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100 YEAR STARSHIP ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF THE SECOND CANOPUS AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE IN INTERSTELLAR WRITING

HOUSTON, July 22, 2019— 100 Year Starshipâ(100YSSâ) announced the winners of the Second Canopus Awards for Excellence in Interstellar Writing hosted by actress and writer Nichelle Nichols.

The awards were presented by Nichelle Nichols. While most famous for her portrayal of Lt. Uhura in the original Star Trek television show in the 1960s, Nichelle Nichols has been an active advocate for NASA and space exploration.

The winners are:

·       In the category of “PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED LONG-FORM FICTION”the winner isThe Three-Body Problemby Cixin Liu, Translated by Ken Liu  (published by Tor)

·       In the category of “PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED SHORT-FORM FICTION” the winner is “Slow Bullets” by Alastair Reynolds (published by Tachyon Publications)

·       In the category of “PREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED NONFICTION” the winner is Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planet by Buzz Aldrin and Marianne Dyson (published by National Geographic)

·       In the category of “ORIGINAL FICTION” the winner is “The Quest for New Cydonia” by Russell Hemmell

·       In the category of “ORIGINAL NON-FICTION” the winner is “Microbots—The Seeds of Interstellar Civilization” by Robert Buckalew

·       In the category of “ORIGINAL COLLEGE WRITING” the winner is “A Kingdom of Ends” by Ryan Burgess

100YSS, led by former astronaut, engineer, physician and entrepreneur Dr. Mae Jemison, is an independent, long-term global initiative working to ensure that the capabilities for human interstellar travel, beyond our solar system to another star, exist within the next 100 years.  

“Imagination, varied perspectives and a well told story are critical to advancing civilizations.  In particular, beginning with the simple question ‘What if?’ pushes us to look beyond the world in front of us and to envision what could be, ought to be and other realities,”said Dr. Jemison.  “Both science fiction and exploratory non-fiction have inspired discovery, invention, policy, technology and exploration that has transformed our world.”

The award is named for the second brightest star in the night sky, Canopus, which connects humanity’s past, present and future through fact and fantasy. Over the millennia Canopus not only heralded planting seasons in the Rift Valley, but was a major navigation star for everyone from the Bedouin of the Sinai and the Maori of New Zealand to deep space probes like Voyager. Just as Canopus has helped explorers find their way for centuries, great writing —telling a story well ––is a guidepost for current and future interstellar achievement.

The digital presentation of the 2ndCanopus Awards was done in conjunction with Look Up Lunar Landing. Look Up Lunar Landing is the fourth international Look Up event, following the introduction of Skyfie™ in October 2018 during a 24-hour event; a November 2018 photo curation challenge with NatGeo’s SureShot; and an April 2019 project with Yuri’s Night.

Originally scheduled for live presentation in late 2017, the Canopus Award event, and the Nexus conference that it was a part of, were postponed due to insurmountable challenges faced in the wake of Hurricane Harvey that devastated the Houston area that year. In the intervening time, efforts have been made to reschedule the Nexus and while those plans are still being developed, 100YSS determined that in a desire to celebrate the accomplishments and efforts of the Canopus Awards and its judges, nominees, and winners, that the announcement of the awards would be moved online.

Canopus Award program manager and writer Jason D. Batt notes that, “100YSS is launching the awards at a particularly fortuitous time. The recent announcements of Kepler-452b exoplanet, major financial support of searches for extraterrestrial intelligence and the space probe New Horizons close encounter with Pluto and the amazing images it is generating highlight how we all look up and dream of what’s out there.  The Canopus award celebrates that passion that is common to the public, researchers and science fiction fans alike.”

Award category finalists are as listed below:

“Previously Published Long-Form Fiction”(40,000 words or more):

·      The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager)

·      Dark Orbitby Carolyn Ives Gilman (Tor)

·      Sevenevesby Neal Stephenson (HarperCollins)

·      The Three-Body Problemby Cixin Liu, Translated by Ken Liu (Tor)

·      Arkwrightby Allen Steele (Tor)

“Previously Published Short-Form Fiction”(between 1,000 and 40,000 words):

·      “Slow Bullets” by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon Publications)

·      “The Long Vigil” by Rhett C. Bruno (Perihelion)

·      “The Citadel of Weeping Pearls” by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s Science Fiction)

·      “Wavefronts of History and Memory” by David D. Levine (Analog Science Fiction and Fact)

·      “The Four Thousand, The Eight Hundred” by Greg Egan (Subterranean Press)

·      “Whom He May Devour” by Alex Shvartsman (Nautilus)

·      “Love and Relativity” by Stewart C. Baker (Flash Fiction Online)

“Previously Published Nonfiction”(between 1,000 and 40,000 words):

·      “A Terrestrial Planet Candidate in a Temperate Orbit Around Proxima” by Guillem Anglada-Escude, et al. (Nature)

·      “A Science Critique of Auroraby Kim Stanley Robinson” by Stephen Baxter, James Benford, and Joseph Miller (Centauri Dreams)

·      Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planetby Buzz Aldrin and Marianne Dyson (National Geographic)

·      “Let’s All Go to Mars” by John Lanchester (London Review of Books)

·      “Our Worldship Broke!” by Jim Beall (Baen Books)

“Original Fiction”(1,000-5,000 words):

·      “The Quest for New Cydonia” by Russell Hemmell

·      “Luminosity” by Adeene Denton

·      “Mission” by Yoshifumi Kakiuchi

·      “Envoy” by K. G. Jewell

·      “Sleeping Westward” by Lorraine Schein

“Original Non-Fiction”(1,000-5,000 words):

·      “Motivatingly Plausible Ways to Reach the Stars” by James Blodgett

·       “Microbots—The Seeds of Interstellar Civilization” by Robert Buckalew

·      “An Anthropic Program for the Long-Term Survival of Humankind” by Roberto Paura

·      “Terraforming Planets, Geoengineering Earth” by James Fleming

“Original College Writing”(1,000-5,000 words):

·      “A Kingdom of Ends” by Ryan Burgess

·      “Ethics in Space” by Greg Becker

In addition, the following works were noted as inclusion for honorable mention by our selection committee although they were not finalists in any category:

Honorable Mention

·       Interstella Cinderellaby Deborah Underwood (Chronicle Books)

·       Protos Mandateby Nick Kanas (Springer)

·       The Arkby Patrick S. Tomlinson (Angry Robot Books)

·       The Destructivesby Matthew de Abaitua (Angry Robot Books)

·       “Exquisite Banality of Space” by Leslie J. Anderson, published in Uncanny Magazine

·       “Spacefarer’s Creed” by Matt Noble (poetry)

·       “Dispatchers from Interstellar Race Relations Log” by Janel Cloyd (poetry)

For more information about award criteria, nomination and submission, visit http://100yss.org/initiatives/canopusaward.  

