Weaving together panspermia, microbiomes, human evolution, and a dire pessimism about the future of our species, Byron Rich‘s newest artistic products entitled M-Ark or Microbiome Ark take a critical technosolutionist approach to dealing with the question of whether we will survive ourselves. Through the development of a microbiome ark that sits in low-earth orbit for thousands of years before crashing back to the earth’s surface, Byron is trying to bring awareness to the severity of the threat to our very existence posed by apathetic politics, divisive and anti-intellectual rhetoric, and profit margins over progress.