One Science-Minded Citizen: Adam Manning

AdamManning_avatar2I’m lucky enough to live on England’s beautiful south coast and have a fascination with science, of all types. I’m an enthusiastic and active member of the British Interplanetary Society, the world’s oldest space advocacy organisation, and part of a study group within BIS updating research carried out in the 1970s into large scale space habitats and space settlement. One aspect that interests me in particular is the possible use of solar energy beamed directly from satellites to Earth, which could lessen our reliance on fossil fuels and nuclear energy.

Environmental and conservation issues are another passion and I am the founder of two local community groups, the Friends of Weston Shore and Green Hampshire, that encourage people to get involved and take action. Cleaning up litter from a beach is a wonderfully satisfying way to spend a few hours! Through this I have been learning more about wildlife in my local area.

My formal scientific education consists of studies at school along with a year long course with the Open University, which included a week in residence at a university one summer. The course with the Open University is a treasured memory as it allowed those taking part to dive deeply into the endless ocean of science. I’m a cosmist in outlook and think of Carl Sagan as a great figure of inspiration. I’m also fascinated by transhumanism and the potential that a future of constantly accelerating technological change might have.