VIDEO ANNOUCEMENT

https://www.facebook.com/100YearStarship/

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ABOUT100YEARSTARSHIP™

100YearStarship™ (100YSS)is an independent, non-governmental, long-term initiative to ensure the capabilities for human interstellar flight exist as soon as possible, and definitely with in the next 100 years. 100YSS was started in 2012 with seed-funding through a competitive grant from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) for the purpose of fostering the type of explosive innovation and technology and social  advances born from addressing such an incredible challenge.  To foster such innovation, 100YSS engages in collaborative international programs and projects in research and innovation, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) capacity building, entrepreneurship and education projects with and between organizations, companies, universities and individuals.  Based in Houston, TX, 100YSS recently opened an affiliate in Brussels, 100YSS@EU and is in the process of developing affiliates in Africa and Asia.

100YSSispartofthe DorothyJemisonFoundationforExcellence.Formoreinformation,visitwww.100yss.org.  

Find us on social media:

Facebook:         www.facebook.com/100YearStarship

Twitter:            @100YSS 

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DR. MAE JEMISON TO LAUNCH LOOK UP AT 25TH ANNIVERSARY OF SPACEFLIGHT CELEBRATION

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 New Initiative to Connect and Inspire People Globally over the Year Culminating in a Day to LOOK UP Global Special Event

 LOS ANGELES, September 15, 2017 – Tonight, Dr. Mae Jemison the world’s first woman of color in space will oversee the launch of the LOOK UP worldwide initiative during the celebration of the 25th anniversary of her spaceflight in 1992.  

 LOOK UP over the next year will connect people worldwide, from all walks of life, culminating on a single day in August 2018 when everyone will be asked to LOOK UP and share what they see and their thoughts, hopes, fears, dreams and ideas for best path forward.  LOOK UP is a day, 24 hours, we acknowledge our oneness as Earthlings and concurrently our right to be a part of this greater universe.

 Why LOOK UP?  “It is critical that we realize that worldwide, that all our lives and well-being are inextricably woven into the fabric of this planet Earth and globally connected to the greater universe,” Jemison stated.  “This is not a choice; it is a reality.  Whether we as a species survive, progress and thrive depends upon how we embrace this reality.”

 Notables signing onto the goals of LOOK UP with Jemison, an engineer, physician, social scientist and NASA’s first African American woman astronaut, include:  LeVar Burton; Nichelle Nichols; Jill Tarter, Ph.D.; Halfu Osumare, Ph.D.; Amy Millman and Springboard Enterprises; MAKERS; Bayer Corporation; Scholastic, Inc.; 100 Year Starship; and, Yuri’s Night.

 LOOK UP is purposefully designed to build momentum and evolve as individuals and organizations around the globe are connected, propose and develop LOOK UP activities in schools, workplaces, communities and nations that will highlight what they learn from the sky.  The LOOK UP platform will facilitate these activities and the creation of a tapestry of the images, observations and activities that are woven together and can be accessed globally.  The LOOK UP website, www.lookuponesky.org will “go live” tonight and individuals and groups are urged to sign up to receive updates, challenges, opportunities and news, as well as to become part of the LOOK UP global community.

 Dr. Jill Tarter points to the fascination of the recent solar eclipse that swept North America and reminds us that “For millennia, across the world humans have looked to the sky to navigate their world.  We live both under one sky here on Earth and within the greater universe.  And while part of Earth, it is important to push to explore farther and to claim a place in the larger cosmos.”

 Jemison and colleagues from 100 Year Starship have been developing LOOK UP for over a year and believe it is critical in the world today to offer this platform to engage people across cultures, nations and economies in order to facilitate understanding and contributing to our shared future.  To LOOK UP and build a better, robust path forward that includes and benefits us all.

 LeVar Burton explains LOOK UP, “Let’s take one day to LOOK UP and recognize that we share not just the same origins, but the same sky.  And a growing ambition to be mature enough to leave home. LOOK UP and join the movement.”

  ABOUT MAE JEMISON, M.D.

Audacious and pioneering, polymath Dr. Mae Jemison is a leading voice for science, social responsibility and innovation.  Jemison leads 100 Year Starship®, a global initiative that is pushing the frontiers of space exploration – ensuring human interstellar travel in 100 years.  The world’s first woman of color in space, she is committed to applying advance space technology to enhance life on Earth.  Dr. Jemison draws upon her experience as a physician, inventor, environmental studies professor, science literacy advocate, development worker in Africa and founder of two tech start-ups.  Recently, LEGO announced her as one of five Women of LEGO NASA kit. She is the 2016-2017 Poling Chair at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.  A member of Fortune 500 boards, the National Academy of Medicine and the National Women’s Hall of Fame, Dr. Jemison was voted one of the top seven women leaders in a presidential ballot straw poll and was the first astronaut to appear on Star Trek. Dr. Jemison lives in Houston and is still learning important life lessons from her cats.

 For more information, visit www.drmae.com.

 Find Dr. Jemison on social media:

Twitter:  @maejemison

  ABOUT 100 YEAR STARSHIP™

100 Year Starship™ (100YSS) is building a global community to ensure that the capabilities for human interstellar travel beyond our solar system exist as soon as possible, and definitely within the next 100 years.  An independent, non-governmental, long-term initiative, 100YSS was started in 2012 with seed-funding through a competitive grant from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to foster the type of explosive innovation and technology and social advances born from addressing such an audacious challenge.  To bolster such innovation, 100YSS has programs and projects include research and innovation, across the physical and social sciences, the arts, entrepreneurship and education.  Based in Houston, 100YSS collaborates with international organizations, companies, universities and individuals including affiliate in Brussels, partnerships in Africa and Asia.

 For more information, visit www.100yss.org.

 Find us on social media:

Facebook:       www.facebook.com/100YearStarship

Twitter:            @100YSS

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100 YEAR STARSHIP TO ANNOUNCE WINNERS OF THE 2016-17 CANOPUS AWARDS AT NEXUS 2017 IN LOS ANGELES IN SEPTEMBER

HOUSTON/LOS ANGELES, September 5, 2017 — 100 Year Starshipâ (100YSSâ) will announce the winners of the 2016-2017 Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Writing on Saturday, September 16 at Nexus 2017 – the space gathering to engage people of all walks of life – at the Le Meridien Delfina Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif.

 The Canopus Award is a writing prize recognizing the finest fiction and non-fiction works that engage broad audiences and enhance the understanding excitement and knowledge of interstellar space exploration and travel.  It is a key project of 100YSS, the independent, inclusive, long-term global initiative led by former astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison to ensure the capabilities for human travel beyond our solar system exist within the next 100 years. And, every step of the way, to apply the innovations and ideas from space exploration to improve life here on Earth.

