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LECTURES

SIMOC and SAM —2024

• January — National Space Society tour of SAM at Biosphere 2

SIMOC and SAM —2023

• March — SIMOC and SAM presented to NASA Interns
• May — Arizona Space Institute Symposium “Flash Talks”
• October — Mars Society Conference 2023
• October — Saddlebrook Astronomy Club
• November — Phoenix Astronomical Society
• December — Amateur Astronomers, Inc.

SIMOC and SAM —2022

• February — Arizona Space Business Roundtable
• May — Analog Astronaut Conference 2022
• May — NSS International Space Development Conference and Space Forum
• June — NASA Habitats forum
• October — Mars Society Conference 2022

SIMOC and SAM —2021

• February — Space Horizons
• April — SIMOC and SAM presented to schools in Australia and Thailand
• May — Analog Astronaut Conference
• May — Space for Food panel discussion
• June — Space Habitats Conference
• June — University of Arizona VIP students and Biosphere 2 Board of Directors
• June — Lunar Planetary Institute Terrestrial Analog Conference
• August — Foundation for the Future, Conversations for the Future on Workforce & Industrial Base. Watch the video …
• September — Live demonstration of SIMOC for Dr. Ray Wheeler’s research group at NASA Kennedy Space Center.

A Year in Distance Engagement —2020
As all lectures and presentations moved on-line, the number of engagements increased in 2020. As an on-line tool for both physical and virtual classroom, interest in SIMOC grew. The following talks and lectures are those presented in 2020.

• June — SIMOC and SAM presented to NASA Interns
• July — Quest ISS at Biosphere 2
• July — Software for Space live presentation, demonstration, and Q&A with Kai Staats and Ezio Melotti | Watch the video …
• October — Hi-Fidelity Mars Habitat for the 23nd Annual International Mars Society Convention
• October — SIMOC and SAM presented to NASA Interns
• December — Biosphere 2 and SAM to ICS primary school in Bangkok, Thailand
• December — Second annual SAM Symposium

Life and Systems in Closed Worlds, Biosphere 2, December 13, 2019
A new interdisciplinary research initiative on “Life and Systems in Closed Worlds”, involving social and natural scientists, launched by the French ​Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and the University of Arizona and​ Ecole Normale Supérieure. Kai Staats shared his team’s work in off-world habitat simulation through SIMOC, and development of the Mars analog research station SAM.

A Study of Analogs Missions for the Moon and Mars, Biosphere 2, May 10, 2019
Kai Staats shared withe Biosphere 2 Board of Directors a vision for the world’s highest fidelity Lunar and Mars analog and research station. A Study of Analog Missions (SAM) will be a human-in-the-loop, hermetically sealed environment for short- and long-term biology, ecology, chemistry, and habitation studies. It will incorporate a fully functional airlock, semi-closed ecosystem, Paragon ECLSS life support, and pressure suits for all entry, exit, and EVAs.

Rose City Astronomers, Portland, Oregon, November 19, 2018
Living on Mars—From Biosphere 2 to The Martian. Kai Staats engaged the audience in a brief overview of historic microgravity plant growth experiments, human-in-the-loop closed ecosystem studies, the challenges of living off-world, and an introduction to SIMOC (see-mok), an ASU Interplanetary Initiative pilot project. In this scalable, interactive model of an off-world community built on decades of NASA data, researchers and citizen scientists select crew quarters, a greenhouse and plants, and power generation, and then set the model in motion to learn how well the design holds up.

Holden Village, Lake Chelan, Washington, August 13, 2018
An impromptu presentation about LIGO and gravitational wave astronomy for staff and guests of Holden Village. The film LIGO, A Passion for understanding was shown, followed by an engaging question and answer session.

Arizona Science Center, Phoenix, Arizona, May 4, 2018
Science With a Twist, “Going Where No Man Has Gone Before…Mars” + Space Science Panel.
7-7:45 p.m. followed by a Q&A session with audience members.

Taste of Science, Berkeley, CA, April 25, 2018
For the East Bay Taste of Science, Kai Staats presented his 3rd film “LIGO Detection” about the September 14, 2015 detection of two distant, merging black holes and the effort to validate such an extraordinary claim, followed by a presentation by Riccardo Bassiri, Stanford University graduate student and LIGO researcher.

American Physical Society, Columbus, Ohio, April 16, 2018
Session S14: Gravitational Waves: Detectors and Instrumentation
Machine Learning in the LIGO-Virgo Era with the slide deck available from this sub-page.

South African Astronomical Observatory, Cape Town, South Africa, September 28, 2017
“LIGO Detection: An exploration of complex data“, a colloquium talk about the application of machine learning to glitch classification and mechanical couplings in the LIGO interferometer; and the presentation of the film “LIGO Detection”.

