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Contact Conference
Interdisciplinary space and science conference From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Contact Conference (stylized as CONTACT) is an annual interdisciplinary event that brings together social and space scientists, engineers, science fiction writers, artists, and educators to exchange ideas, explore the future of humanity, and examine ethical and cultural aspects of space exploration and extraterrestrial intelligence. The conference aims to integrate human factors into space research and policy, encourage dialogue between science and art, and foster innovative approaches to cross-cultural communication with potential nonhuman intelligences.[1][2]
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History
The conference was conceived by anthropologist Jim Funaro in 1979, with the first formal meeting held in 1983 in Santa Cruz, California.[3] Since then, more than 25 annual and biennial events have been held, including several hosted at the NASA Ames Research Center.
Over the years, Contact has encouraged interdisciplinary collaboration through simulated extraterrestrial contact projects, such as the COTI HI (Cultural Outreach Through Interaction with Hypothetical Intelligences) program. This educational initiative involved teams of high school and college students designing scientifically plausible alien civilizations and participating in mock first-contact scenarios.[1]
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Influence and Collaborations
Contact has maintained close ties with the SETI Institute, and several of its early participants contributed to the creation of the fictional planet Epona, which was later featured in the 1998 Discovery Channel documentary Natural History of an Alien.[4]
Spin-off organizations inspired by Contact have formed internationally, including the Contact Consortium, which explores communication and community in multi-user virtual worlds on the Internet.[5]
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Recent Events
The 27th Contact Conference took place from March 31 to April 2, 2012, at the SETI Institute and the Domain Hotel in Sunnyvale, California. Beginning with the 28th conference, the organization adopted a biennial format. The 29th edition was held April 1–3, 2016, in Mountain View, California.[3]
See also
- SETI Institute
- Astrobiology
- Anthropology of science fiction
- Extraterrestrial intelligence
References
External links
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