 In April, 100YSS named the finalists in Canopus’ six fiction and non-fiction categories.  These finalists will join other award-winning authors, as well as social and physical scientists, as the winners are honored during Science Fiction Stories night. One of 100YSS’s most popular Nexus events, Science Fiction Stories Night brings together some of the most creative minds in science fiction to help fuel the imaginations and possibilities for current and budding science fiction writers.

 The 2016-2017 award category finalists include:

 “Previously Published Long-Form Fiction” (40,000 words or more):

·       The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager)

·       Dark Orbit by Carolyn Ives Gilman (Tor)

·       Seveneves by Neal Stephenson (HarperCollins)

·       The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, Translated by Ken Liu (Tor)

·       Arkwright by Allen Steele (Tor)  

 “Previously Published Short-Form Fiction” (between 1,000 and 40,000 words):

·       “Slow Bullets” by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon Publications)

·       “The Long Vigil” by Rhett C. Bruno (Perihelion)

·       “The Citadel of Weeping Pearls” by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s Science Fiction)

·       “Wavefronts of History and Memory” by David D. Levine (Analog Science Fiction and Fact)

·       “The Four Thousand, The Eight Hundred” by Greg Egan (Subterranean Press)

·       “Whom He May Devour” by Alex Shvartsman (Nautilus)

·       “Love and Relativity” by Stewart C. Baker (Flash Fiction Online)

“Previously Published Nonfiction” (between 1,000 and 40,000 words):

·       “A Terrestrial Planet Candidate in a Temperate Orbit Around Proxima” by Guillem Anglada-Escude, et al. (Nature)

·       “A Science Critique of Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson” by Stephen Baxter, James Benford, and Joseph Miller (Centauri Dreams)

·       Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planet by Buzz Aldrin and Marianne Dyson (National Geographic)

·       “Let’s All Go to Mars” by John Lanchester (London Review of Books)

·       “Our Worldship Broke!” by Jim Beall (Baen Books)

 “Original Fiction” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “The Quest for New Cydonia” by Russell Hemmell

·       “Luminosity” by Adeene Denton

·       “Mission” by Yoshifumi Kakiuchi

·       “Envoy” by K. G. Jewell

·       “Sleeping Westward” by Lorraine Schein

“Original Non-Fiction” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “Motivatingly Plausible Ways to Reach the Stars” by James Blodgett

·       “Microbots—The Seeds of Interstellar Civilization” by Robert Buckalew

·       “An Anthropic Program for the Long-Term Survival of Humankind” by Roberto Paura

·       “Terraforming Planets, Geoengineering Earth” by James Fleming

 “Original College Writing” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “A Kingdom of Ends” by Ryan Burgess

·       “Ethics in Space” by Greg Becker

   ABOUT NEXUS 2017 & 100 YEAR STARSHIP™

Organized and sponsored by 100YSS, Nexus 2017 is the space gathering designed to engage people from all walks of life.  It is a powerful three-day event open to the public. Attendees will be actively engaged by speakers, expert in array of fields, in seminars, interactive workshops and challenges, classes, receptions, networking, attendee presentations in the Idea Pools, celebrations and awards. Nexus is an evolution of the four prior public symposiums 100YSS has held since its inception in 2012.

 With its bold declaration, “Space. Radical. Vital. Down to Earth.,” Nexus invites everyone – artists and engineers, physicians and philosophers, rocket scientists and lawyers, financiers and storytellers, space enthusiasts and professionals, dancers and educators, young and old – to share and apply their unique experiences, skills and passions to commit to pursuing an extraordinary tomorrow, while building a better world today, both on Earth and in space.

 100 Year Starship™ (100YSS) is building a global community to ensure that the capabilities for human interstellar travel beyond our solar system exist as soon as possible, and definitely within the next 100 years.  An independent, non-governmental, long-term initiative, 100YSS was started in 2012 with seed-funding through a competitive grant from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to foster the type of explosive innovation and technology and social advances born from addressing such an audacious challenge.  To bolster such innovation, 100YSS has programs and projects include research and innovation, across the physical and social sciences, the arts, entrepreneurship and education.  Based in Houston, 100YSS collaborates with international organizations, companies, universities and individuals including affiliate in Brussels, partnerships in Africa and Asia.

 For more information, visit www.100yss.org.

 Find us on social media:

 Facebook:            www.facebook.com/100YearStarship

Twitter:                @100YSS

http://canopus.100yss.org

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INCLUSIVE, INTERNATIONAL INTERSTELLAR CONFERENCE TO PREMIERE IN WORLD’S ENTERTAINMENT CENTER

 100 Year Starship to Host Nexus 2017 Event in Los Angeles

HOUSTON/LOS ANGELES, August 28, 2017 – 100 Year Starshipâ (100YSSâ) announced today it will host Nexus 2017 -- the space gathering designed for people from all walks of life -- in Greater Los Angeles from September 14-17, 2017 at the Le Meridien Delfina Hotel in Santa Monica, Calif.   100YSS is the independent, inclusive, long-term global initiative led by former astronaut Dr. Mae Jemison to ensure the capabilities for human travel beyond our solar system exist within the next 100 years. And, every step of the way, to apply the innovations and ideas from space exploration to improve life here on Earth.

Nexus 2017 is a powerful three-day event open to the public.   Attendees will be actively engaged by speakers, expert in array of fields, in seminars, interactive workshops and challenges, classes, receptions, networking, attendee presentations in the Idea Pools, celebrations and awards.  Nexus is an evolution of the four prior public symposiums 100YSS has held since its inception in 2012.  

With its bold declaration, “Space. Radical. Vital. Down to Earth.,” Nexus invites everyone – artists and engineers, physicians and philosophers, rocket scientists and lawyers, financiers and storytellers, space enthusiasts and professionals, dancers and educators, young and old – to share and apply their unique experiences, skills and passions to commit to pursuing an extraordinary tomorrow, while building a better world today, both on Earth and in space.  

“Via Nexus, everyone can be at the confluence of science and culture, collaboratively sparking this grand evolution to expand beyond this beautiful planet we call home, while also nurturing our Earth home where the majority of us will live for untold generations to come,” said Dr. Jemison.  “100 Year Starship is transforming its approach so all people may claim their place at the table and experience, re-imagine, learn, celebrate and discuss the future of space exploration and its immediate impacts on the world today.”  

Nexus 2017 promotes experiences.  Attendees will engage in hands-on, transdisciplinary approaches that stretch their imaginations.  While considering today’s cutting-edge technology and the possibilities of the future, attendees will be challenged to discuss and take action on thought-provoking frontiers of science, civilization, culture, space, technology, society and culture, both now and in the future.  

Featured speakers include William Welser IV, Director of Engineering and Applied Science, RAND Corporation; Robert Franklin, Ph.D., President Emeritus, Morehouse College; Mike Perschon, Ph.D., English professor, MacEwen University, Canada (aka the Steampunk Scholar); Stephane Gres, Ph.D., Universite de Technologie de Compiegne, France; Karl Aspelund, Ph.D., Textiles professor, University of Rhode Island; Ronke Olabisi, Ph.D., Bioengineering professor, Rutgers University; and, Kurt Zatloukol, M.D., Medical University of Graz, Austria.

