Long Now Boston had an awe-inspiring evening at the Harvard College Observatory on Jan 27, 02025.   We had excellent presentations by Philippe Reekie leading us through the Observatory's history and his own research into the possibility of extraterrestrial life – how organic molecules and microbes could be preserved for millennia in salt crystals, and Thom Burns and Lisa Bravata of the Harvard Plate Stacks at the Center for Astrophysics | Harvard & Smithsonian, showing off some of their beautiful, rare early astrophotographs, and offering glimpses into the rich history of astronomical discovery, focusing on the women who did a large share of the work and the preservation efforts needed to maintain this collection of valuable historical assets.

Long Now Boston and the Harvard Bookstore welcomed journalist Kyle Paoletta for a packed reading and discussion of his new book, “American Oasis: Finding the Future in the Cities of the American Southwest,“  (which was officially released by Pantheon that same day). 

On Tuesday, Oct 29, 02024, Long Now Boston was proud to co-host a conversation between Greg Epstein, humanist chaplain at Harvard and MIT, and Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein, at the Cambridge Public Library. 

What is the oldest living thing in New England? And what could we learn from it about seeing the past and future from the perspective of hundreds of years and about being good ancestors?

Members of Long Now Boston and their friends set out in October to answer these and other questions on an expedition to find the oldest living thing in New England. A number of authorities claim that the oldest living thing would likely be a tree of a long-lived species such as tupelo (black gum), cedar, and Eastern hemlock, examples of which can live over 600 years.