Arizona Science Center, Phoenix, Arizona, April 29, 2017
For Astronomy Day at the Arizona Science Center, Kai Staats presented his 3rd film “LIGO Detection” about the September 14, 2015 detection of two distant, merging black holes, and a special sneak preview of a new planetarium film about Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory.

National Center for Supercomputing Applications, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, April 10, 2017
An NCSA Special Event brings Kai Staats for a colloquium titled “Making Movies about Making History: A Non-linear Journey from LEGO to LIGO“.

Anthem Community Center, Arizona, February 21, 2017
A screening of the third film in the series, “LIGO Detection” by Kai Staats followed by a presentation about the effort to detect supernovae using gravitational-wave astronomy at LIGO by Dr. Michele Zanolin, head of the astrophysics group at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.

Arizona Science Center, Phoenix, Arizona, October 21, 2016
“From Pinocchio to the Terminator, What A.I. Teaches us About Ourselves” was the opening presenter for the evening, themed “A.I. Apocalypse”. Joined by Dr. Peter Jansen and Prof. Clayton T. Morrison from the University of Arizona for a panel discussion for this unique event.

Ohio State University, CCAPP, Columbus, Ohio, August 24-26 2016
Kai Staats was co-organiser and presenter at this first-ever Computing in High-Energy AstroParticle Research workshop in which Karoo GP was featured as a tool for improved understanding of complex data, as Evolutionary Computation applied to Astro-particle Physics.

SKA Machine Learning Journal Club, Pinelands, South Africa, August 2016
An introduction to the function of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and Genetic Programming applied to glitch classification (remote presentation to the Square Kilometre Array).

Introduction to Evolutionary Computation, March-June 2016
Three talks on an introduction to machine learning, feature construction, and evolutionary computation:

• Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, Supernovae research group at LIGO, Prescott, Arizona
• Fullerton State University, Detector Characterisation research group at LIGO, Fullerton, California
• Ohio State University, ANITA research group at CCAPP, Columbus, Ohio

Science Cafe Cape Town, October 2015
In “From Earth to Mars: A Journey for Us All” Kai engaged the audience of more than 100 in a brief introduction, one of the six films from the Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS), and two dozen slides which described the current efforts to take humans to Mars, the asteroids, and beyond. Kai engaged the audience in an interactive question and answer period which lead to a wide diversity of subjects. Following the talk, Kai edited the audio recording and vetted all answers, with supporting data, corrections, and additions, as given here.

Astronomical Society of South Africa, June 2015
“From Dark Skies to Data Mining: A Propensity for Pattern Recognition” with Dr. Marco Cavaglia, University of Mississippi and the LIGO Scientific Collaboration — An introduction to Machine Learning as an extension of the innate human capacity for pattern recognition.

SAAO Open Night, May 2015
“Making Movies about Making History: A Passion for Science Discovery” — What unfolds when we ask questions about how the universe functions? And who are the people who work to discover the answers?

SAAO Colloquium, March 2015
A public screening of the second film in the series, “LIGO Generations” followed by a Q&A about the function of the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO).

SKA Colloquium, July 2014
“From Hunter-Gatherer to Data Farmer: A Personal Journey in Email & Data Management” — A full-house offering both enthusiasm and resistance to evidence that a single, overloaded Inbox is in fact a horrible idea and more than 1000 unread messages is not something to brag about.

SAAO Colloquium, May 2014
“Science Outreach and Education through Film – Storytelling in a Digital World” — A brief introduction to the making of science outreach films, the screening of three short films, and then a Q&A period prior to a public star party.

TEDx Front Range, Colorado, May 2014
“A Telescope Opens the Mind to a Larger World” — The culmination of a thee year journey to understand how looking through a telescope can change one’s view of his or her place in the universe.

16th Annual Mars Society Conference, August 2013
Kai Staats shares the starting point for his research into human social evolution in the confines of isolated colonies with “A Good Sams Utopia: Human Social Evolution in the Development of Isolated Colonies“. Learn more …

INTERVIEWS

The Biosphere 2 Podcast, August 2023
An Interview with Aaron Bugaj
Kai is a veteran developer, designer, filmmaker, and scientist, and is the Director of SAM, a Space Analog for the Moon and Mars at Biosphere 2. SAM is a hi-fidelity, hermetically sealed Mars habitat analog with greenhouse, living quarters, airlock, pressure suits, and a half acre Mars yard. Since 2021 Kai and his team have been constructing SAM, and just last month, SAM hosted it’s first two sealed missions, Inclusion 1 and Inclusion 2. Listen to the full interview via Spotify or Apple Podcast

Episode 350: Simulating residency on another world, January 2023
for Arizona Public Media
Scientists predict people might spend years living off-world in the coming decades. Researcher Kai Staats describes how the University of Arizona’s Biosphere 2 is being used to practice long-duration stays on the moon and Mars. Kai Staats spoke with Tim Swindle, director of the University of Arizona Space Institute. Listen to the five minutes interview …

The Space Show with Dr. David Livingston, July 2022
We welcomed Kai Staats back to the program to provide us with an update on the SAM space analog for the Moon and Mars at Biosphere 2 which is now part of the University of Arizona. Kai was first with us on Jan. 5, 2021. Listen to the full interview.