Artificial and Human Intelligence, Design Strategies, Sate of the Universe, Becoming an Interstellar Civilization, Modeling Health and Human Behavior, Women in Aerospace Industry and Radical Leaps are among the topics to be addressed.

According to Jemison, “Nexus is for anyone who wants to get their “geek” on -- or their “art and music,” “philosophical debate” or “R&D.”  Nexus is where people can collaborate, create, network, do and commit to their role in the humanity’s future on and beyond the Earth.”

In addition, several special events will be taking place in conjunction with Nexus, including:

Ÿ25 Strong! Celebrating the 25th Anniversary of Dr. Mae Jemison’s Historic Spaceflight (Friday night, September 15):  Held under the Space Shuttle Endeavour at the California Science Center in Los Angeles, 25 Strong! will explore what becomes possible when we bring together the extraordinary— space exploration— with compassion, innovation, creativity and social commitment to an audacious, inclusive future.  Attendees will walk the “Milky Way” and be a part of the launch of a worldwide global movement. Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Aloe Blacc and Kenji Williams & Bella Gaia will perform.

ŸScience Fiction Stories Night & the Canopus Awards (Saturday night, September 16):  One of 100YSS’s most popular events, the evening will feature the announcement of the winners of the second Canopus Awards for Excellence in Interstellar Writing™, as well as discussions and book signings with award-winning authors and social and physical science experts.  

To register for full access passes, day passes or individual special event tickets, please visit

www.nexus.100yss.net

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100 YEAR STARSHIP NAMES FINALISTS IN 2016-17 CANOPUS AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN INTERSTELLAR WRITING

HOUSTON, April 11, 2017 — 100 Year Starshipâ (100YSSâ) today named the finalists in the 2016-17 Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Writing. The Canopus Award is a writing prize recognizing the finest fiction and non-fiction works that engage broad audiences and enhance the understanding excitement, and knowledge of interstellar space exploration and travel.  

 Winners will be announced and honored at the 100YSS Nexus on Saturday, August 12 in Los Angeles.

 Award category finalists are as listed below.

 “Previously Published Long-Form Fiction” (40,000 words or more):

·       The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet by Becky Chambers (Harper Voyager)

·       Dark Orbit by Carolyn Ives Gilman (Tor)

·       Seveneves by Neal Stephenson (HarperCollins)

·       The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu, Translated by Ken Liu (Tor)

·       Arkwright by Allen Steele (Tor)  

  “Previously Published Short-Form Fiction” (between 1,000 and 40,000 words):

·       “Slow Bullets” by Alastair Reynolds (Tachyon Publications)

·       “The Long Vigil” by Rhett C. Bruno (Perihelion)

·       “The Citadel of Weeping Pearls” by Aliette de Bodard (Asimov’s Science Fiction)

·       “Wavefronts of History and Memory” by David D. Levine (Analog Science Fiction and Fact)

·       “The Four Thousand, The Eight Hundred” by Greg Egan (Subterranean Press)

·       “Whom He May Devour” by Alex Shvartsman (Nautilus)

·       “Love and Relativity” by Stewart C. Baker (Flash Fiction Online)

  “Previously Published Nonfiction” (between 1,000 and 40,000 words):

·       “A Terrestrial Planet Candidate in a Temperate Orbit Around Proxima” by Guillem Anglada-Escude, et al. (Nature)

·       “A Science Critique of Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson” by Stephen Baxter, James Benford, and Joseph Miller (Centauri Dreams)

·       Welcome to Mars: Making a Home on the Red Planet by Buzz Aldrin and Marianne Dyson (National Geographic)

·       “Let’s All Go to Mars” by John Lanchester (London Review of Books)

·       “Our Worldship Broke!” by Jim Beall (Baen Books)

  “Original Fiction” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “The Quest for New Cydonia” by Russell Hemmell

·       “Luminosity” by Adeene Denton

·       “Mission” by Yoshifumi Kakiuchi

·       “Envoy” by K. G. Jewell

·       “Sleeping Westward” by Lorraine Schein

“Original Non-Fiction” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “Motivatingly Plausible Ways to Reach the Stars” by James Blodgett

·       “Microbots—The Seeds of Interstellar Civilization” by Robert Buckalew

·       “An Anthropic Program for the Long-Term Survival of Humankind” by Roberto Paura

·       “Terraforming Planets, Geoengineering Earth” by James Fleming

  “Original College Writing” (1,000-5,000 words):

·       “A Kingdom of Ends” by Ryan Burgess

·       “Ethics in Space” by Greg Becker

 For more information about award criteria, visit http://canopus.100yss.org

   ABOUT 100 YEAR STARSHIP™

100 Year Starship™ (100YSS) is building a global community to ensure that the capabilities for human interstellar travel beyond our solar system exist as soon as possible, and definitely within the next 100 years.  An independent, non-governmental, long-term initiative, 100YSS was started in 2012 with seed-funding through a competitive grant from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) to foster the type of explosive innovation and technology and social advances born from addressing such an audacious challenge.  To bolster such innovation, 100YSS has programs and projects include research and innovation, across the physical and social sciences, the arts, entrepreneurship and education.  Based in Houston, 100YSS collaborates with international organizations, companies, universities and individuals including affiliate in Brussels, partnerships in Africa and Asia.

For more information, visit www.100yss.org.

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If you can be sustainable in space, you should on earth too

2030 is not only the deadline for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals but also the target date for a manned American mission to the planet Mars.

Many would say that implementing a Sustainable Development Agenda on planet earth was a tall order but to paraphrase Oscar Wilde, while we may all be in the gutter - some of us are looking at the stars.

One of those who is looking at space is Dr. Karl Aspelund, an Icelandic-American researcher at the University of Rhode Island. Aspelund is a member of a group of space enthusiasts called 100 Year Starship, which advocate human space flight beyond the solar system by 2112 and a manned mission to Mars is a first step.

Read More

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NASA Team Claims ‘Impossible’ Space Engine Works - Get the Facts.

Photo Courtesy of AIAA. 

Scientists just published a paper saying that the controversial EmDrive produces thrust, even though that defies known laws of physics.

After years of speculation, a maverick research team at NASA’s Johnson Space Center has reached a milestone that many experts thought was impossible. This week, the team formally published their experimental evidence for an electromagnetic propulsion system that could power a spacecraft through the void—without using any kind of propellant.

According to the team, the electromagnetic drive, or EmDrive, converts electricity into thrust simply by bouncing around microwaves in a closed cavity. In theory, such a lightweight engine could one day send a spacecraft to Mars in just 70 days. (Find out why Elon Musk thinks a million people could live on Mars by the 2060s.)

