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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: CONFERENCE ANNOUNCEMENT: THE DIGITAL BURGESS A Conference on the Origins and Future of Life on Earth Place/Dates: Banff Alberta Canada, Aug 29-Sept 1 Themes: Origins of life, mass extinction, digital tools used in research on evolution, digital ecosystems, digital life Speakers: Richard Dawkins, Tom Ray, Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz, Douglas Adams, Des Collins, Steve Grand, Chris Winter, William Riedel, Mark Rudolph and many others Special Events: guided hike to the Burgess Shale, two days of intense workshops, technology showcase and much more. Registration is limited, see details below or visit the conference website at http://www.biota.org Bruce Damer Contact Consortium Biota.org Working Group Contact: damer@digitalspace.com *** Digital Burgess *** Short Summary Digital Burgess will be a groundbreaking event, bringing together some of the world's leading visionaries in science, technology, and the arts to consider deep questions in the evolution and future of life on Earth. An unprecedented showcase of digital tools for the modeling and simulation of life will be presented. Conference attendees will be trekking up a mountainside in the Canadian Rockies to visit the Burgess Shale. The Shale contains the fossil remains of the "weird wonders" of the "Cambrian Explosion" and will stimulate inspired discourse about life's origins, evolution, mass extinction and the possibility of life entering digital spaces. Confirmed faculty include Richard Dawkins, Tom Ray, Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz, Chris Winter, Steve Grand, Bruce Damer, and Mark Rudolph. Major sponsors include Silicon Graphics, British Telecom, Sun Microsystems, 3D Labs (other sponsors to be announced soon). Digital Burgess is described on the Web at http://www.biota.org. *** The Digital Burgess *** A conference on the origins and future of life on Earth Full Description High up in the Canadian Rockies lies one of the greatest known records of life on Earth, the Burgess Shale. Fossils of Burgess organisms have confounded previously held notions of evolution and increased public interest in paleontology. The Burgess has also further inspired a global movement to digitally model organisms and whole ecosystems. The resulting convergence of Paleontology and the digital world is producing powerful new tools and methods to piece together the story of life. Against the backdrop of the Burgess Shale, this conference will consider the following provocative questions: o Human Beings are perpetrating a mass extinction of life on Earth, while at the same time creating new variants of living forms through habitat transformation, genetic engineering and cloning. What does the future hold for Earth’s biota and will we survive our own "great experiment" with the biosphere? o In our efforts to model biological processes in software, some claim that we will initiate a "digital Cambrian explosion" of information-based life forms inhabiting the Earth’s collective compute spaces. If this occurs, what forms and direction will opportunistic digital biota take, and what will be the consequences for humanity? The Program ----------- Digital Burgess attendees will be guided to the actual site of the Burgess Shale and receive the latest interpretations of the Burgess organisms and current theories of evolution. As this is a strenuous hike, there will be an alternate program available. Conference sessions will feature discussion and debate of key questions in evolution, mass extinction, and hypotheses about digital ecosystems. Attendees will receive special demonstrations and hands-on exercises with the latest digital tools for the study of evolution and modeling of early biota. Confirmed speakers include: Richard Dawkins, Zoologist, prolific thinker, and author of The Selfish Gene, The Extended Phenotype, The Blind Watchmaker, River Out of Eden, and Climbing Mount Improbable. Professor Dawkins will be presenting a keynote session. Przemyslaw Prusinkiewicz, Computer Scientist, will discuss insights gained into structures in Nature through L-systems, realistic digital plant models. Tom Ray, Biologist, rain forest conservationist, and Digital Evolutionist will present recent results from Network Tierra, a large scale on-line digital ecosystem. Desmond Collins, Chief Scientist for the Burgess Shale, Royal Ontario Museum, will present an illustrated overview of the Burgess Fauna and assist in the guided trip to the Shale. Other confirmed faculty, details to be posted soon: Douglas Adams Bruce Damer Steve Grand William Riedel Mark Rudolph Chris Winter When, Where, and How to Attend ------------------------------ This unique four day event will be held from August 29th to September 1st in the heart of the spectacular Canadian Rockies at the Banff Centre for the Arts. For Registration and On Site Accomodation Information contact: Office of the Registrar The Banff Centre for the Arts Box 1020, Station 28 107 Tunnel Mountain Drive, Banff, Alberta Canada TOL OCO Telephone: (403) 762-6180 or 1-800-565-9989 Fax: (403) 762-6345 E-mail: arts_info@banffcentre.ab.ca http://www-nmr.banffcentre.ab.ca Tuition: $495 US, $648 Cdn. Persons interested in being invited as speakers or supporting the technology showcase should contact Bruce Damer at the Contact Consortium (408 339-9400) or by email at: bdamer@ccon.org. Information about Digital Burgess is available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.biota.org. Who should attend ----------------- The Digital Burgess Conference will provide an interdisciplinary forum for the exchange of ideas between natural scientists, computer scientists, and artists. Discussions will be interspersed with presentations