Society
SpaceX prepares for the Great Filter – but why?
What’s Elon Musk’s gameplan to get humans to thrive in the universe all about?

Two weeks ago, Ed Publica did a news story on Elon Musk’s tweet. It sure was a headline topic in itself. “We are mapping out a game plan to get a million people to Mars,” posted Musk. “Civilization only passes the single-planet Great Filter when Mars can survive even if Earth supply ships stop coming.”
Press releases that came in the wake of the tweet, never did engage with Musk’s invocation of – the Great Filter – which as the astronomer Seth Shostak once stated, a ‘variant on the Fermi paradox’.
The Fermi paradox was borne out of an idea proposed by the enigmatic 20th century theoretical physicist, Enrico Fermi, who posed a profound, philosophical question: If an intelligent civilization were capable of space travel, and extraterrestrial life existed, then where are they?
The question itself was a paradoxical idea. Either of course, aliens don’t exist – or if they do, then they’re hiding in plain sight, not wanting to be contacted. Perhaps in the latter case, aliens want to avoid being colonized or wiped extinct by a civilization with superior technology. No one knows what the answer is. We don’t know yet if it even is a paradox with an answer.
But the Great Filter theory, proposed by an economist, Robin Hanson in 1998 makes an interesting argument that offers a possible resolution against the Fermi paradox. Maybe life is uncommon, or can easily go extinct. There can be some factors at play to stop a civilization from thriving and spawn a population to safeguard it.
Maybe humanity’s destined to live, and then die on earth – only to live on Mars, until every resource exhausts and human genes are ferried to distant exoplanets to hopefully spawn and recreate humanity there. Or perhaps humanity’s alone amongst the trillions of stars in the universe, because someone has to make the first step to show how difficult it is for life to thrive.

Credit: Greg Rakozy / Unsplash
How feasible is this?
Musk’s prophetic vision is more his vision for humanity – reminiscent in science fiction novels and films.
There’s a line from the movie Interstellar (2014), when Michael Caine, playing an astrophysicist, says, ‘We’re not meant to save the world, we’re meant to leave it.’ In the movie, earth gets plagued by crop blight, and people starve to death when food resources are hard to sustain. Although the problem was foreseeable, we were too late to act on it. And that was the main driver of the plot. Astronauts were dispatched into a wormhole and tunnel through into a different galaxy light years away. Humanity was doomed, and so the astronauts prepared human embryos to take our place and be the Adam and Eves of their species.
The Great Filter and the Fermi paradox are at best a useful thinking exercise about the myriad ways human imagination really works.
Musk’s idea to colonize Mars makes some sense in that it’s about taking a small step to demonstrate we can demonstrate a necessary first step of survival.
But then space is cruel and indifferent. The Martian atmosphere is completely thin, with almost zero atmospheric pressure. It’s not even about the carbon dioxide in what’s left in that atmosphere – there’s just barely any atmosphere there. Musk probably is aware of this, given he has a physics background!
For instance, how do we pressurize a whole planet? The optimism is that technology can circumvent these problems.
This technology, possibly in a few decades, can seem like ‘magic’ to us. The Great Filter and the Fermi paradox are at best a useful thinking exercise about the myriad ways human imagination really works.
And until we demonstrate basic physics that works in its favor, aren’t these just wishful fantasies?
For instance, how can SpaceX ‘gameplan’ Mars’ colonization, if the company doesn’t itself survive the Great Filter test? Who else in the world is taking this seriously apart from Elon Musk?
‘Colonizing’ space
Musk’s gameplan invites more questions, since there’s barely any discussion that he leads on it.
Musk is polarizing to his critics, who question the need for expensive space exploration programs that have no direct benefit on our economy.
Musk’s usage of the term ‘colonization’ can be seen to resonate with the sentiment in the 15th century when the West discovered the rest of the world through the sea-route. However, it didn’t fare well for the rest of the world. One notable example is when Christopher Columbus, ‘discovered’ North America, when he was in search of India – he and his men began the subjugation of Native Americans.

An 1850 painting depicting Christopher Columbus (center) surrounded by people, before embarking a ship in August 1492. Credit: Wellcome Trust
Meanwhile, the Portuguese voyager Vasco da Gama arrived at the shores of India, in Kozhikode. That opened up routes for vessels of the East India Company from across Europe to trade – and then colonize Indians.
I’m not suggesting Musk has nefarious plans at play. However, what’s the chance that future government policies somehow get blindsided, or ignorant of advice from experts outside science on the political implications of space exploration?
And what better ‘gameplan’ can there really be if it starts with experts from a diversity of fields huddling together for an enlightening discussion?
Earth
How Barn Owls Brought Nature, Knowledge, and Heart to a South African Campus
At the University of the Free State, South Africa, a quiet conservation story unfolds above the bookshelves – reminding us that even academic spaces can grow wings.