Read More Here

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One Star Over, a Planet That Might Be Another Earth

Another Earth could be circling the star right next door to us.

Astronomers announced on Wednesday that they had detected a planet orbiting Proxima Centauri, the closest neighbor to our solar system. Intriguingly, the planet is in the star’s “Goldilocks zone,” where it may not be too hot nor too cold. That means liquid water could exist at the surface, raising the possibility for life.

Although observations in recent years, particularly by NASA’s Kepler planet-finding mission, have uncovered a bounty of Earth-size worlds throughout the galaxy, this one holds particular promise because it might someday, decades from now, be possible to reach. It’s 4.2 light-years, or 25 trillion miles, away from Earth, which is extremely close in cosmic terms.

Read More Here

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100 YEAR STARSHIP ANNOUNCES SECOND ANNUAL CANOPUS AWARD TO HONOR EXCELLENCE IN INTERSTELLAR WRITING

HOUSTON, July 6, 2016 — The 2016 100 Year Starship (100YSS) Canopus Award for Excellence in Interstellar Writing is now open for submissions through August 30, 2016.  The annual prize recognizes the finest fiction and non-fiction works that expand our understanding of the challenges, opportunities, pitfalls and rewards of interstellar space exploration.

 This year’s theme, “Near Steps to Interstellar,” explores what steps can or must be accomplished in the next five to 10 years to ensure successful human travel beyond our solar system to another star.  Achieving the capabilities for a human interstellar journey by 2112 will demand discontinuous, radical advances.  It also will require incremental progress be made in our knowledge of engineering, economics, social structures, biological systems, sustainability and commitment.  Finally, the reality is that the vast majority of people and their descendants will remain on Earth.  So, all along the way, how will the advances we make to get to the stars be exploited and impact life on Earth, our home planet?

 The Canopus Award’s namesake is the second brightest star in the night sky.  The star Canopus has occupied a central role in the human journey over millennia—from an auspicious herald of planting seasons to a major navigation star for civilizations from the Bedouins of Sinai to the Voyager probe.  

The Canopus Award is a key program of 100YSS, an independent, long-term international initiative to ensure that the capabilities for human interstellar travel, beyond our solar system to another star, exist within the next 100 years.   100YSS led by former astronaut, engineer, physician and entrepreneur, Dr. Mae Jemison, together with advocates, researchers, industry experts and everyday people from all walks of life is building a global community capable of realizing this audacious journey.

 “Storytelling is essential to communicating and concretizing a vision.  A story well told—fictional or non- fictional—pushes us to consider how, where, who and why we advance, stagnate or regress,” said Dr. Jemison.  “The Canopus Award invites writers and journalists to join the adventure.”

 This year’s Canopus Award will be made in seven categories.  The first three categories are for Previously Published Works with awards made for Long Form Fiction (40,000 words or more), Short Form Fiction and Popular Non-Fiction (between 1,000 and 40,000 words).  

 The categories for Original Works are based on this year’s 100YSS theme “Near Steps to Interstellar”.   Awards will be given for Original Short Form Fiction (1,000-6,000 words) and Original Short Form Non-fiction (1,000-6,000 words).

In addition, two new award categories are being introduced this year for Original College Works, including Original College Short Form Fiction (1,000-5,000 words) and Original College Short Form Non-fiction (1,000-5,000 words).

 Prizes include a spectacular crystal award, cash, publication, sponsorship to 100YSS special events and programs.

 100YSS is currently accepting submissions of Original Works and nominations for Previously Published Works until August 30, 2016.  Five finalists will be selected from each of the seven award categories and will be announced in September. Canopus judges will then select one winner from each list of finalists. Winners will be announced and honored during a special award ceremony at 100YSS’ annual public event.

 According to Canopus Award director Jason Batt, 2016 will also include an opportunity for a glimpse at the contributions that visual, digital and musical art make to shape the future. Exact details will be released in August 2016.

 For more information about award criteria, nomination and submission, visit http://canopus.100yss.org.  To nominate or submit works to the Canopus Award, visit http://canopus.100yss.org.

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  ABOUT 100 YEAR STARSHIP™

100 Year Starship™ (100YSS) is an independent, non-governmental, long-term initiative to ensure the capabilities for human interstellar flight exist as soon as possible, and definitely within the next 100 years. 100YSS was started in 2012 with seed-funding through a competitive grant from DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) for the purpose of fostering the type of explosive innovation and technology and social advances born from addressing such an incredible challenge.  To foster such innovation, 100YSS engages in collaborative international programs and projects in research and innovation, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) capacity building, entrepreneurship and education projects with and between organizations, companies, universities and individuals.  Programs and projects include yearly public gathering, 100YSS Cruciblesä expert workshops to jump start new disciplines, envisioning Center for Advanced Aerospace Manufacturing, public outreach and advocacy, membership and educational.  Based in Houston, TX, 100YSS recently opened an affiliate in Brussels, 100YSS@EU and is in the process of developing affiliates in Africa and Asia.

 100YSS is part of the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence. For more information, visit www.100yss.org.  

 Find us on social media:

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Twitter:                                    @100YSS

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How One Former Astronaut Is Prepping For A Trip Outside The Solar System

by Sarah Hedgecock 

Mae Jemison is probably best known as the first black woman to go to space. But now she’s working on an even bigger goal: Sending humans beyond our solar system.

“People don’t actually get it,” she explained in an interview during the Forbes Women’s Summit Thursday. “Why space matters.”

The 100 Year Starship project was launched with a grant from DARPA in 2011 and one goal: “to make the capability of human travel beyond our solar system a reality within the next 100 years.” And Jemison is the person in charge, doing everything from organizing symposia to finding researchers.

The goal really is to get humans on the course to the next star within 100 years. But even more than that, the project is about drawing attention to the importance of basic research, getting people excited about science and finding novel solutions to problems we didn’t even know we had.

“It’s not about launching a mission in the next 100 years,” she clarifies. “It’s about making sure the capabilities exist.”

Read More

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Dr. Mae Jemison Gives Annual Sturm Lecture

Dr. Mae Jemison, an American astronaut and physician, gave the University’s annual Sturm Memorial Lecture on Tuesday, April 19 in the Ring Family Performing Arts Hall, followed by a reception and observing session at Van Vleck Observatory. Her talk, “Exploring the Frontiers of Science and Human Potential,” focused on her devotion to her 100 Year Starship Project, of which she is the principal, aiming to make human travel to another star within the next century. Jemison is the first African American woman to have ventured into space aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour and is a dogged promoter of STEM education.

“Her leadership and vision provides guidance and direction for the foundation and in fulfilling its goal of ensuring all the capabilities for a successful human journey to another star will exist by 2112,” reads Jemison’s biography on the 100 Year Starship website.