on evolution and demonstrations of digital tools that model organisms and living systems. This conference will provide an environment for the exploration of novel research and artistic directions. Technology Showcase ------------------- The Banff Centre for the Arts has a well equipped computer facility which will be used for demonstrations and hands-on experiences of various environments used in support of research into evolution and natural science. Some of the technologies to be showcased will include: o VRML 2.0 and Java as key tools in 3D modeling of organisms with embodied behavior, highlighting VRML models of Burgess organisms o Tierra, a large scale networked digital ecosystem o Synthetic plants and their environments as represented by L-systems o Cellular Automata o Genetic Algorithms o Systems representing Flocking and Swarming behaviors o Digital fossil repositories, including recent fieldwork of universities and local high schools o Organic artworks o Synthetic Ecosystems for research and learning o Networked gaming and learning environments embodying biological principles Other systems embodying principles from biology to be discussed may include: o A taxonomy and history of the computer virus o General complex adaptive systems o Emergent properties in multi-agent systems o Biologically inspired robot motion o Computational Neuroethology Media Participation ------------------- Media coordination is being carried out by Martin Kemp at the Banff Centre, email Martin Kemp at: martin_kemp@banffcentre.ab.ca Public Events ------------- There will be opening and closing keynote presentations which will be open to the public. Seating is limited and priority will be given to conference attendees and sponsoring organizations. Hike to the Burgess Shale (Walcott Quarries) -------------------------------------------- Everyone that intends to go on the guided hike to the Burgess Shale should be in reasonably good shape. We will be meeting Des Collins and his fieldwork team from the Royal Ontario at the site and should see some interesting new finds from their season of work on the Shale. Arriving a day or two early to get acclimatized helps with handling the altitude. You must let us know when you register if you intend to participate in the trip to the Shale. Please look over the physical requirements below before you commit to this. There will be an alternate program available. The trip The trail is well maintained all the way. Heavy hiking boots are not required but good and comfortable - well broken in shoes are a must. The elevation of the town of Field is 4000 feet, the elevation of Takakkaw Falls (at the start of the trail) is just at 5000 feet. The standard route leaving from Takakkaw Falls is a three thousand foot elevation gain. The total distance we will hike round trip is twenty kilometres. Access from the trail to the actual quarry itself is extremely steep but short (approximately 100 metres). The group will meet at 8AM near Takakkaw Falls and depart at 8:30AM. Arrival at the quarry site will be around noon. Depending on the enthusiasm of the group and the depth of questions the stay at the quarry site will be between one to two hours. Descent to the parking area will take us back to where we started at around 6:30 - 7PM. The environs We will take the hike in measured segments with stops to outline nearby geological formations and landforms, structural geology, the stratigraphy, sedimentations/folding and other background on the geology. The scenery is stunning and worth every inch of the effort to get there. You cannot be more nestled into the heart of the Rockies than if you were a Burgess Shale fossil yourself. Coming down is the hardest part of the hike (especially on the knees). The preparations Come prepared with a good lightweight windbreaker jacket, sweater and T-shirt layers are recommended as well as a hat and lots of water. A small rucksack is a good way to carry extra clothing, water, energy snacks, cameras etc. It is recommended that you hike with your hands free. The weather can change suddenly in these mountains but the day of the hike (August 30th) has been known to be in a good weather period. The Organizations behind the Digital Burgess --------------------------------------------- Host Organizations: o The Banff Centre for the Arts o The Contact Consortium and its special interest group: Biota.org o The Yoho-Burgess Shale Foundation Sponsoring Organizations o Silicon Graphics o British Telecom o Sun Microsystems o 3D Labs o others to be announced Contributing Organizations o dFORM Internet Design o Credo Multimedia Software Inc. o Construct Internet Design o S.A.V.E. Maui Program o DigitalSpace Corporation o others to be announced Other Events and Activities in Banff and the Immediate Area ---------------------------------------------------------- o The Banff Festival of the Arts will be happening concurrently with the conference, see: http://www.banffcentre.ab.ca/fest.html o Experience the Spectacular Canadian Rockies including: Lake Louise, horseback riding, and alpine Hiking in Yoho National Park and other areas o The Royal Tyrrell Museum is about 3 hours drive and features dinosaur fossils and other finds from the famous Alberta Badlands See: http://tyrrell.magtech.ab.ca/ o Takakkaw Falls is one of the highest waterfalls in the world and is visible from the route to the Burgess Shale o The Cave and Basin, and Upper Springs natural hot springs are close by in Banff o The Sulphur Mountain gondola ride features great views o Sunshine Meadows, one of the largest alpine meadows in the world, straddles the nearby continental divide o The Columbia Ice fields, where you can walk on a glacier is just a few hours drive to Jasper Park end.
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