High above the rows of books and hushed reading tables of the Sasol Library at the University of the Free State (UFS), something unexpected is taking flight. A pair of barn owls have made their home in the library’s roof, quietly raising their young and shifting the way an entire academic community sees its role in the world. Their story, both poetic and practical, is becoming a symbol of collaboration, compassion, and conservation.
The owls aren’t just guests—they’re catalysts. What began as a distressed bird outside the library in 2023 has transformed into a university-wide initiative blending science, storytelling, and shared stewardship.
“Our library is a living ecosystem”
For Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation, the owls are more than a charming anecdote.
“If we consider Shakespeare’s play, All’s Well That Ends Well, then the presence of the owls in the Sasol Library confirms another meaning of that play,”
“Love,” Prof Reddy says, “is not always considered noble, but is something persistent, and our library is not just a building, but a living ecosystem where precious documents, people, and even animals can interact, shape, and nurture our lives.”

That idea—that libraries are not only homes to knowledge, but habitats for life—is now echoed across campus.
A rescue that became a movement
The turning point came when Tanya Scherman, from the Centre for Teaching and Learning, spotted a sick owl near the library—likely a victim of secondary poisoning from a contaminated rodent.
“It appeared that the owl had been poisoned,” she recalls. “I phoned around trying to find more knowledgeable people who could help.”
Her outreach brought in a network of allies, including the Owl Rescue Centre in Pretoria, a local vet, and Prof Francois Deacon from the Department of Animal Sciences.
“As someone passionate about urban wildlife conservation, I saw a great opportunity – not just to support the owls, but to involve students in hands-on learning,” says Prof Deacon.
Together with his postgraduate students, Ruan Higgs and Kaitlyn Taylor, the team designed a custom nesting box and installed a motion-activated infrared camera to monitor owl activity safely. For Scherman, building the box was a family affair.
“I worked with my dad to build it,” she shares. “He’s an avid animal lover too… It was such a special moment to share with my family.”
From research to relationships
The project has already yielded tangible outcomes. In 2023, the owl pair successfully raised two owlets. This year, six eggs were laid—three owlets are visible so far.

“It captures feeding events, chick development, and parental behaviour,” says Prof Deacon. “This kind of passive monitoring is invaluable… These owls are teaching tools.”
Their footage has already formed the basis for student research on owl diet, nesting habits, and ecological adaptation. And the benefits go beyond science.
“What’s been most rewarding was how many people came together around this – from librarians to students to scientists. We built friendships, not just a nest box.”
Even librarian Hesma van Tonder joined a giraffe capture excursion with Deacon’s team. These moments, Deacon says, are where research and real-life adventure meet.
Symbols of wisdom – and survival
For Scherman, the owls touch something deeper than academic interest.
“My grandparents also had a special connection to owls… When we saw the baby owlets, I naturally felt like I was being promoted to an owl-granny!”
She also hopes to change cultural perceptions around these often-misunderstood birds.
“It’s understandable,” she says, “with their eerie calls, white faces, and ghost-like flight. But they are also messengers, protectors, and symbols of wisdom in many traditions.”
From reducing rodent populations naturally to serving as symbols of coexistence, barn owls bring both ecological and educational value.
“A single owl pair can eat hundreds of rodents in a breeding season,” says Prof Deacon. “We found remains of small birds and insects in their regurgitated pellets… which shows just how active and adaptive they are in an urban environment.”
But risks remain—road traffic, noise, and poisoning threaten their safety. That’s why Scherman and Deacon urge the campus community to be mindful.
“Don’t try to help an injured owl yourself,” says Scherman. “Rather contact Prof Deacon or me… We’re here to assist.”
“Awareness builds respect,” Prof Deacon adds. “Simple behaviours, such as keeping windows closed at night near the roost, go a long way.”
Where silence meets storytelling
As word spread, the initiative grew in meaning—turning the Sasol Library into more than a study space. It’s now a symbol of the university’s values in action.
“It is clear that what may be seen as a disruptive incident with an owl swooping into our library space is also a pedagogical and deeply conservation touchdown,” reflects Prof Reddy.
“Our barn owl event tells us that our library is also a space where silence meets storytelling… where every creature’s story has a rightful place.”
Looking forward
The team is already dreaming bigger. Deacon hopes to expand the project into green corridors, rooftop biodiversity zones, and support for species like bats and pollinators. He sees it as the start of a new kind of campus culture—one rooted in curiosity and care.
“If our university matters and is to remain meaningful,” Prof Reddy says, “our accidental visitors have given new impetus to the fact that our library space holds our stories, and they are making places for new ones as part of our responsible societal futures.”
As the owls continue their quiet vigil above the Sasol Library, they leave more than pellets behind. They leave a legacy of connection—between people, nature, and the pursuit of knowledge. And in that space, where a library became a nest, a new kind of learning has taken flight.
Society
How 2025’s Emerging Technologies Could Redefine Our Lives