Space Radio with Dr. Paul Sutter, June 10, 2021
Simulating Mars Habitats with Kai Staats with Paul Stutter and Space Radio Live. Recorded live from the University of Arizona Biosphere 2.

The Space Show with Dr. David Livingston, January 5, 2021
“We welcomed Trent Tresch back to the show and Kai Staats for the first time to discuss the SAM analog study at Biosphere 2 in Arizona. Our 65 minute discussion started by my asking Kai about his background and what specifically led him to the point of developing the SAM simulation model …

ASU Interplanetary Initiative, September 30, 2019
An interview video about SIMOC, for the Arizona State University, School of Earth & Space Exploration, Interplanetary Initiative. Watch here …

An interview for Self Made, December 2018
Host Andy Albright travels America to find entrepreneurs from wildly diverse backgrounds and companies share their big idea, their struggles, triumphs and their advise to others who want to take the path of Self Made. Farm, Mars, Movies, Brewery, Episode 9, Amazon

Looking Up, September 2017
Interview with Kechil Kirkham, Industrial Astronomer and weekly host. Find out about gravitational waves and the latest news about their detection from one of the visiting scientists at LIGO, Kai Staats.

WOSU Radio – NPR Affiliate, September 2016
Space Colonization by All Sides with Ann Fisher, with guests Dr. Paul Sutter (OSU CCAPP), Fraser Cain (Universe Today), Katherine Gorringe (documentary filmmaker), and Dr. Pete Roma (NASA HI-SEAS). Discussed is space travel, life on Proxima B, and the HI-SEAS one year mission.

Weekly Space Hangout, Universe Today, June 2016
Hosted by Fraser Cain, a live video interview with Kai Staats and Michael Landry, lead detection scientist at LIGO, Hanford. About filmmaking, the second LIGO detection of merging black holes, and translating science for the public audience.

Casimir, January 2016
“Why Does Mars Matter?”, an interview by Victoria Young for the South African based blog site which “explores the space between” in speaking with writers, artists, inventors, designers, filmmakers, chefs, scientists and travellers.

RealSpace with Dr. Paul Sutter, December 2015
“Making films about Science, Mars Analogues, and Streaking in Low Pressure Atmospheres”
Recorded at the South African offices of the SKA, we discuss filmmaking, surfing, living on Mars, underwater cities, civil war, a brief history of human migration, beans on toast, and of course, streaking in a low pressure atmosphere.

Tatler, May 2015
Film of the Stars about LIGO, A Passion for Understanding
For the Southern Suburbs Tatler, Cape Town, South Africa

Fiat Physica, December 2014
“Chatting Astronomy with Kai Staats”

In the early days of the NASA human space flight program, the first astronauts were little more than riding rockets into space. They were brave individuals whose ability to make the right decision in arduous situations enabled them to succeed. But as space programs have evolved, and the technology has been proved over time, astronaut selection has diversified.

While the first astronauts to walk on the planet Mars will again carry some of the characteristics of the Apollo astronauts for their bravery and many years training, the minimum seven months voyage alone defines a type of personality that is adept to extremely long periods of time in nearly total isolation.

Psychological evaluation now takes priority over skills and mastery of technology as the later can be provided through training. Consideration of multiple month journeys, even permanent communities defines a particular character and personality for the first to Mars.

With the success of SpaceX, Planetary Resources, and the full private sector is shifting the paradigm. As Virgin Galactic moves to take passengers into low Earth orbit, Branson also envisions a day in which the same people venture to Mars, to visit or to remain. Elon Musk, founder of SpaceX sees tens of thousands of people living on Mars within his lifetime.

• What happens when humanity once again sails to a distant shore?
• How does this great adventure differ from those of the past centuries and millennia in which humans ventured to new continents? How is it the same?
• What can we learn from our many mistakes and how can we improve our societal standards, personal interactions, and political and religious arenas as we start again on another world?

While it is not (yet) realistic to alter the fundamental characteristics of the human species, it is possible to ask a set of basic questions; in trying to find the answers, we may discover ways in which we can move to prevent certain tendencies toward self-destruction while at the same time, find ways to improve.

In 1969 we looked back on the Earth from the Moon for the first time. Those images captured a view of our world without borders, without lines which defined us versus them. We have in many ways, today, lost site of that point of view. Perhaps the journey to another planet will again spark the imagination of the human creative engine to see a new way of living in which our common goal is greater than our shared fears.

It is important to develop an understanding of human social behavior and evolution in isolated, off-world communities such that realistic expectations are established, and to some degree, guided over the course of successive generations of humans living in long-term, even permanent isolation from Earth.