Throughout her talk, Jemison emphasized the the significance of interstellar travel, arguing that such expeditions are worthy endeavors to undertake. One of the main obstacles to space voyages, she explained, involves preparing for the uncertainties that exist with respect to interstellar travel.

“The interesting thing is, as we travel into space, it becomes black,” Jemison said. “Space is black, and in order to prepare for ‘going into the black,’ we really need to prepare to travel successfully in the unknown….There are all these issues that are associated with going into something where you don’t know all the answers, and that to me is what’s so compelling and powerful about it.”

Jemison addressed her concern that while astronomers are in tune with the need for space exploration, it is often more difficult for the public to see the importance of venturing into space since it appears to be far removed from their daily lives.

“When people think about space exploration, very frequently, they don’t think of the impact that it has,” Jemison said. “When folks think about space exploration, they think about ‘What does it have to do with me?’”

To change this perception, Jemison explained the need to involve a large and diverse population of individuals to assist in the effort of traveling into the unknown. Countries with robust space programs incorporate inclusive and transdisciplinary philosophies to achieve their goals, which helps make their research relatable to a larger audience.

“I really posit that if we expand our geographic scope of ourselves, then we’ll also better appreciate our home,” Jemison said. “That’s what 100 Year Starship is about…the purpose of process and impact.”

Abby Shneyder ’17, who is currently working on the Under Connecticut Skies project creating a museum exhibit to honor the last 100 years in astronomy, particularly enjoyed the way Jemison interacted with the audience during her lecture. Simulating the kinds of decisions and planning that go into a long-term space mission, she polled audience members, asking them to make seemingly mundane choices to demonstrate the depth of detail involved in such an endeavor.

“All of these questions, while ultimately fun to think about, underlined the connections between imminent space travel and current technological innovations and development,” Shneyder wrote in an email to The Argus.

At a more emotional level, Shneyder was excited to be learning about astronomy from someone who has actually been to space.

“What stood out to me about this year’s lecture was the nature of the speaker herself,” she said. “Every couple of minutes, suddenly I would be struck by this sort of rather obvious epiphany: this incredible woman has actually traveled to outer space!”

Drawing on her experience working with the Under Connecticut Skies project, Shneyder shared her excitement about being able to simultaneously look into the past and peer into the future of astronomy.

“Throughout the talk, I felt like I had rather luckily found myself at a particular pivot point in history, able to see both 100 years back into the past and 100 years forward into the future,” she wrote.

Melissa Joskow ’18, another student working on the Van Vleck historical exhibition project, particularly appreciated the way Jemison handled addressing a lay audience.

“I attended the Sturm lecture last year, and while the speaker last year was really inspiring, what was great about Dr. Jemison’s talk was that it really seemed geared towards those who may not know a lot about astronomy, or space, or physics,” Joskow wrote in an email to The Argus. “That doesn’t mean that the content was any lesser, but she was addressing many important questions that anybody could think about, regardless of their major or interests.”

Each spring, the Sturm Lecture features a speech by a distinguished astronomer with the goal of stimulating public interest in the sciences. Free of charge, it is sponsored by the Astronomy Department, the Allbritton Center for the Study of Public Life, the Baldwin Lecture Fund, and the Connecticut Space Grant Consortium. This year’s Sturm Lecture is also part of the Astronomy Department’s ongoing celebration of the Van Vleck Centennial.

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Starshot: Russian billionaire and Stephen Hawking want to use lasers to send tiny spacecraft to nearby star

This is not your granddad’s moonshot. Russian billionaire Yuri Milner and physicist Stephen Hawking have announced Breakthrough Starshot, a $100-million initiative to develop spacecraft that would send probes all the way to Alpha Centauri, the nearest star system.

These nano-craft would have to travel roughly a thousand times faster than current spacecraft – and would also be much smaller, consisting of a light sail and a chip that could fit in your cellphone. That’s a big job for some tiny tech.

“Collectively we as humans are at a point in which, technologically, there’s at least one feasible path to getting to another star within our generation,” former NASA astronaut Mae Jemison said at a news briefing Tuesday at the One World Observatory in New York City. Jemison now leads the 100 Year Starship project, which fosters research into the necessary technology for interstellar travel.

Over the 20th and 21st centuries, humans have been sent as far as the moon and spacecraft have ventured much farther – to Mars, to Pluto and in the case of NASA’s Voyager spacecraft, into interstellar space. But even Voyager, traveling around 40,000 mph, has centuries to go before it enters the Oort Cloud ringing our solar system’s fringes – and tens of thousands of years more to emerge from it. Visiting the nearest star is another challenge entirely.

Read Full Article Here

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This audacious plan to send humans to distant stars might just save the world

Before we can launch a ship carrying some part of humanity's population to a faraway star, perhaps to colonize a new planet (maybe Kepler-452b?), there are a lot of technological, scientific, and societal challenges we need to figure out.

But those challenges shouldn't prevent us from even trying.

Instead, we should work develop solutions as soon as possible. Along the way, we might find that these same solutions will address some of the greatest problems facing us here on Earth, like how we can survive and thrive with limited resources, a changing climate, new diseases, and growing population. 

That's what the 100-Year Starship program is all about.

The NASA and DARPA funded project, launched in 2011, is supposed to make humans capable of voyaging beyond our solar system within the next 100 years.

Read Full Article Here

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Internet Investor and Science Philanthropist Yuri Milner & Physicist Stephen Hawking Announce Breakthrough Starshot Project to Develop 100 Million Mile per Hour Mission to the Stars within a Generation

$100 million research and engineering program will seek proof of concept for using light beam to propel gram-scale ‘nanocraft’ to 20 percent of light speed. A possible fly-by mission could reach Alpha Centauri within about 20 years of its launch.  

Mark Zuckerberg is joining the board.

New York – Tuesday, April 12 – Internet investor and science philanthropist Yuri Milner was joined at One World Observatory today by renowned cosmologist Stephen Hawking to announce a new Breakthrough Initiative focusing on space exploration and the search for life in the Universe.

 Breakthrough Starshot is a $100 million research and engineering program aiming to demonstrate proof of concept for light-propelled nanocrafts. These could fly at 20 percent of light speed and capture images of possible planets and other scientific data in our nearest star system, Alpha Centauri, just over 20 years after their launch.

 The program will be led by Pete Worden, the former director of NASA AMES Research Center, and advised by a committee of world-class scientists and engineers. The board will consist of Stephen Hawking, Yuri Milner, and Mark Zuckerberg.

 Ann Druyan, Freeman Dyson, Mae Jemison, Avi Loeb and Pete Worden also participated in the announcement.

 Today, on the 55th anniversary of Yuri Gagarin’s pioneering space flight, and nearly half a century after the original ‘moonshot’, Breakthrough Starshot is launching preparations for the next great leap: to the stars.