In an age when algorithms help cars avoid traffic and synthetic microbes could soon deliver our medicine, the boundary between science fiction and science fact is shrinking. The World Economic Forum’s Top 10 Emerging Technologies of 2025 offers a powerful reminder that innovation is not just accelerating — it’s converging, maturing, and aligning itself to confront humanity’s most urgent challenges.
From smart cities to sustainable farming, from cutting-edge therapeutics to low-impact energy, this year’s list is more than a forecast. It’s a blueprint for a near future in which resilience and responsibility are just as crucial as raw invention.
Sensing the World Together
Imagine a city that can sense a traffic jam, redirect ambulances instantly, or coordinate drone deliveries without a hiccup. That’s the promise of collaborative sensing, a leading entry in the 2025 lineup. This technology enables vehicles, emergency services, and infrastructure to “talk” to each other in real time using a network of connected sensors — helping cities become safer, faster, and more responsive.
It’s one of several technologies on this year’s list that fall under the theme of “trust and safety in a connected world” — a trend reflecting the growing importance of reliable information, responsive systems, and secure networks in daily life.
Trust, Truth, and Invisible Watermarks
But as digital content spreads and AI-generated images become harder to distinguish from reality, how do we safeguard truth? Generative watermarking offers a promising solution. By embedding invisible tags in AI-generated media, this technology makes it easier to verify content authenticity, helping fight misinformation and deepfakes.
“The path from breakthrough research to tangible societal progress depends on transparency, collaboration, and open science,” said Frederick Fenter, Chief Executive Editor of Frontiers, in a media statement issued alongside the report. “Together with the World Economic Forum, we have once again delivered trusted, evidence-based insights on emerging technologies that will shape a better future for all.”
Rethinking Industry, Naturally
Other breakthroughs are tackling the environmental consequences of how we make things.
Green nitrogen fixation, for instance, offers a cleaner way to produce fertilizers — traditionally one of agriculture’s biggest polluters. By using electricity instead of fossil fuels to bind nitrogen, this method could slash emissions while helping feed a growing planet.
Then there’s nanozymes — synthetic materials that mimic enzymes but are more stable, affordable, and versatile. Their potential applications range from improving diagnostics to cleaning up industrial waste, marking a shift toward smarter, greener manufacturing.
These technologies fall under the trend the report identifies as “sustainable industry redesign.”
Health Breakthroughs, From Microbes to Molecules
The 2025 report also spotlights next-generation biotechnologies for health, a category that includes some of the most exciting and potentially transformative innovations.
Engineered living therapeutics — beneficial bacteria genetically modified to detect and treat disease from within the body — could make chronic care both cheaper and more effective.
Meanwhile, GLP-1 agonists, drugs first developed for diabetes and obesity, are now showing promise in treating Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s — diseases for which few options exist.
And with autonomous biochemical sensing, tiny wireless devices capable of monitoring environmental or health conditions 24/7 could allow early detection of pollution or disease — offering critical tools in a world facing climate stress and health inequities.
Building Smarter, Powering Cleaner
Under the theme of “energy and material integration”, the report also identifies new approaches to building and powering the future.
Structural battery composites, for example, are materials that can both carry loads and store energy. Used in vehicles and aircraft, they could lighten the load — quite literally — for electric transportation.
Osmotic power systems offer another intriguing frontier: by harnessing the energy released when freshwater and saltwater mix, they provide a low-impact, consistent power source suited to estuaries and coastal areas.
And as global electricity demand climbs — especially with the growth of AI, data centers, and electrification — advanced nuclear technologies are gaining renewed interest. With smaller, safer designs and new cooling systems, next-gen nuclear promises to deliver scalable zero-carbon power.
Toward a Converging Future
This year’s edition of the report emphasizes a deeper trend: technological convergence. Across domains, innovations are beginning to merge — batteries into structures, biology into computing, sensing into infrastructure. The future, it seems, will be shaped less by standalone inventions and more by integrated, systemic solutions.
“Scientific and technological breakthroughs are advancing rapidly, even as the global environment for innovation grows more complex,” said Jeremy Jurgens, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum, in the WEF’s official media release.
“The research provides top global leaders with a clear view of which technologies are approaching readiness, how they could solve the world’s pressing problems and what’s required to bring them to scale responsibly,” he added.
Beyond the Hype
Now in its 13th year, the Top 10 Emerging Technologies report has a strong track record of identifying breakthroughs poised to move from lab to life — including mRNA vaccines, flexible batteries, and CRISPR-based gene editing.
But this year’s list is not just a celebration of possibility. It’s a reminder of what’s needed to deliver impact at scale: responsible governance, sustained investment, and public trust.
As Jeremy Jurgens noted, “Breakthroughs must be supported by the right environment — transparent, collaborative, and scalable — if they are to benefit society at large.”
In a time of climate stress, digital overload, and health inequity, these ten technologies offer something rare: a credible roadmap to a better future — not decades away, but just around the corner.
Society
Shukla is now India’s first astronaut in decades to visit outer space
Shubhanshu Shukla, the mission pilot, has now become the first Indian astronaut in space in decades; only second to fellow air force veteran and group captain, Rakesh Sharma during the Soyuz mission in 1984.

