Indian Philosophical understanding of space (ākāśa) and its properties shall be explicated by introducing the idea of space as a substance (dravya) by the material-cosmological schools such as Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika and Pūrva Mīmāṃsā followed by the idea of elemental-space (bhūta-ākāśa) of consciousness-cosmological schools such as Advaita, Viśiṣṭādvaita and Dvaita Vedānta including the concept of unmanifested-space (avyākṛta-ākāśa). The idea of no-elemental-space according to the pure materialist Cārvāka and whether the Buddhist concept of nothingness (śūnyatā) represents space as absence of matter shall be discussed. The metaphysical-space shall be briefly discussed based on the esoteric statements of the Upaniṣads revealed through the word “ākāśa”. The listeners shall be exposed to the basic philosophical ideas of Indian thinkers that are at once synthetic, divergent, parallel, opposite and convergent. The listeners shall be left to ponder upon the empirical understanding of space (ākāśa), direction (dik), the idea of dream-space (svapna-avasthā) and the experience of no-space in sleep (suṣupti-avasthā).

Bhuvaneshwari’s area of interest and study is Indian Philosophy from the Sanskrit sources. Her Ph.D. at the University of Madras (2010) was a focused study on Pedagogy as seen in the tradition of Advaita Vedanta. Her Post-doctoral Research at IIT-Madras in Chennai (2017) was in the field of Advaita Vedanta and Purva Mimamsa. She has been teaching Indian Philosophy & Aesthetics in Chennai. She has published 20 articles and three books on Indian Philosophy. Between 1991 and 1995, she performed as a Bharatanatyam dancer in both classical and contemporary styles.

Our current age of globalization has made it possible for international collaborations to thrive, and nowhere is this more evident than in astronomy. Growing networks such as the VLBA and the AVN have led to the construction of science centers in traditionally underserved communities, and low levels of light pollution in these areas provide favorable conditions for optical telescopes as well. For these reasons, astronomy provides an opportunity for economic development around the world. South Africa is a perfect example of this, as will be explored in more depth in this talk. Almost paradoxically, astronomy can be used to preserve regional culture as much as it can be used to promote global connectivity. As the oldest scientific discipline, nearly all societies are rooted in a rich history of astronomical heritage. Astronomical heritage within Gabon, United States, and China will be discussed as case studies. If we are to use astronomy to relate the past to the future, it is crucial that we make it accessible for every member of a society. We conclude by exploring efforts to bring the stars to the visually impaired, including a sonification-based astronomy exhibit called Sounds of the Spectrum that will be featured at the Story Of Space.

Teaching and learning in the 21st century In her talk Eefje will explain the major pillars of the Jenaplan philosophy, which are build around relationships. The relationship of the child with oneself, the relationship of the child with others and the relationship of the child with the world. She will give practical examples of how to teach in a holistic student centered fashion. Eefjes teaching is value driven and she looks at the entirety of each child. The values in her teaching are: embrace diversity and it’s power, positivism, discovering and sincerely connecting through play, giving the children space to bloom with a continues fine-tuning mechanism where the social emotional wellbeing of the children are key.

Eefje is an educator, coach and kids yoga teacher with a passion and curiosity for the development of humans, especially children. In her free time Eefje likes to explore her inner self and the outdoors in all kinds of ways. She has been a primary school teacher for the past 18 years in a Jenaplan school in The Netherlands. She holds a bachelor degree in primary teaching and remedial teaching and has studied pedagogy at the university of Utrecht. During her career she has been concentrating on the social emotional development of children and therefore completed a study in coaching and counseling children. This has had a major impact on her work as a teacher and as a human.

In this interactive Skype session, Russell combines his two passions – oceans and outer space, as he explores why over 500 people have been to space but only three have been to the bottom of the ocean. What limits did we have to overcome to send people into these environments? What are conditions like at the bottom of the deepest ocean? What is it like to live in space? This presentation investigates these questions and more, as we discover that it’s harder to go underwater than you might think.

Having completed a combined Masters in Oceanography at the University of Southampton, Russell worked as a physical oceanographer and sediment dynamicist for a number of years. He then went to complete a PGCE in Secondary Science (Physics) at University of Sussex before working as Head of Physics at a secondary sixth-form in London. With a passion for public engagement, Russell left teaching to pursue a cateer in schools’ outreach acting as Education Consultant and Presenter for WhaleFest: Incredible Oceans. Russell frequently performs at science communications events across the UK, organizing workshops and talks for all ages. Russell joined the University of Bath in September 2016 to study phytoplankton morphology and its influence on turbulent interactions. He has also had a career as a punk rock guitarist.

After a nine-year journey though space, astronomers visited Pluto for the first time in July 2015, using a robotic NASA spacecraft called New Horizons. Despite being a tiny, icy body far from the sun’s warmth, New Horizons found Pluto’s surface to be astonishingly young and active, showing a diverse variety of geology never before seen in the solar system. Planetary Scientist Dr. Henry Throop will tell the story of this NASA spacecraft mission, from its development and construction, through launch in 2006, to its successful encounter with Pluto, and plans for onward encounters with bodies in the distant Kuiper Belt.