To this end, we might ask a series of questions. Simple in the asking, the answers invoke an incredibly complex array of considerations for which there are not likely solutions, rather, general trends. If recognized, these might help guide political, ethical, even religious social norms and standards as we start again in isolated, off-world communities.

While the type and quantity of questions will grow with time, this effort will never fully define the complex workings of human society. Some questions are direct, immediately touching upon subjects which are challenging no matter where they are deployed. The subjects of punishment for crime, the definition of family, and religion invoke strong emotion. Subjects of food distribution and waste management feel more benign, yet they point to the functioning fabric of a modern society.

By asking a simple question which includes a) a limit of function, b) a necessary change, and c) a time constraint—we set a future, conditional boundary. If we then work backwards, step-by-step, we arrive to an understanding of a series of unfolding parameters which lead to any number of potential outcomes.

The goal is not to predict the future, nor set rules and regulations to control the unfolding. Rather, historically, every time a portion of humanity breaks free from its parent organization, it brings with it some things familiar, and introduces some things new. The combination is the evolutionary process we aim to explore.

We have a chance to learn from our mistakes, to improve with time. Just as good science fiction isolates a particular aspect of the human condition and forces it to be addressed, the coming decades of off-world exploration will do the same. Why go to Mars and do the same thing all over again?

Q: How will education grow from the first, home-school to a planet wide system?

Consider: This question in particular opens the floodgate for analysis of a highly complex arena of social infrastructure, from the economic position that educators hold in a given society, to the overall value placed on education. Overwhelming to consider all at once, it is best to look at the progression from the first astronauts who are permanently settled on Mars and the first Mars-born humans.

Those first children will be home-schooled as a function of living with all of the adults in a small, tight “village”. But what happens when there are one hundred, then one thousand villagers? When does the first designated teacher arrive? Does the first school resemble the one-room schools of the 1800s with all levels taught by the same instructor? When will that give way to multiple, specialized
instructors?

Q: When will we need psychologists? Therapy?

Consider: Seven months confinement to a vehicle the size of two or three VW buses is enough to cause anyone to question their sanity. However, with a delay of more than thirty minutes round-trip communication, real-time sharing of issues with a specialist on Earth is not a long-term solution. As with those trained in medical specialization, will psychologists be one of the first professionals to arrive to the red planet?

Q: When will the first police officer be required?

Consider: What crime will be committed, and when? Will it be a case of something stolen, an unsatisfied employee who feels justified in taking corporate property? Or a jealous quarrel which leads to assault … even murder? What will be the population of the community at this time? Four? Twenty? Several hundred? In such a small circle of close associates, why could these kind of situations not be resolved long before they become a problem? How large does a community need to be before individuals no longer feel socially connected, such that their actions are no longer affected by concern for those around them?

Q: Will the institution of marriage be appropriate for the early days of off-world exploration?

Consider: Some twelve thousand years ago, humans transitioned from hunter-gatherer to agrarian, and with that tremendous change in diet and resource allocation, the transition from a child raised by a village to one set of parents in order to maintain a labour force—a means of planting, harvesting, and storing the crops (Diamond: “Guns, Germs, & Steel”). If we return to small, relatively isolated pods of humanity where labour and resource are shared with relative equality, will the village again raise the child? (Gandhi) Will the institution of marriage be required, will it survive the challenges of living and working in such close proximity?

Q: When will food transition from being distributed equally among all members of the community, to that of a for-profit commodity? And what social functions will change if/when this occurs?

Consider: This may not appear, at first glance, to be relevant to the social structure of an isolated community, but it does reflect directly upon the size of the community and how food is “communicated”. A small, relatively flat organization, in the tradition of a food co-operative requires that everyone is involved in food production and distribution. A large, hierarchical organization requires specialists who work as farmers and distributors such that the other specialists in the community may focus on their area of expertise.

Again, this calls upon the hunter-gatherer to agrarian transition, and how food is distributed which is center to so much of the struggle on Earth today. In the early days of a community food will be a shared commodity without economic value—a right, not a privilege.

But what happens when food is sold for profit? At what point does the population grow such that food must be shipped over vast distances, again, invoking the need for premature harvest, stabilizers, and modified food products? Or does a completely indoor, fully regulated food production environment duplicated anywhere on the planet warrant a sustainable, scalable system for food production without need for synthetic design or manipulation?

Already, scientists here on Earth are looking at ways of altering the DNA of plants and microbes to be better suited to Mars. What will be the outcome?

Q: Will there be waste dumps and landfills on Mars?

Consider: At what point does a society transition from one which deems all resources as valuable to one that has excess such that it is more cost effective to bury discarded products rather than reuse and recycle? With limited weather, and no (known) bacteria, earth worms, or other forms of natural decomposition, a land fill may be an ideal long-term storage, or simply something never used. When will economies of scale give way to economic competition, lower prices (if monetary exchange is adopted at all), a return to a throw-away society?

