6-11pm | Thursday 6 June 2013 | Silwex House | Quaker Street, London | E1 6SN

last summer, we invited a group of artists, filmmakers, astronomers, photographers, choreographers and curators to journey to the remote wilderness of northern Sweden to witness a once-in-a-lifetime astronomical event: the Transit of Venus. the participants’ observations and artistic output from the expedition now form the basis of a publication and exhibition, launching in London one year on from the Transit

choreographer/artist Nissa Nishikawa filmed a site-specific performance in the forest, set to music composed by Ebe Oke. Cat Stevens and Archie McLeish will show photographs from the days surrounding the event, while filmmakers Kathryn Ferguson, Loren Filis and Fritz Stolberg used the Transit as a backdrop for new work

exhibition and publication launch on Thursday 6 June (an east London First Thursday) with an opening party at Silwex House, featuring a ‘real-time’ screening of the 2012 Transit of Venus at 10:09pm. exhibition continues throughout the weekend with workshops and screenings

Facebook event page here / images for press, blogging and publicity are available here

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the first satellite able to ‘weigh’ the earth’s forest biomass has been given the go-ahead by the European Space Agency and will launch in 2020. the BIOMASS spacecraft will help give us a better assessment of forest cover, glacial melt, warming trends and climate change

the £430 million satellite will use a massive 70-centimeter wavelength radar sensor, which will probe the height of forests and reveal how much wood they contain. glacier ice sheet velocities, subsurface geology in deserts, and topography of forest floors will also be mapped. the new plans are part of an initiative to calculate the amount of carbon stored in the world’s forest and during its five year mission will also monitor any changes in stability

“currently we lack accurate data on biomass stocks and biomass changes in the terrestrial ecosystems,” explains Edwin Keizer of the Greenpeace Brazil Geolab in Manaus. “the current projects mapping the biomass and the carbon stocks on the basis of satellite and airborne sensors are either offering a too static picture, not able to monitor the changes, or a too limited picture, covering too small areas. this generates some uncertainties in terms of biomass stock spatial distribution over forest ecosystems and their dynamics in time and space”

BIOMASS will be the seventh Earth Explorer mission. scientists say it is needed to help us reduce any doubt in calculations we make about carbon stocks and changes in the biosphere.  we know that the earth’s forests have acted as a net carbon sink over the past 30 years, removing about a third of carbon dioxide – but results come from ground based measurements and are scarce and unreliable, especially in the tropics.

“the BIOMASS satellite system can provide us with accurate data on biomass stocks from local to global level coming from repeated observation, which will allows us to track the changes occurring in space and time,” Keizer told super/collider. “the data produced by the  satellite will provide key information on the forest areas which due to their high biomass stocks are more critical to protect. by helping us relate deforestation and forest degradation to biomass losses it will also provide a key input in any protection and/or land use plan – and of course once the commitment to protect an area has been made and measures are put in place the Biomass satellite can monitor the effectiveness of those same measures.”

for more on ESA’s earth explorers, visit www.esa.int

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from the outer rings of Sun Ra’s native Saturn to the depths of Drexciya’s undersea cities, the realms of afrofuturism provide a fertile space for forward-thinking imaginations. The Arts Catalyst’s next Kosmica night, guest curated by Jareh Das, explores the theme with guest artist Kapwani Kiwanga. beyond an amazing looking film/project about repatriating the aforementioned interplanetary jazz god to his home planet, Kiwanga will present AFROGALACTICA, a short history of the future mapping the progress of her imagined United States of Africa Space Agency

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sign up for updates and you’ll be among the very first to hear about these exciting new products, and thus able to order long before others are even aware of their existence

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Star Towers: Elysium Planitia

our new series of collage works feature monolithic structures set amid distant landscapes, connecting various locations around the known universe – in this case Gusev Crater on the edge of Mars’ vast Elysium Planitia with the centre of the Milky Way galaxy via three gateways, each imparting a different arrival velocity

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there are tons of photos of earth taken from space, but few as good as Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield’s recent series from the International Space Station, where he’s been living since November last year. while up there, he’s been posting photos on Twitter, answering questions from space and recording folky songs that aren’t entirely terrible. this photo from yesterday shows spring around Lake Balaton in Hungary

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used to make green paint in ancient times, Malachite is a rich green copper carbonate hydroxide mineral with the formula Cu2CO3(OH)2. usually found deep underground, where hydrothermal fluids and water reservoirs can create Malachite stalagmites. this particular sample is from Zaire

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Nathan Phinney / artist

Thijs de Haas / physicist / amateur astronomer

Loren Filis / filmmaker

Suzanne Aigrain / astrophysicist

George Mellor / illustrator

Hazel France / artist

Natalie Wills / wayfinder

Kathryn Ferguson / filmmaker

Cat Stevens / photographer

Pete Collard / arts facilitator

Alice Masters / documentary photographer / filmmaker

Ted Maxwell / entrepreneur / events organiser

Jesse Mears / social scientist

Archie McLeish / graphic designer

Finbar Mostyn-Williams / entrepreneur / spiritualist

Fritz Stolberg / artist / filmmaker

Nissa Nishikawa / performance artist

Karima Adebibe / performer / artist

Rebecca Lynch / curator / journalist

Hannah Bird / chef / poached egg advocate

Marije de Haas / organiser / designer

Rich Holland / organiser / maker

Abby Schlageter / organiser / physicist

Chris Hatherill / organiser / journalist

super/collider is an independent agency which explores science through the creative industries. working with illustrators, photographers, filmmakers, artists, designers and other creative types we promote the myriad worlds of science from a pop culture standpoint

Floda 31 is a laboratory for innovation and creativity; an environment that fosters new connections, networks and cross disciplinary encounters on the site of a farm in northern Sweden. founded by Marije de Haas and Rich Holland, Floda31 is a place for exploring sustainability in a unique and pristine environment

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photograph by Archie McLeish

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