Deadline Extended: Call for Astrobiology Articles – Astrosociology Research Institute
Dear ARI Members, Supporters, and Followers,
ARI is pleased to announce an open call for our next issue of Astrosociological Insights, which is the only newsletter dedicated to astrosociological topics and the development of astrosociology as an academic field. The theme of our next newsletter will be astrosociological research into the issues associated with astrobiology and the search for microbial or intelligent extraterrestrial life.
Call for Articles
Overview: Astrosociology examines astrosocial phenomena, defined as the social, cultural, and behavioral patterns related to outer space, which include the efforts of humans as we research, engage in, and are affected
by spacerelated activities. Understanding this dimension of outer space is critical to our longterm success as we strive to develop human spacefaring societies on Earth.
While we welcome articles on any topic relevant to astrosociology, this issue of Astrosociological Insights will spotlight how the methodologies and insights of astrosociology provide a lens to focus on the assumptions, challenges, possibilities, and consequences related to research in exploring the definition, frequency, and characteristics of life in the universe.
Prompting Questions:
The Search for Life
What kind of life are astrobiologists looking for, and how will they know when they find it?
What are the public perceptions and attitudes regarding extraterrestrial life and its possible discovery?
What factors have encouraged the growing academic and popular acceptance of the field of astrobiology?
What is the current relationship between astrobiology and SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence)?
How have various academic disciplines, social institutions, and governmental bodies become stakeholders in astrobiological research?
What is the range and impact of online or crowd-sourced searches for extraterrestrial life?
Human Readiness for Astrobiological Discoveries
How do nations that struggle with human differences ready themselves for extraterrestrial diversity?
What preparedness, outreach, or education programs can help prepare individuals and societies for confirmatory evidence of extraterrestrial life?
What are the collaborative possibilities for astrosociologists to actively participate in readiness initiatives?
Microbial Extraterrestrial Life
How should public concerns about possible microbial contamination be addressed through policy and global space governance?
Who will “own” extraterrestrial microbes and who will control their uses, availability for research, security protocols, etc.?
What plans should be in place to prevent the nationalist exploitation or military weaponization of extraterrestrial microbes?
What are the social/cultural implications should proof of a “Second Genesis” be found?
Intelligent Extraterrestrial Life
What are the real chances of discovering intelligent or communicating extraterrestrial life? Is the Drake equation still a valid model or do competing predictive models exist?
What expectations do humans already have about intelligent extraterrestrial life? How do these influence astrobiological and SETI research?
Should intelligent extraterrestrial life be detected and confirmed, what happens next? Who speaks for Earth? Should we attempt to communicate, if possible? What should we message back?
Anticipating Human Reactions
How can predictive models be useful for anticipating reactions to presumptive discoveries of microbial life vs. intelligent life (e.g., Rio Scale, London Scale, etc.)?
What is the usefulness of historical analogs (Columbian Exchange, Enlightenment, etc.) in predicting human reactions and acceptance of the knowledge that extraterrestrial life exists?
What protocols or procedures should be followed for informing the media and the public about presumptive discoveries? How do these protocols anticipate mass media attempts to “scoop” the story?
How do science fiction narratives of extraterrestrial life help or hinder constructive human reactions to astrobiological discoveries?
Deeper Philosophical Issues
Should humans even engage in the search for extraterrestrial life at all?
How do the beliefs and cultures of major social institutions (religious, governmental, etc.) affect or influence astrobiological research?
How might presumptive astrobiological discoveries affect or influence human social institutions, material and immaterial culture, or psychological worldviews?
Submissions: This open call for submissions should incorporate and address questionssimilar to the ones posed above. We welcome and encourage contributions from both public and private stakeholders, researchers, practitioners, developers, and scholars in aerospace fields, sciences, social sciences, arts, and the humanities.
Deadline Extended! Please send contributions to Kathleen Toerpe at ktoerpe@astrosociology.org by Sunday, March 8, 2015.
Shorter pieces should be between 500 and 800 words.
Longer contributions should not exceed 1200 words.
All submissions must be in MS Word format.
All editorial decisions are final and any submission not included may be considered for the next issue.
Read back issues of our newsletter on our Virtual Library page at http://astrosociology.org/vlibrary.html. Look for the link titled “Issues of Astrosociological Insights Newsletter.” If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us. ARI is also on Twitter at @astrosociology.
We thank you for your continuing interest in astrosociology and for exploring with us the human dimension of outer space.
Sincerely,
Kathleen D. Toerpe
Editor
Astrosociological Insights
Kathleen D. Toerpe, PhD
Deputy CEO for Programs and Special Projects
Astrosociology Research Institute
Executive Editor
The Journal of Astrosociology
Editor
Astrosociological Insights
Website: http://www.astrosociology.org
Email: ktoerpe@astrosociology.org
Phone: 920-421-3963