Some thirteen thousand years ago the forebears to all the indigenous people of the Americas walked across the exposed Bering land bridge from Siberia to modern day Alaska. Archaeological evidence shows this migration to have unfolded at a relatively rapid rate, humans spreading south to the tip of Argentine in just one thousand years.

We are, as a species, explorers. Our feet, our caravans, our powered vehicles have taken us to the furthest reaches of the continents, across and beneath the surface of the oceans; through the skies, into orbit, and to the Moon. Since pre-history, we have pressed to the furthest reaches of hospitable lands in search of food, to expand kingdoms, and simply to learn about the world beyond our safe realm.

With the Earth nearly completely explored, the population of humans exploding, this innate, internal drive will soon carry us beyond the only planet we inhabit. In the coming decade humans will return to the Moon, place foot on Mars, and even make temporary homes on the asteroids.

This is not a new technology play, for the foundation of all that is required to make these journeys exists today in the knowledge and experience of government space programs and private aerospace corporations. The true challenge is the allocation of resources, tight collaboration in a multi-national endeavor, and leadership of what will be recorded in history as our greatest accomplishment.

Founding member of Deep Space Industries, Bryan Versteeg of www.spacehabs.com is developing some of the most advanced designs for long term, off-world travel and living. His work is thoroughly researched and expertly presented with breathtaking visions of what may soon be our new homes.

It’s Time to Leave Home
In the coming decade science fiction will become science fact as humans leave the confines of the Earth-Moon system and make homes among the asteroids and planet Mars.

For more than one hundred years there has been popular talk of this next great adventure. Now, finally, we have the technology, motivation, and momentum. Private sector advances in fuel energy density, reusable space craft, and easily deployed habitations will make it economically feasible and technically possible to build communities on Mars.

By asking questions about who we are and where we come from, we can more clearly look to the future of human space exploration. The intent is to recognize patterns in human social behavior in the context of isolated, small group dynamics such that we might help guide, or at least anticipate the challenges of the next wave of human exploration and evolution.

This effort might be built upon three methodologies:

1. Story telling as a means of developing intuitive models for visualizing potential outcomes—including reference to science fiction;
2. Historic accounts of Earth-bound explorations which lead to both small and large scale migration and in some cases, the permanent settlement of (re)discovered lands;
3. Mathematical models (SIMOC) built upon decades of research data. This will enable us to look to a future on Mars (or other isolated human communities) and project potential outcomes as these communities grow from being fully dependent upon Earth supply ships to being fully independent and self-sustaining.

“We have a unique opportunity to learn from the mistakes of our past, to improve our prospect for the future as we aim for the stars.” —Kai Staats, August 2013

Introduction
Like so many kids, I was curious about how the world worked, from the macroscopic starscapes overhead to the microscopic universe under foot. Even at a young age I was systematic about exploration, my research taking many forms. At age five I would crush colorful stones with a hammer, grinding them to learn which would form a fine powder I could use as paint. I collected various species of moss from the neighboring yards and transplanted them, each tagged to learn which would grow well in sun or shade. Encouraged by my parents, my passion for computer programming and astronomy took form at age seven. Jason Zach and I stayed up late to observe the planets, their moons, and nebulae. We kept meticulous records, a log book that I yet hold today.

In high school I enjoyed chemistry and physics immensely, eager to stay after school to conduct experiments too risky for the classroom. Yet when it came to selecting my university education, I was not then aware of experimental physics nor would I have had the courage to try, for I was lead to believe my math skills were inadequate. I earned a five-year BSc in Industrial Design and as en entrepreneur learned to build businesses around my inventions and ideas.

As CEO of Terra Soft Solutions, developer of the world renowned Yellow Dog Linux and provider of turn-key, high performance computing solutions, I cherished every minute spent with DoE, DoD, NASA, and university researchers. Yet, every time I drove away from a client site part of me felt left behind. I didn’t want to just sell computers to scientists, I wanted to be the one doing the research and making the discoveries. In 2014 I ventured to the University of Cape Town to earn a Masters degree in Applied Mathematics. At times imposter’s syndrome got the best of me, but I pushed through, encouraged by my co-supervisor and friend Arun. Through my research in evolutionary computation applied to the mitigation of noise in radio astronomy, I gained confidence and experience that opened doors, and my passion for science was rekindled.

That effort carried forward into three years working with leading astrophysicists and astronomers at LIGO, the gravitational wave observatories. At Arizona State University I developed SIMOC, a Mars habitat computer simulation which lead me to the University of Arizona Biosphere 2 where my team is constructing a hermetically sealed Mars habitat analog for real-world research and exploration.

I build platforms for research and science education. I help find patterns in the noise, the hidden gems that help us to better understand the intricate nature of the world in which we live. For me, there are few things more exciting than working with a team of intelligent, driven, passionate individuals who want nothing more than to share their discoveries with the world.

