Stephen M. Wilkins, Jack Turner, Connor Sant Fournier, Behnood Bandi · 5 authors
With traditional sources of funding for astronomical research under increasing pressure, it is timely to explore innovative alternative mechanisms. We therefore introduce GalaxyCoin, a novel cryptocurrency whose issuance, validation, and economic evolution are anchored to real astrophysical objects - galaxies. GalaxyCoin links digital scarcity to observational astronomy by using galaxy catalogues to parametrise token generation, distribution, and long-term supply growth, providing a transparent, immutable, and independently verifiable foundation for the currency. We present the conceptual design of GalaxyCoin, highlight its potential advantages over conventional cryptocurrencies, and examine its broader implications for sustainability, trust, and public engagement at the intersection of astronomy, data-driven science, and blockchain technology. A central feature of GalaxyCoin is that it directly incentivises the discovery and spectroscopic confirmation of galaxies, aligning financial reward with the production of high-quality astronomical data. In terms of monetary design, its supply elasticity lies between that of fiat currencies and fixed-supply cryptocurrencies, making it distinctive in both economic structure and scientific purpose.
Astrophysics forms a cornerstone of human curiosity and has revolutionised our understanding of the Universe. However, conventional academic structures often hinder collaboration, transparency, and discovery. We present COOL Research DAO, a next-generation framework for cosmic origins astrophysics research that uses decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) principles to make astrophysics research globally accessible, economically fair, and intellectually open. COOL Research DAO is designed to address four key systemic problems and their manifestations in traditional academic research: general inaccessibility, hierarchical organisation, unfair economic structures, and inefficient knowledge transfer. We describe how these inefficiencies can be addressed using blockchain-based tools and token systems. By fostering bottom-up governance, open-access knowledge networks, and transparent rewards, COOL Research DAO reshapes economic, organisational, and educational paradigms in astrophysics research. Our approach leverages the data-rich and inherently international nature of astrophysics, ensuring a scalable, collaborative platform that welcomes contributions ranging from computational analyses to public outreach. In doing so, we highlight a path toward realising our vision of a truly open research ecosystem, driven by community ownership, intellectual freedom, and shared fascination with our cosmic origins.
Anirban Chowdhury, Yasir Latif, Moriba K. Jah, Samya Bagchi
As the number of Anthropogenic Space Objects (ASOs) grows, there is an urgent need to ensure space safety, security, and sustainability (S3) for long-term space use. Currently, no globally effective method can quantify the safety, security, and Sustainability of all ASOs in orbit. Existing methods such as the Space Sustainability Rating (SSR) rely on volunteering private information to provide sustainability ratings. However, the need for such sensitive data might prove to be a barrier to adoption for space entities. For effective comparison of ASOs, the rating mechanism should apply to all ASOs, even retroactively, so that the sustainability of a single ASO can be assessed holistically. Lastly, geopolitical boundaries and alignments play a crucial and limiting role in a volunteered rating system, limiting the space safety, security, and sustainability. This work presents a Live Detectability, Identifiability, and Trackability (L-DIT) score through a distributed app (dApp) built on top of the Behavioral Dynamics blockchain (BDB). The BDB chain is a space situational awareness (SSA) chain that provides verified and cross-checked ASO data from multiple sources. This unique combination of consensus-based information from BDB and permissionless access to data allows the DIT scoring method presented here to be applied to all ASOs. While the underlying BDB chain collects, filters, and validates SSA data from various open (and closed if available) sources, the L-DIT dApp consumes the data from the chain to provide L-DIT score that can contribute towards an operator's, manufacturer's, or owner's sustainability practices. Our dApp provides data for all ASOs, allowing their sustainability score to be compared against other ASOs, regardless of geopolitical alignments, providing business value to entities such as space insurance providers and enabling compliance validation and enforcement.
For the successful development of the astrophysics and, accordingly, for obtaining more complete knowledge of the Universe, it is extremely important to combine and comprehensively analyze information of various types (e.g., about charged cosmic particles, gamma rays, neutrinos, etc.) obtained by using divers large-scale experimental setups located throughout the world. It is obvious that all kinds of activities must be performed continually across all stages of the data life cycle to help support effective data management, in particular, the collection and storage of data, its processing and analysis, refining the physical model, making preparations for publication, and data reprocessing taking refinement into account. In this paper we present a general approach to construction and the architecture of a system to be able to collect, store, and provide users' access to astrophysical data. We also suggest a new approach to the construction of a metadata registry based on the blockchain technology.