Welcome to the third episode of the Scientific Imagination x A Sign in Space series! In this special series, we explore the theory and process behind a fascinating project called “A Sign in Space.” We’ll be talking to a team of experts from different parts of the world and different fields of study.
A Sign in Space is an interdisciplinary project by media artist Daniela de Paulis, in collaboration with the SETI Institute, the European Space Agency, the Green Bank Observatory and INAF, the Italian National Institute for Astrophysics.
The project consists in transmitting a simulated extraterrestrial message as part of a live performance, using an ESA spacecraft as celestial source. The objective of the project is to involve the world-wide Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence community, professionals from different fields and the broader public, in the reception, decoding and interpretation of the message. This process will require global cooperation, bridging a conversation around the topics of SETI, space research and society, across multiple cultures and fields of expertise.
In this episode, we focus on the theory and concept behind the project, as well as the meaning of the message it carries. Our special guests for this episode are Daniela de Paulis, Roy Smits, Betinna Forget and Mukesh Bhatt. They’ll be sharing their insights and ideas with us.
Join us as we dive into the world of scientific imagination and uncover the secrets of “A Sign in Space” with our amazing guests. For a better understanding of this episode, we recommend to listen to the first and second podcast of this series first.
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Daniela de Paulis is a former contemporary dancer and a media artist exhibiting internationally. She is also a licensed radio operator. Her artistic practice is informed by Space in its widest meaning. Since 2009 she has been implementing radio technologies and philosophies in her art projects. She is currently Artist in Residence at the SETI Institute (California) and Artist in Residence at the Green Bank Observatory (West Virginia), with the support of the Baruch Blumberg Fellowship in Astrobiology.
She is collaborating with some prominent research institutes, including the European Space Agency, INAF (Italian Research Institute for Radio Astronomy), the Donders Centre for Neuroimaging and the University of Cambridge. For her projects, she is using state of the art radio telescopes, such as the Green Bank Telescope (West Virginia), the Allen Telescope Array (California), the Square Kilometre Array prototype and the Mullard Radio Astronomy Observatory (UK), the Medicina Radio Telescope and the Sardinia Radio Telescope (Italy). Previously, she has been collaborating with radio operators based at historical antennas, such as the Bochum Radio Observatory (DE). In 2009 she has developed the Visual Moonbounce technology, in collaboration with international radio operators, and for the past fourteen years she has been working on a series of innovative projects combining radio technologies with live performance art and neuroscience. From 2010 to 2019 she has collaborated with Astronomers Without Borders as the founder and director of the Arts programme. She has been collaborating with several other organizations, including the Human Space Program, lead by space philosopher Frank White, the Space and Society Working Group lead by philosopher Jayme Schwartz.
She is a member of the IAA SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) Permanent Committee and a regular host for the Wow! Signal Podcast, a platform dedicated to conversations on SETI, science, technology and the humanities. In addition to her artistic practice, she is part of the editorial board for the Springer Space and Society series. She has published her work with the Leonardo MIT Journal, Routledge, Springer, Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Inderscience and RIXC, amongst others.
Bettina Forget is the Director of the SETI Institute’s Artist-in-Residence (AIR) program. In this capacity, she facilitates the collaboration between artists and SETI researchers, foregrounds art-science research practice, and creates opportunities to disseminate the resulting art projects to a wider audience. She is currently a doctoral candidate in Art Education at Concordia University, Canada. Her research examines the recontextualization of art and science, and how transdisciplinary education may disrupt gender stereotypes. Bettina’s creative work focuses on space sciences, inspired by her avid engagement with amateur astronomy. She has exhibited her artwork in the USA, Canada, Germany, Iceland, Russia, Spain, Singapore, and Nicaragua.Born in Germany, Bettina has studied at Central St-Martins School of Art in London, England and at Curtin University in Perth, Australia and Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts in Singapore.
Mukesh Chiman Bhatt is a trans-disciplinary polymath and physicist. He holds certificates in law and space law in particular from economic legal, evolutionary and agential perspectives in migrating to and settling outer space. Mukesh holds core qualifications and competences in physics, languages, law, computing and translation technologies and the social sciences with invited publications and presentations in a range of related topics including space law, astrobiology, culture, psychology, philosophies, science fiction and defense and aerospace materials.A member of the British Interplanetary Society, the Institute of Physics, the European Physical Society, NoRCEL (the Network of Researchers in the Chemical Emergence of Life) and the Association of British Science Writers, he was awarded London Citizen of the Year 2003 for work with mental health, carers and disability support, with extensive personal experience of disability-related issues.Other interests include the use of space technologies by the elderly and disabled, the interpretation and philosophy of science in different cultures, dance and exercise. He can be found on Academia.edu, Researchgate and LinkedIn.
Dr. Roy Smits is a Dutch astronomer, writer and science-communicator. He studied at the Radboud University of Nijmegen in The Netherlands. He earned his PhD by studying the radio-emission of compact stars called pulsars. Smits continued his research at the University of Manchester and ASTRON, the Dutch institute for radio-astronomy and has been involved in several international astronomy collaborations. His work laid the foundation for pulsar-research with the Square Kilometre Array, a telescope currently under construction in South-Africa and Australia. Parallel to his research, Smits has always been an active science-communicator, including teaching astronomy at schools utilizing a mobile planetarium and collaborating with many artists. In 2020 Smits wrote his first book on astronomy for the general public. Recently he released his first children’s book.