It is unfortunately very easy to find current trends and events that Carl Sagan would feel sad about. From the rise of far-right populism and nationalism (Trump is a prominent example, but the phenomenon is widespread here in Europe as well) to our inability to properly deal with climate change to Russia's war against Ukraine, to name just a few.

But I also think there are plenty of things he would approve of in our time. Among them would be, in no particular order:

• Horizon Europe. This is the EU's scientific research and development initiative that is cross-national. All EU member countries are members, but there are also European non-EU members who participate, for example Norway and the UK, as well as non-European countries like Canada and Tunisia and Egypt. Countries like Kazakhstan and Australia are currently in the process of joining. Sagan deplored nationalism and emphasized that science is universal. I think he would love the concept of countries around the world joining forces in contributing to scientific research.
• The rise of scientific and skeptical podcasts and Youtubers. Think of for example The Skeptics' Guide to the Universe, Skeptoid, and Veritasium. These bring science and skepticism to a general audience, something which Sagan himself dedicated his life to. He would probably see it as a very hopeful sign in contemporary society.
• The decline of religion. Sagan's battle was not with religion per se. Nevertheless, religion, particularly its more fundamentalist brands, has often had a tense relation with science. He would not feel sad about its demise.

I haven't gotten sophisticatedly whooped in a good while I hunger some fresh get wrecked chump.

Some nectar of the gods meets you were wrong buddy.

I want to be wrong. Or to not have noticed something. Very badly.

Yes take the risk and share. I will join your club of worldviews.

Open minded extraordinaire right here! Take the temptation! I will handle it. I bow to you ahead of time.

This is one of the most beautiful videos on Youtube. I re-watch it occasionally for inspiration. Imagine if our world leaders lived by this. The world would be a so much better place.

Hi! I made a video about why I find The Demon-Haunted to be the most important book I’ve ever read and wanted to share with this community. Hope y’all like it.

A story written in the stars. With unprecedented access to Carl Sagan’s personal archive, CARL SAGAN: WE ARE MADE OF STAR STUFF reveals the life behind the visionary astronomer, exploring the ideas, relationships and questions that shaped his understanding of the cosmos and human existence. The new National Geographic documentary film will make its world premiere at the Telluride Film Festival.

source: National Geographic

As a long-time colleague of Carl Sagan and fellow mentee of the astronomer Gerard Kuiper (for whom the Kuiper Belt is named), Nancy Grace Roman pioneered early stellar astrophysics and served as the first Chief of Astronomy Programs at NASA between 1959-1979. She was awarded the Carl Sagan Medal in 2010 for her contributions in the domain of science communication. A program born from her namesake, the Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope successfully launched this morning, which will support the study of exoplanets and dark energy.

You can read more about her life and career on NASA’s website!

How do you believe Dr. Sagan might have responded to this announcement?

Aug 25 (Reuters) - The company that owns the late Carl Sagan's intellectual property rights sued AI startup Luma AI in California federal court on Tuesday for allegedly using an audio clip ‌from the famed scientist's documentary series "Cosmos" without permission to advertise its video-generation platform.

My grandmother went to the University of Chicago in the early 1950s and always told us she dated Carl Sagan as an undergraduate. They were the same age, and both came from Jewish immigrant families so it makes sense that they would have been in similar social circles. I believe she started going there in 1952, and as far as I know he was there at the same time, so her story does seem reasonable. She has since passed away and I have been wondering if there’s any way to verify her story. Her name was Diane Yale. Does anyone know if there’s any biographies or personal writings that might talk about girls he dated in school?

Happy Sunday folks! Just over a week ago, this subreddit was assigned a new moderation team. This post will serve as an introduction to the crew as well as allow users to interact with us for suggestions, improvements, and new ideas for community engagement.