Read Full Text of Press Release Here

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An astronaut planning a mission to a distant star shares 'an unpleasant truth I have to tell everyone'

Tech Insider | Kevin Loria

As a species, we have long looked to the stars. They have provided navigational guidance, spurred our imaginations, and inspired us to explore.

We are explorers who have spread around the world and are now reaching into space — to Mars soon, we hope, and beyond. Some of our most popular fiction focuses on life spread across the universe, including "Star Wars" and "Star Trek" as well as video games like "Mass Effect" and the coming "No Man's Sky."

So it's perhaps no surprise that when people find out about the 100-Year Starship project, which is designed to push humanity toward achieving what's needed to actually be capable of interstellar travel within 100 years, many are excited — and want to sign up to go.

But Dr. Mae Jemison, the astronaut in charge of the NASA- and Darpa-funded 100-Year Starship, has some bad news for those eager to join an interstellar voyage.

Read more to find out about that “unpleasant truth”...

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The first obstacle we face when figuring out how to travel to a distant star

TechInsider.com | Kevin Loria 

There are plenty of obstacles that we have to overcome before humanity might hypothetically be able to send a ship full of thousands to a distant star.

We have to figure out how to create a vessel that can sustain itself for generations and provide everything needed for life. Plus, it has to have the power and speed to cross light years of ever-expanding space.

But out of all the technical questions that must be answered and hurdles that must be jumped before we start on a project designed to make interstellar travel a real possibility, there's one that stands out at the start, according to Dr. Mae Jemison, a former astronaut who's now in charge of the 100-Year Starship organization.

Read More

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100YSS Canopus Award Winner Ken Liu profiled by NBC News

Award-Winning Sci-Fi Writer Ken Liu On Labels, Authenticity, and Juggling Two Careers

By day, Ken Liu is a litigation consultant, providing expert opinions and expert witness testimony in high-tech cases. By night, he is an award-winning author. His 2012 short story "The Paper Menagerie" was the first work of fiction to win all three major science fiction awards (Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards), and his first novel, "The Grace of Kings," was published last year. Its sequel, "The Wall of Storms," will be released in October 2016.

Read More

Ahead of Tuesday's release of his latest short story collection, "The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories" — which includes his most popular works as well as a new story — Liu spoke with NBC News about storytelling, identity, and his advice for aspiring writers.

How did you choose the stories for this collection? Are they grouped thematically, or was there another method of selection?

That's a good question. I would say that the stories are all very different in one sense. I don't really care that much about genre labels. I tend to write across a variety of different genres. I think a lot of writers sometimes for marketing reasons, and also for personal interest, tend to build a strong brand that is very successful around one well-defined genre.

I certainly have been writing stories that are hard science fiction, that are very reminiscent of "Golden Age tales" from the '40s and '50s. I've also written stories that are very high fantasy that are the direct opposite of that style. "The Paper Menagerie" is a magic realism tale and there are some magical realist tales in there, and there are also that are reminiscent of a modern Chinese writer like Han Zhu.

If you go in there and expect that all the stories to be like "The Paper Menagerie" in the sense that you expect all magical realism tales that are about families, that is not what you are going to find. However I will also say that all my stories are unified by a certain humanist view of life, and of the universe.

I write speculative fiction, and in my view, speculative fiction is really just a very intense version of the work of literature in general. All fiction and all literature are unified in that they operate by a different mode of rhetoric than persuasion. So when we write an essay or try to write a brief, or a letter to our boss, trying to argue for a point, what we're doing is engaging in the logic of persuasion. And that's the bulk of human communication. Fiction is a slightly different mode of communication where the logic of metaphors takes precedence over the logic of persuasion.

Speculative fiction and realist fiction are both about the logic of metaphor. In speculative fiction, the writers and the readers tend to be more welcoming to metaphors that are literalized. In science fiction and fantasy both, I don't think of them as really about science or magic per se. I think they're techniques that are used in the story, but the stories are unified by the idea of the logic of metaphors, the literalizing of metaphors. In something like "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep," the idea of empathy, of human connection, is literalized in the taking of the test that tells you whether you're human or not. In "The Paper Menagerie" the love of the mother and her son are literalized in these paper animals that come to life.

"The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories" The cover of "The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories" Saga Press What do you think are problems specific to Asian-American writers?

The problems faced by writers of color are analogous to the problems face by women writers. Sylvia Plath is famous for this, but a lot of women poets are very frustrated by the fact that their work can't seem to be recognized as valuable unless they are willing to put themselves into it in a way that male writers don't have to. Their work is only valuable as long as they're treated as autobiographical confessions. And that was the mode I was trying to resist.

So my initial set of works that I wrote were all very careful to not touch anything having to do with my Chinese heritage. I wanted to avoid the possibility of any characters in my book being interpreted as Chinese, or anything I say being interpreted as Chinese, because I wanted to avoid the idea that anything I wrote could be particularized and reduced into a mere autobiography, a mere confession, a mere ethnic color.

"IT'S IMPORTANT TO LEARN WHAT KIND OF WRITER YOU ARE OVER TIME. DIFFERENT PEOPLE WILL LIKE DIFFERENT THINGS." I was going for a very non-Chinese mainstream Western presentation. And that ended up being extremely oppressive because it's as though you're trying to talk with one half of your mouth taped shut, or trying to dance with half your body paralyzed. I felt, if I'm avoiding saying things I know about and experiences that are deeply meaningful to me because I'm trying to avoid that type of interpretation, then I'm also letting these people dictate what I can or can't write, and that's not the right answer either.

So over time I shifted to a different approach, where I'm very happy, and I'm very happy and active in integrating the so-called Chinese experience into my work, to give Chinese characters real voices, real agency, and real interpretation. But I want to do this in a way that challenges the Western gaze and ideas of what it means to be Chinese, or Chinese-American.

There's this persistence and harmful stereotype that views Americans of Chinese descent as divided between two cultures. There's this idea that they're struggling between the ideas of tradition and modernity, between Chinese and American, that they have to choose and the fact is that's not the reality of how we live. That's not how Americans of Chinese descent experience life. Every individual person has her own experience. We're individuals, and we have our own particularized, cultural performance and cultural negotiation that we have to go through. It's just reductive and silly and wrong to expect us to act out the fantasies of Western readers who imagine that there's some sort of titanic conflict between cultures. That's not my lived experience and that's not the kind of story I'm interested in telling.

Ken Liu "I’m very happy and active in integrating the so-called Chinese experience into my work, to give Chinese characters real voices, real agency, and real interpretation," author Ken Liu told NBC News. Courtesy of Ken Liu What is the story that you are interested in telling?

What's interesting to me is to think about cultural labels, like "American" and "Chinese," and think about why they are the way are and what they really mean. What I've discovered is that a lot of these labels are imposed by outsiders, and they're not organic, and they have no reality in the experience of people living through them.