Who I Am
An avid lover of all things out-of-doors, writer, speaker, filmmaker, innovator, and world traveler. I find connections and build bridges. I bring people into common spaces and shared times, then motivate potentials into reality.

I enjoy storytelling, both sharing and receiving. It is, for me, the most genuine way to connect with another human. This is something we have shared for some fifty thousand years, long before telecommunications, when the camp was the meeting place and conversations unfolded across the embers. As modern inhabitants of a faster paced world, we yet share that heritage, even if we have forgotten it in ourselves.

This is why we attend the theater, why we go to the movies. This is why we gather at restaurants, bars, and meeting halls. This is why coffee shops and Internet cafés have grown in popularity, to counter our feeling alone in a world that works to disconnect us despite the promise of the Internet. Through the process of compilation, self-reflection, and presentation I am given opportunity to share my experience of this world with you. This website shares my campfire stories as they unfold.
  

Moving Along the Non-Linear Function
From 1999 through 2008 my professional and personal identities were wrapped into one. As co-founder and CEO of a leading, open source Yellow Dog Linux (YDL) operating system and high performance computing solutions provider. my leadership helped to shape the use of Linux and supercomputers around the world. In that capacity I was a salesman, problem solver, and manager of a small, agile team that accomplished the impossible. Yet each time I drove away from a client site part of me was left behind. I promised myself that I would return to the sciences not as a salesman but as a researcher who contributes to the shared understanding of the universe and our place in it.

In 2012 I sold most everything I own and put the rest of my life in storage. With a Canon 60D, two lenses, and laptop and backpack I traveled the world shooting films about wildlife conservation, military occupation, archaeology, astronomy and science discovery. Some of my films were funded by the National Science Foundation, some won awards, and some accomplished simpler, more personal goals.

In 2014 I moved to South Africa to earn a Masters degree in Applied Mathematics. I learned to focus again, finding deep pleasure in research, programming, surfing and friends. The night my biologically inspired machine learning code evolved a solution for the first time will remain with me forever as a vivid, extraordinary moment in time. Through my research in evolutionary computation applied to the mitigation of noise in radio astronomy I gained a deeper understanding of how to use machine learning and data mining to better understand the world around us, and ourselves. Doors opened to work in gravitational-wave astronomy and then closed ecosystem modeling.

At Arizona State University my team developed SIMOC (2017-19), a closed ecosystem computer model and educational interface now hosted by National Geographic. At the University of Arizona Biosphere 2 my team is building SAM, the world’s highest fidelity Mars habitat complete with greenhouse, crew living quarters, airlocks, and a massive indoor/outdoor Mars yard.

In this continuing journey, I embrace the non-linear functions for in these lie the most rewarding interactions.

Visit Google Scholar for the full list of research and scientific publications.

Ecosystem Modeling and Validation using Empirical Data from NASA CELSS and Biosphere 2, July 16-20, 2023
This paper was presented at the International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES) by Grant Hawkins with Ezio Melotti, Kai Staats, Atila Meszaros, and Gene Giacomelli. “In this study, we extend the Scalable, Interactive Model of an Off-world Community (SIMOC) with a highly generic plant growth model that incorporates 22 different plant species and validate it against two high-profile and dissimilar experiments: NASA’s Controlled Ecological Life Support System and the Biosphere 2 Intensive Agricultural Biome.” Read the full paper..
 

Integrating Real-Time Environmental Data into an Educational Web Interface, July 16-20, 2023
This paper was presented at the International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES) by Meridith Greythorne with Gregory Ross, Ian Castellanos, Grant Hawkins, Ezio Melotti, Ryan Meneses, Kai Staats, and Gretchen Hollingsworth. “The integration of real-world data into SIMOC offers new and exciting opportunities for students to connect with concepts of interplanetary travel and habitats. This paper details the components integrated into SIMOC such that current and future classrooms may perform hands-on experimentation through use of in-classroom sensor arrays, and describes in-depth a classroom experience implementing this system with local sensors.” Read the full paper..

Integration and Validation of Mushroom and Algae into an Agent-based Model of a Physico-chemical and Bioregenerative ECLSS, July 16-20, 2023
This paper was presented at the International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES) by Sean Gellenbeck with Joel Cuello, Barry Pryor, Chuck Gerba, and Kai Staats. “The project sought to integrate mushroom and aquaculture subsystems to provide additional sources of edible biomass (especially proteins) with focus placed on maximizing the remediation and recycling of inedible biomass … Mushrooms and algae were modeled and validated through a series of experiments. These experiments examined the two cultures individually to inform SIMOC which was then used to design a combined system to provide validation.” Read the full paper..

