Michael Wall in conversation with Jonathon Keats

We’ve all asked ourselves the question. It’s impossible to look up at the stars and NOT think about it: Are we alone in the universe? Books, movies and television shows proliferate that attempt to answer this question and explore it. In OUT THERE Space.com senior writer Dr. Michael Wall treats that question as merely the beginning, touching off a wild ride of exploration into the final frontier. He considers, for instance, the myriad of questions that would arise once we do discover life beyond Earth (an eventuality which, top NASA officials told Wall, is only drawing closer). What would the first aliens we meet look like? Would they be little green men or mere microbes? Would they be found on a planet in our own solar system or orbiting a star far, far away? Would they intend to harm us, and if so, how might they do it? And might they already have visited?

OUT THERE is arranged in a simple question-and-answer format. The answers are delivered in Dr. Wall’s informal but informative style, which mixes in a healthy dose of humor and pop culture to make big ideas easier to swallow. Dr. Wall covers questions far beyond alien life, venturing into astronomy, physics, and the practical realities of what long-term life might be like for we mere humans in outer space, such as the idea of lunar colonies, and even economic implications. Dr. Wall also shares the insights of some of the leading lights in space exploration today, and shows how the next space age might be brighter than ever.

Dr. Michael Wall is a senior writer at Space.com who has written extensively about the search for alien life. His work also has appeared in Scientific American, NBC News, Fox News and a number of other outlets. He holds a graduate certificate in science journalism from the University of California, Santa Cruz. Before becoming a writer, Dr. Wall worked as a biologist; he earned a Ph.D. in biology from the University of Sydney in Australia and has 15 peer-reviewed publications. He’s based in San Francisco, where he also chronicles the space tech revolution in Silicon Valley.

Jonathon Keats is a writer, critic, conceptual artist, and experimental philosopher known for creating large scale thought experiments. He is the art critic for San Francisco Magazine, and has contributed to Art & Antiques, Art+ Auction, Art in America, ARTnews, Artweek, The Christian Science Monitor, Wired Magazine, Forbes, Salon.com, and The Washington Post. He is the author of numerous books, the most recent being Belong to the Universe: Buckminster Fuller and the Future from Oxford University Press. His conceptual art has been exhibited at many venues including the Berkeley Art Museum, the Hammer Museum, and the Wellcome Collection. His most recent show is on exhibit at the MODERNISM Gallery in San Francisco, titled Intergalactic Omniphonics: Orchestrating Live Music For Life Throughout The Universe.