After innumerable launch delays, the private human spaceflight mission Axiom-4, finally soared to space at about 1200 hours Indian Standard Time (IST) from Nasa’s Kennedy Space Center, Florida. The Crew Dragon capsule, carrying an international crew of four astronauts, set sail for the International Space Station (ISS) and on schedule to dock with the station tomorrow at approximately 1500 hours IST.
Shubhanshu Shukla, a group captain with the Indian air force, and the mission pilot, has now become the first Indian astronaut to visit space in decades. He’s just the second Indian, following Rakesh Sharma, a squadron leader with the air force then (but retired as wing commander) during 1984’s Soyuz T-11 mission.
Accompanying Shukla on Axiom-4 are mission specialists, Tibor Kapu and Sławosz Uznański-Wiśniewski, from Hungary and Poland respectively. The duo, like Shukla, are the first astronauts in decades from their countries. Meanwhile, Peggy Whitson, the mission commander is a veteran American astronaut who’s embarked upon her second private spaceflight mission.
Upon arriving in space, Shukla addressed the Indian audience during the live broadcast, explaining how the mission marks the beginning of the Indian human spaceflight program. He espoused symbolism invoking the colors of the national flag on his shoulder patch.
“The tricolor embossed on my shoulders tells me that I am with all of you,” he said in his native Hindi. “I want all of you to be part of this journey. Your chest, too, should swell with pride … Together, let’s initiate India’s Human Space Programme. Jai Hind! Jai Bharat!”
The Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) had kickstarted the human spaceflight program about two decades ago to mark Indian presence in space. In February 2024, Shukla was amongst four Indian candidate astronauts handpicked to partake in the country’s first crewed mission, Gaganyaan. As such in preparation, as well ahead of the Axiom-4 mission, Shukla had enrolled for a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru.
Besides the obvious spectacle the Axiom-4 launch bears for India to expand its space program efforts, there is a space science component to this mission this time. India has filled in slots for a series of seven experiments designed by central institutions.
“He is not going up there alone,” Alok Kumar, a physicist and one of the principal investigators of these experiments, said in an interview to The Print’s Soumya Pillai earlier today. He put these experiments in context of India’s plan to consolidate outer space as a habitat to plan and conduct scientific experiments, to set up base in orbit for the long-term, or even in the moon. Only last year, ISRO announced plans to set up Bharatiya Antariksh Station, at low-earth orbit in 2028.
The microgravity experiments will buzz interest among the scientific community, hoping to make an impact. And Shukla will lead investigations into them, donning a scientist’s lab coat as it were. In fact, he already has a research paper under his belt, with his name listed as coauthor. Despite that, he hasn’t received his masters’ degree yet. Dr. Kumar, who also happens to be Shukla’s thesis advisor at IISc, revealed in The Print interview, the latter ‘s dissertation is still incomplete. He only wished Shukla would return and complete it. “I won’t let him off the hook,” he said lightheartedly.
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