Introducing The Big Backup
The Big Backup is an organization dedicated to creating automated, directed, panspermia to bring life to parts of the universe that are barren. Our work seeks to seed earth life with a high chance of self-perpetuation and manageably low risks to local biota.
Life on Earth Matters
The past few hundred years has shown that humanity has enormous capabilities to transform how we live our lives. Through science we’ve developed better medicine, new ways to communicate, and dramatically altered our living conditions. However; these advances are not unidirectionally positive, they have also shown us that the most powerful capabilities inherently come with destructive possibilities: with nuclear power comes the potential for nuclear war, with biological research for medicine also comes bioterrorism, with gasoline comes carbon emissions.
As a response to these risks, numerous organizations, social and political, have formed to try to counter the “extinction” risks facing humanity. One can easily join a movement to have less humans (a common concern in the 1970s), or one to burn less fossil fuels (a common call in the 2000s) or one to stop AI development (a common concern in the 2020s). All of these efforts fundamentally focus on the desire to propagate humanity or dictate a way that humans should live. These are admirable goals, ones in which individuals may find degrees of differences, but overall they all are on the home team so to say; they play for “team human”.
The Big Backup is Different
We are working on something bigger and more expansive.
We are sending the seeds of earth life to the stars.
We pursue this goal because the future is not certain. There may come a day where the moon reflects across the quiet wastes of a now barren Earth, or one in which the sun shines on flora or fauna undisturbed by man footsteps. Or we may find a future where vast skyscrapers gently tower over beautiful copses and humans live in an age of abundance.
All of these, and a million more, are possibilities. Most organizations are working hard to ensure that our future is closer to one of beautiful abundance (or at least not human extinction), but we seek a more expansive vision.
We pursue this goal because there is value in life and the way it has evolved on our world. Regardless of the role the humans will play in the distant future, we think it would be nice to have some part of our Earth’s life continue on.
Why Now is the Time
The time is right for this project for a variety of reasons:
Each year the cost to send material into space is decreasing.
Our understanding of biology is increasing and we have the ability to develop ever more robust microorganisms that could survive the long flights and times needed to reach new starts.
And importantly, we are developing better ways of computing that can better help evaluate whether life exists on other worlds, and to help the devices we create make the best decisions possible when deciding whether to deploy life.
We won’t get it right every time, even if we are successful, but the possibility of continuing an echo of biological memory of this planet makes it worth the risk.
Join Us
We are a small organization right now, and are looking for people who would like to help make this project successful. Specifically, if you are:
Interested in propagating earth life throughout the universe
An astrobiologist
Working in spaceflight
Working on the creation of microorganisms, or in synthetic biology
A software engineer
Are a philosopher or ethicist thinking about these matters
Please reach out to: eli@thebigbackup.com
One More Thing
Pause for a moment before closing this window. Look at your hands, your fingers. Feel your breath for a moment. Soon you will be dust; the life that animated you but a dream lost to the ever increasing entropy of the universe. The fears and fights, your suffering and joy, have been spent in primarily in efforts for mankind.
I ask you to look out your window, to the clouds and sky. To the bugs and plants, to the coursing movement of all life on Earth.
Join us in sharing life with the stars.