Integrating Mushrooms into an Agent-based Model of a Physico-chemical and Bioregenerative ECLSS, July 10-14, 2022
This paper was presented at the International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES) by Sean Gellenbeck, Joel Cuello, Kai Staats, Ezio Melotti, and Grant Hawkins. “To design a stable and integrated bioregenerative life support system for long-duration, off-world missions, several biological subsystems will need to be included in the initial trade study and modeling effort. One such proposed subsystem is mushrooms.” Read the full paper..

Responses to Elevated CO2 on Food Production and Life Support Systems in a Mars Habitat, July 10-14, 2022
This paper was presented at the International Conference on Environmental Systems (ICES) by Grant Hawkins, Ezio Melotti, and Kai Staats. “A species-specific model of responses to ambient CO2 on plant CO2 absorption, transpiration and biomass production is integrated into SIMOC [ICES 2019, 2021], an agent-based model for high-fidelity ECLSS and bioregenerative simulations.” Read the full paper..

Using Evolutionary Algorithms to Design Antennas with Greater Sensitivity to Ultra High Energy Neutrinos, December 6, 2021
J. Rolla, A. Machtay, A. Patton, W. Banzhaf, A. Connolly, R. Debolt, L. Deer, E. Fahimi, E. Ferstle, P. Kuzma, C. Pfendner, B. Sipe, K. Staats, S.A. Wissel
The Genetically Evolved NEutrino Telescopes for Improved Sensitivity, or GENETIS, project seeks to optimize detectors in physics for science outcomes in high dimensional parameter spaces. In this project, we designed an antenna using a genetic algorithm with a science outcome directly as the sole figure of merit. This paper presents initial results on the improvement of an antenna design for in ice neutrino detectors using the current Askaryan Radio Array, or ARA, experiment as a baseline. Available at the Arxiv.

SIMOC — A hi-fidelity simulation of off-world, human habitation and bioregenerative life support … for citizen scientists and virtual classrooms, July 14, 2021
Kai Staats, Tyson Brown, Ezio Melotti, Pete Barnes, Gretchen Hollingsworth, Michael Pope
As published and presented at ICES 2021, the Scalable, Interactive Model of an Off-World Community (SIMOC) is a research-grade agent-based model, platform for education, and NGSS aligned curricula. As of June 2020 National Geographic is hosting SIMOC at the NGS Education Resource Library, a web-based repository of more than 4000 curricular assets for K-12+. This publication presents the results of a world-wide engagement of SIMOC, with specific examples of how SIMOC was integrated into virtual classrooms during the COVID pandemic for an iterative exploration of the scientific method. Available from Texas Tech University

Scaled Automated Pressure Regulation System for Analog Moon and Mars Habitat, July 12, 2021
Meghan Marlowe, Ahmed Alraeesi, Gustavo Velez, James Marlar, Arfan Wibisono, Coby Scheidemantel, Kai Staats, John Adams
As humans look to travel off-world, sealed habitats will be essential for life support in long-duration missions. The Space Analog for the Moon and Mars (SAM) at Biosphere 2 is a habitat analog that melds mechanical and bioregenerative life support systems. A team of six engineering students at the University of Arizona worked with the executive team at SAM and Biosphere 2 to design and prototype the Automated Pressure Regulation System (APRS) for the SAM crew quarters. The system will maintain a positive pressure in relation to the outside environment, preventing potential biocontaminants from entering. This paper discusses the overall mechanical system, software design, and test validation procedures proposed for the APRS. Available from Texas Tech University

Evolving Antennas for Ultra-High Energy Neutrino Detection , May 15, 2020
Julie Rolla, Amy Connolly, Kai Staats, Stephanie Wissel, Dean Arakaki, Ian Best, Adam Blenk, Brian Clark, Maximillian Clowdus, Suren Gourapura, Corey Harris, Hannah Hasan, Luke Letwin, David Liu, Carl Pfendner, Jordan Potter, Cade Sbrocco, Tom Sinha, Jacob Trevithick
The GENETIS collaboration is developing genetic algorithms for designing antennas that are more sensitive to ultra-high energy neutrino induced radio pulses than current designs. There are three aspects of this investigation: to evolve simple wire antennas to test the concept and different algorithms; optimize antenna response patterns for a given array geometry; evolve antennas sensitivity to neutrino detection as a measure of fitness. Available at the Arxiv.

Enhancing Gravitational-Wave Science with Machine Learning, May 7, 2020
Elena Cuoco, Jade Powell, Marco Cavaglià, … Kai Staats, et al
Machine learning has emerged as a popular and powerful approach for solving problems in astrophysics. We review applications of machine learning techniques for the analysis of ground-based gravitational-wave detector data. Examples include techniques for improving the sensitivity of Advanced LIGO and Advanced Virgo gravitational-wave searches, methods for fast measurements of the astrophysical parameters of gravitational-wave sources, and algorithms for reduction and characterization of non-astrophysical detector noise. These applications demonstrate how machine learning techniques may be harnessed to enhance the science that is possible with current and future gravitational-wave detectors. Available at the Arxiv.

