Life, Otherwise explores the rapidly shifting assumptions about what we call “life” in an astrobiological context. A space of play and wonder, the project includes commissioned essays, simulations and models by leading thinkers who research humans’ most profound questions: Does life exist beyond Earth? If it does, would we recognize it? Fundamentally: How would the detection of extraterrestrial life transform our understanding about the evolution of biology on Earth — and lead to a generalized theory of the origin of life in the cosmos?

Future Histories of Life, Otherwise

Chapter I, Future Histories, proposes alternative pasts and possible futures of space science to inspire long-term thinking about life beyond Earth, from microbes, to humans, to machines. An immersive online platform featuring a collection of original essays and artworks, this collection draws inspiration from sci-fi, scenario planning, and what-ifs to suggest historians should exercise capacious methods of story-telling for new ways of thinking about the past. When we denaturalize the present by immersing ourselves in alternate histories, we can ask better questions about how we got here.

Proxima Kósmos

Chapter II, Proxima Kósmos, is a speculative solar system populated with strange new worlds and teeming with lifeforms imagined and modeled by some of the world's leading scientists. The project is developing new conceptual frameworks through simulations, chemistry, literature, and storytelling to help humans answer the ultimate question of being: Are we alone in the universe?

Launching in 2025, this platform and complementary lecture and immersive event series will present a year of scientific research on speculative planets.