There's a lot of talk about authenticity of the Chinese-American experience, and whether that person presents in an authentic manner. "Authentic" is a label that outsiders impose on you. It's not something that you have to perform to get a grade. When somebody says, "That restaurant's really authentic," they're saying that restaurant adheres to their idea and their fantasy of what being Chinese really means. That has nothing to do with what an organic sense of authenticity of meaning in life really comes from.

I believe that a lot of the ideas that are labeled as "Chinese" have very little to do with actually being Chinese, and a lot of labels that are labeled as "American" have very little to do with actually being American. A lot of my works challenge these ideas. You think an idea is Chinese, but it's not, it's universal. You think an idea is American, but it's not, it's actually universal. At the same time you think this is universal, but it's not, it's unique to a very privileged segment of society. So a lot of my work is about negotiating between privilege and the lack of power between dominant cultural narratives and subversive cultural narratives, between labels outsiders impose and the identities that are organically grown from within the community. A lot of my work tries to negotiate that bridge.

"YOU SIMPLY CANNOT COUNT ON THE EXTERNAL VALIDATION AS THE THING TO MOTIVATE YOU." I actually don't like to identify myself as Chinese American. I don't like the hyphenated identity at all because I think it reinforces the "person divided in half" narrative, which I think is false. I prefer to refer to myself as an American writer, and if people really want to put a label on it, I say I'm an American of Chinese descent. My Chinese heritage is very important to me, and I think it's what makes me American, and so my stories are very American stories, but they're about the full range of what it means to be American.

Some writers like it, and they have empowered themselves by seizing on that hyphen. That's perfectly fine. Everybody has to do it their own way. For me, the much more interesting narrative is the one about challenging these labels and their implications.

You don't write full-time. What's your day job?

I work as a litigation consultant with a large consulting company. My work is providing expert opinions and expert witness testimony in high-tech cases.

I think a lot of writers have the dream of being able to do it full-time, and very few of us are able to do it. I don't think that's in the cards for me anytime soon. I've got two young kids at home. Writing is awesome, writing is wonderful, but we live in a world that's governed by commerce and there's a not a whole lot of that when you're a writer!

Do you see any parallels between the law and writing?

I do see a lot of parallels in all the professions I've practiced. After I graduated from college, I worked as a programmer at Microsoft and at a small startup in Cambridge before I went to law school. I was a programmer before I was a lawyer, and I actually practiced as a corporate lawyer for seven years before switching over to do litigation consulting as an expert. So I was a programmer, then I was a lawyer, and now I'm a technical expert who helps attorneys and clients.

All of these professions are very similar because all of them involve constructing new artifacts out of symbolic structures. There's a British writer, W. Bryan Arthur, who has thought a lot about technology, and he's a theorist of technology. And he says the way to think about technology is to treat it as a language. So technologies involve its own vocabulary, its own grammar. An engineer really is very analogous to a poet because an engineer is faced with a new problem, and what he has to do is to work with this repertoire of existing technologies, existing phrases and expressions and tropes within the language of technology. Then what she has to do is to compose them together into a new artifact to solve a new problem in the same way that a poet marshals illusions and metaphors and tropes and existing stock phrases and make them do something new n a new in poem. In the same way a lawyer has to solve novel problems by taking existing legal precedents and legal stock phrases and legal reasoning and puts them together into a new legal structure that will achieve the result that is desired.

Writing fiction is the same way. What we do is to work with these ancient tropes and put them together in a novel way, something that feels new, to give a reader a new emotional experience.

I think of engineering as a very creative profession, and writing fiction a lot of the time is like programming, like engineering, like writing a contract.

How do you do it?

One way is to look at it as inspiring, the other is despair. I don't know which is better! Practically speaking, what really happens is I have to pick the projects I do really carefully. I don't have a lot of time to write. The job is really demanding, but also I want to be a good father and a good husband. So when I have very young children at home and my wife is trying to deal with them, I have to pick up my share and spend time with them. And that's time that has to be carved out and reserved. For writing, there's very little time left, so I have to be efficient. I have to plan out and say, "Look. There are all these anthologies that are open for submission. I could write for all of them but that's just not going to happen. So I have to just pick one I could make a really good contribution to and write for that. And for novels, some writers write very fast and can do two, three novels a year. I'm not that kind of writer. I neither have the time nor the speed necessary to do that. I can do one book a year, so it better be a book I want to spend a lot of time and I can devote and live with in the limited time I have. It's a matter of making choices.

Steve Jobs, when he was alive, would say that Apple is very good at saying no to things. They pick a few things they want to work on, and do them well, but they say no to a lot of things people wish they would do.

There are many any things that are increasing and seem like good ideas but I have to be very careful about picking a few ideas I can devote my attention to and do them well.

Do you have any advice for aspiring writers?

"I BELIEVE THAT A LOT OF THE IDEAS THAT ARE LABELED AS 'CHINESE' HAVE VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH ACTUALLY BEING CHINESE, AND A LOT OF LABELS THAT ARE LABELED AS 'AMERICAN' HAVE VERY LITTLE TO DO WITH ACTUALLY BEING AMERICAN. A LOT OF MY WORKS CHALLENGE THESE IDEAS." The best writing advice I've ever heard is from Tobias Buckell, a fellow writer and a friend. He said that the thing about writing is you have to figure out the difference between goals and the things you would like to have happen to you. A lot of the unhappiness we experience as creative types is that we think and set goals for ourselves that are not actually goals at all, but things we would like happen to us.

The difference is goals are things that are entirely within your control. Things you would like to happen to you are not within your control at all, so if you set those things as your goals you're going to be disappointed because you those are things you can't even do and strive to make happen to you. For example, a goal would be, "I will use this next year to complete three short stories." That's a goal, because sitting there and writing, and setting aside the time to read, to outline, to write, to revise, to edit, those are things you can control. You can decide how to spend your time. But if you decide your goal is "I would like to be professionally published," or "I would like to sell my novel this year," that's not a goal. Getting your story published requires a publisher to accept it, and markets will accept or reject stories for any reason in the world. That's not within your control. Whether you can sell your novel, or whether it will be a best seller, or win an award.

All these things are nice things that you would like happen to you, but none of them are within your control, and setting these things as your goals will make you very unhappy, because you can't control them. We tend to do well when we feel like we're in charge of our own destiny, when we feel we're in charge of our own lives.

I think it is also true that you also have to know who you are. It's important to learn what kind of writer you are over time. Different people will like different things. It's okay for you to write things that are just pleasing yourself, and not chasing the market, because no one really knows where the market is, and chasing that is a loser's market. Ultimately, you should work on things that are of interest to you and ignore everything else, because everything else is just noise. I had a story that I absolutely loved, and it couldn't be sold for seven years. Ultimately I did sell it, and I sold it to an anthology that specialized in taking things that had been rejected many times before, so there's always hope! You simply cannot count on the external validation as the thing to motivate you.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.