World Ships: Feasibility and Rationale, April 11, 2020
A.M. Hein, C. Smith, F. Marin, and K. Staats
World ships are hypothetical, large, self-contained spacecraft for crewed interstellar travel, taking centuries to reach other stars. Due to their crewed nature, size and long trip times, the feasibility of world ships faces an additional set of challenges compared to interstellar probes. In part, we explore the application of SIMOC to world ship design. Acta Futura 12 (2020) 75-104

Improving the background of gravitational-wave searches for core collapse supernovae: a machine learning approach, February 4, 2020
Marco Cavaglia, Sergio Gaudio, Travis Hansen, Kai Staats, Marek Szczepanczyk, Michele Zanolin
We present a novel machine learning method to perform single-interferometer supernova searches based on the standard LIGO-Virgo coherent WaveBurst pipeline. We show that the method may be used to discriminate Galactic gravitational-wave supernova signals from noise transients, decrease the false alarm rate of the search, and improve the supernova detection reach of the detectors. Published in Machine Learning: Science and Technology, Mach. Learn.: Sci. Technol.1 015005. Available at the Arxiv.

An agent-based model for high-fidelity ECLSS and bioregenerative simulation, July 2019
Kai Staats, Iurii Milovanov, John Adams, Gregory Schoberth, Thomas Curry, Katherine Morgan, Jason Deleeuw, Gene Giacomelli
As published and presented at ICES 2019, in collaboration with the Biosphere 2, SIMOC was configured to approximate the non-linear functions of CO2 and biomass production in a real-world plant growth study conducted at the Biosphere 2. This publication sees the results of the first application of this novel approach to modeling a real-world plant study, where data generated by the SIMOC model is compared to data collected for the duration of the experiment, and then compared. Available from Texas Tech University

Finding the origin of noise transients in LIGO data with machine learning, December 2018
Marco Cavaglia, Kai Staats, Teerth Gill
We present two machine learning methods, based on random forest and genetic programming algorithms, that can be used to determine the origin of non-astrophysical transients in the LIGO detectors. While the data sets described in this paper are specific to LIGO, … the code bases and means by which they were applied … are completely portable to any number of instruments in which noise is believed to be generated through mechanical couplings. Published in Communications in Computational Physics, volume 25, pp. 963-987. Available at the Arxiv.

TensorFlow Enabled Genetic Programming, July 2017
Kai Staats, Edward Pantridge, Marco Cavaglia, Iurii Milovanov, Arun Aniyan
Genetic Programming, a kind of evolutionary computation and machine learning algorithm, is shown to benefit significantly from the application of vectorized data and the TensorFlow numerical computation library on both CPU and GPU architectures. Published in the proceedings of the Genetic and Evolutionary Computation Conference (GECCO) Companion, ACM 2017, pp. 1872-1879, this paper employes Karoo GP in a comparative study of varying datasets across multiple CPU and GPU configurations. Available at the Arxiv.

Genetic Programming Applied to RFI Mitigation in Radio Astronomy, December 2016
Kai Staats, with supervisor Bruce Bassett and co-supervisor Arun Aniyan
The MSc thesis for Kai Staats, University of Cape Town, South Africa. At the time of this research, the application of machine learning to radio astronomy was relatively new. Genetic Programming had never been applied, and as such, was a novel approach to this challenging arena. Foundational to this body of research, the application Karoo GP was developed and tasked with the classification of signal verus radio frequency interference (RFI). The training data was derived from the output of an observation run of the KAT-7 radio telescope array built by the South African Square Kilometre Array (SKA-SA).

SPIE Proceedings, July 15, 2016
S. B. Potter, Kai Staats, Encarni Romero-Colmenero
Genetically optimized weather predictions built upon the Southern African Large Telescope (SALT) weather monitoring database. This remarkably simple approach developed principally by head astronomer Stephen Potter derives a functional weather predictor in order to prepare dome environment conditions for night time operations or plan, prioritize and update weather dependent observing queues. SPIE: International Society of Optics and Photonics, conference proceedings.

Mobile Robotic Platform Deployment as Part of a Martian Mission Simulation, June 17-19, 2014
E.Reid, P.Iles, N.Cristello, M.Labrie, M.Musilova, K.Staats
In January of 2014 a seven-person crew of analogue astronauts (Crew134) conducted a two week, high-fidelity Mars mission simulation at the Mars Society’s Mars Desert Research Station (MDRS) in the high altitude Utah desert. Part of the mission simulation included testing of a mobile robotic platform and a stereo camera system (SCS). This paper summarizes the results of this testing and provides lessons learned and recommendations for future analogue deployments and flight systems design. International Symposium on Artificial Intelligence, Robotics and Automation in Space (i-SAIRAS)
 

All of my time, attention, and brain power is currently focused on the innovations associated with SIMOC and SAM. Learn more at Current Research