Dr. Henry Throop is a Senior Scientist with the Planetary Science Institute in Tucson, Arizona. He received a PhD in Planetary Science from the University of Colorado, USA, in 2000. He is involved with the New Horizon’s mission to Pluto, working with the visible-IR spectrometer team. Dr. Throop has been a member of the science team for NASA’s New Horizons mission since 2003, and was involved in its historic flyby of Pluto in 2015. He has written award-winning software for operations planning. He has also been involved with the Cassini mission’s imaging team in the data acquisition and analysis of ring studies. He is a frequent consultant to the US’s NASA and the National Science Foundation. While living in Africa, he worked extensively with rural schools, helping to develop their science programs. Dr. Throop’s work has been featured in Science, Nature, Time, The Washington Post, on the History Channel, and National Geographic TV.

Islands in Flux : Why are the Andaman and Nicobar Islands always in flux? What is the nature of this flux? What do we need to understand about this? Why is it important? An illustrated talk by Pankaj Sekhsaria will seek to answer these and related questions as he takes the viewer along on a visual journey into the geology, ecology and history of the spectacularly beautiful and fragile Andaman and Nicobar Islands

Pankaj Sekhsaria is a researcher, activist, writer, photographer and an academician. He has worked for nearly 20 years with the environmental group, Kalpavriksh, mainly on matters related to the Andaman & Nicobar Islands, where he is also the editor of a newsletter on wildlife. He has written extensively on issues pertaining to wildlife and tribal rights (particularly in the Andaman & Nicobar Islands) for the Indian press. His debut novel, ‘The Last Wave’ set in the Andaman Islands, was published in 2014. In 2016, he put together his first photo-exhibition on the islands. The exhibition is a consolidation of 20 years of pictures taken there, and in a sense, runs parallel to his novel. His doctoral thesis is a sociological study of research and innovation inside nano-science and nanotechnology labs in India. He currently serves the role of senior project scientist at the DST Centre for Policy Research at the Department of Humanities and Social Science, IIT-Delhi.

Seafood production has come at a huge environmental and social cost. Since the advent of fisheries industrialization, which in Asia took off in the 1950’s has led to the ubiquitous and drastic depletion of fish stocks. Industrial fisheries besides being highly wasteful and damaging to the environment also led to the removal of large quantities of fish deemed ‘unsuitable for human consumption’ to be ground to fishmeal instead to feed farmed pigs, chickens and fish. To sustain this and our increasing appetites for fish, fleets that could once produce a healthy supply of seafood from coastal waters are now forced to venture further ashore in the global oceans to stay profitable, as our fish stocks continue to decline. The new ocean spaces that we have now begun to plunder include the relatively unexploited twilight zone (depths ranging between 200m to 1km) and moving back to land based forms of intensive aquaculture. Through his own experience both research and personal, while on his foraging forays around the globe he will share some rules for consuming seafood in the global market that he made for himself in the process.

Aaron is a marine conservation biologist and has worked in South Asia and West Africa. He completed his PhD from the University of Cambridge on the Gates scholarship. Ironically, his passion for the sea was driven by his love for seafood. This led to his long-standing interest in finding ways to reconcile marine conservation with fisheries production through policy and practice. His work has involved designing, supporting and implementing projects including understanding the impacts of semi-industrial fisheries, marine protected areas and setting up fisheries monitoring programmes. He currently works with the Indo-German Biodiversity Programme of the GIZ (German Development Cooperation).

‘Living with Pythons’ is a nationwide initiative started in 2017 by herpetologist and researcher Nirmal Kulkarni to create awareness and instil appreciation about India’s three Python species: the Indian Rock Python (Python molurus), Burmese Python (Python bivittatus) and Reticulated python (Malayopython reticulatus). Together, these snakes represent some of the largest snake species of the world. This project aims to promote acceptance, awareness and understanding about these python species through conservation outreach and field-based herpetology techniques. It will also contribute to creating awareness on the issue of human- snake conflicts that are key to python survival in human dominated rural and urban landscapes. Beside which, the initiative proposes to address a need for a common protocol for Python rescue and release, as it will help minimize and address issues relating to reptile-human conflict and provide vital answers to this growing challenge, especially in urban India.

Space is a complex idea: it is obvious but at the same time ephemeral. It seems to be present all around us but is perhaps nowhere really present. It seems necessary for creating an idea of object but objects themselves seem to be made dominantly of space ‘inside’ them. It has spawned some of the most essential concepts in human cognition but the ambiguity about its nature continue to make the reflection on space a fascinating journey. This talk will explore some of the philosophical themes around space as described in different disciplines, including natural and social science.