship with data will affect our ongoing evolution as a species. By September 23, 2021 Astronomer Caleb Scharf's new book, "The Ascent of Information," offers a vision of a universe built of and for information. One of the most peculiar and possibly unique features of humans is the vast amount of information we carry outside our biological selves.
Intelligent Life
Let me tell you what it’s like to be an astrobiologist. I painted a white picket fence this summer. No one asked me to. It was a task I’d set myself without realizing what a long-winded and frustrating process it would be. But eventually that endless scraping, priming, painting, and maneuvering settled into something therapeutic, even meditative. I’d paint the apex—dab, dab—run down the narrow sides, coat the smooth front, shuffle along, repeat.
What Is Life?
Let me tell you what it’s like to be an astrobiologist. I painted a white picket fence this summer. No one asked me to. It was a task I’d set myself without realizing what a long-winded and frustrating process it would be. But eventually that endless scraping, priming, painting, and maneuvering settled into something therapeutic, even meditative. I’d paint the apex—dab, dab—run down the narrow sides, coat the smooth front, shuffle along, repeat.
Universe Has Made Almost All the Stars It Will Ever Make
Our human world is soaked in light. For starters there are the 100,000 trillion photons arriving every second at every square centimeter of Earth’s dayside surface, after racing here from the outer envelope of a natural giant thermonuclear reactor we call the sun. Read Full Article »
The Universe Has Already Made Almost All the Stars It Will Ever Make
Resume Reading — The Universe Has Already Made Almost All the Stars It Will Ever Make Close You've read 1 of 2 free monthly articles. Learn More. Close Black holes are cosmic dimmers. Caleb Scharf By Caleb Scharf September 1, 2021 Our human world is soaked in light. For starters there are the 100,000 trillion photons arriving every second at every square centimeter…By Caleb Scharf Our human world is soaked in light.
The Universe Has Already Made Almost All the Stars It Will Ever Make
Our human world is soaked in light. For starters there are the 100,000 trillion photons arriving every second at every square centimeter of Earth’s dayside surface, after racing here from the outer envelope of a natural giant thermonuclear reactor we call the sun. There are also the photons that zip every which way through any cubic centimeter of open space.
We are our data, our data are us
BY one count, more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of digitised information are generated on Earth every day. That’s more data than all the words spoken by all the humans who ever existed, using generous estimates for both. Texts, emails, pet videos, influencer TikToks, financial transactions and data about data itself all inundate the world in a seemingly never-ending flood. As much as this glistening informational ocean supports and amplifies our abilities as a species, it also burdens us.
We are our data, our data are us
By one count, more than 2.5 quintillion bytes of digitized information are generated on Earth every day. That’s more data than all the words spoken by all the humans who ever existed, using generous estimates for both. Texts, emails, pet videos, influencer TikToks, financial transactions and data about data itself all inundate the world in a seemingly never-ending flood. As much as this glistening informational ocean supports and amplifies our abilities as a species, it also burdens us.
Books, Bits, Genes, Machines, and Life's Unending Algorithm
Born in England, educated at Cambridge, and previously employed by NASA, Caleb Scharf is now the director of the multidisciplinary Astrobiology Center at Columbia University, where he researches exoplanets and exomoons. Below, Caleb shares 5 key insights from his new book, The Ascent of Information: Books, Bits, Genes, Machines, and Life’s Unending Algorithm (available now from Amazon). Listen to the audio version—read by Caleb himself—in the Next Big Idea App. 1.
O UFOs, Where Art Thou?
Just before the release in June of the much-anticipated Pentagon report on unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), I sat down to try to create a list of the greatest hurdles to UAPs' scientific analysis. What I came up with were five major challenges that are described here, together with a cross-comparison with some of the statements made in the published government report.
The Origin of Technosignatures
The search for extraterrestrial intelligence stands out in the quest to find life elsewhere because it assumes that certain kinds of life will manipulate and exploit its environment with intention. Andthat intention may go far beyond just supporting essential survival and function. By contrast, the general search for other living systems, or biosignatures, really is all about eating, reproducing and, not to put too fine a point on it, making waste. The assumption of intention has a long history.
How paper punch cards enabled the rise of computing, and shaped humanity.
An 80-by-10 grid punched into a paper card helped drive us out of the Industrial Age and into the Data Age. Conducting aeronautical research with an IBM 704 in 1957. NASA Slate has relationships with various online retailers. If you buy something through our links, Slate may earn an affiliate commission. We update links when possible, but note that deals can expire and all prices are subject to change. All prices were up to date at the time of publication.
Is the Universe Open-Ended?
One of my favorite albeit heavily paraphrased quotes from Albert Einstein is his assertion that the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible. (What he actually said, in his 1936 work “Physics and Reality,” is more longwinded, and includes a digression into Immanuel Kant and the meaning of “comprehensibility,” but he does write “... the eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility.”) Read Full Article »
My 3 Greatest Revelations
Resume Reading — My 3 Greatest Revelations Close You've read 1 of 2 free monthly articles. Learn More.
Is the Universe Open-Ended?
One of my favorite albeit heavily paraphrased quotes from Albert Einstein is his assertion that the most incomprehensible thing about the universe is that it is comprehensible. (What he actually said, in his 1936 work “Physics and Reality,” is more longwinded, and includes a digression into Immanuel Kant and the meaning of “comprehensibility,” but he does write “... the eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility.”) In truth, this statement holds back a little.
Transcendence Happens All the Time
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic might not seem like an obvious cue for thinking about biological transcendence. But the strange thing is that in our response to this crisis we’ve been unwitting participants in just such an event. The idea of transcendence goes back a long way, under a variety of names and guises. In many religions it captures the notion of deities or phenomena that exist somehow independently of the physical universe and even beyond physical laws.
UFOs Emerge, Again
Unidentified flying objects, or UFOs, seem to obey the same kind of cycle as 17-year cicadas: All is quiet and buried for a long while and then there’s a buzzing swarm of the things getting airtime on TV, social media, and even in the United States Senate.
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