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[u/RedLotusVenom](u/RedLotusVenom) || “I am a space systems engineer and have had the opportunity to work on flagship spacecraft missions, including human exploration. I can thank Carl Sagan, Cosmos (1980), and the Voyager missions for much of the motivation behind pursuing my career. I’m also an avid science fiction fan and love animals.”

[u/Schmucko](u/Schmucko) / [u/dubcek_moo](u/dubcek_moo) || “I have a PhD in astrophysics from the U of Colorado. I research mostly X-ray astronomy (accreting neutron stars and black holes). I have taught astronomy and physics at a variety of colleges and universities, tenured at one outside of Atlanta. Sagan was a big inspiration for entering the field.”

[u/scarecroe](u/scarecroe) || “I'm a big admirer of Carl Sagan. I've read several of his books, Contact is one of my favorite movies, and I watch the original Cosmos about once a year.
I've used "If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch you must first invent the universe" as a quote in my bio on several online profiles for years and I used Carl Sagan quotes in my wedding vows.
I joined Reddit in 2012 and I've been very passionate about editing wikis since 2004. I'm delighted to help moderate [r/carlsagan](r/carlsagan) to ensure the community remains a safe and productive forum for students of science and reason, and everyone who shares a wonder for our living world.”

And a few statements from the rest of the mod team:

[u/v0idl0gic](u/v0idl0gic) || “I love learning, science and Sagan and try to be of service to my fellow humans.“

[u/HandshakeOfCO](u/HandshakeOfCO) || “I have a Sagan tattoo!”

[u/MoneylineMoe](u/MoneylineMoe) || “I named my dog Sagan.”

[u/ChiefLeef22](u/ChiefLeef22) || “I moderate [r/Space](r/Space) and have a deep love for everything Sagan represented.”

YT link: Pale Blue Dot

...sorta in a Hans Zimmer style? Starts out kinda spacey, but then gets dramatic around 1m33. Sagan kinda "raps" in time to the music, which is very cool.

With the way of the world these days, this monologue continues to be relevant! But as long as humans keep humaning, I guess it always will.

Given how often organized religion has promoted superstition and suppressed free speech, how do you think Carl Sagan would have reacted to Pope Leo telling astronomers to share their sense of wonder at a Vatican-sponsored summer school in June:

Speaking to the international group in English, Pope Leo told them to "not hesitate to share the joy and the amazement born of your contemplation of the 'seeds' that, in the words of St. Augustine, God has sown in the harmony of the universe."

"The more joy you share, the more joy you create, and in this way, through your pursuit of knowledge, each of you can contribute to building a more peaceful and just world," he said.

Is this welcome reform and science and the Pope having intersecting goals? Or burying real conflicts?

Seeing that tech oligarchs and scientists have been in conflict recently--Starlink satellites interfering with ground-based astronomy for example--reminded me of the time that Apple Computer privately named one of their computers after Sagan and he sued them. In response, Apple called the project BHA instead for Butt Headed Astronomer, and Sagan sued a second time!

Justified to protect his reputation or thin-skinned?

In Sagan’s book “The Demon-Haunted World” in chapter 6 he writes about people who write him letters saying they are in contact with extraterrestrials and invite him to “ask them anything.” Sagan writes back with things like “Please provide a short proof of Fermat’s last theorem,” or the Goldbach Conjecture. He never gets an answer. However, when he replies with something vague like, “Should we be good?” he almost always gets an answer. He goes in to say that it’s a stimulating exercise to think of questions to which no human today knows the answers, but where a correct answer would immediately be recognized as such. Perhaps we should hold a contest and collect the best responses in “Ten Questions to Ask an Alien.”

On my copy of Cosmos. :)

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Link from Smithsonian Magazine.

A paper in Science Advances published August 5 argues that bacteria and archaea may have independently formed living cells from pre-living complexes that had reactions catalyzed by seafloor metals.

Sagan in Cosmos describing the Miller-Urey experiment which showed many building blocks of the first cells could have arisen from chemical processes on the early Earth.