Still image from Wanderers. Courtesy of Erik Wernquist

In less than four minutes, Wanderers — a short film by Erik Wernquist –– animator and digital artist from Stockholm, Sweden– sweeps us away from war, ugliness, pollution and worldwide climate threats to consider the human longing for seeking new places in the our solar system and beyond. Prolific writer-astronomer Carl Sagan is featured reading excerpts from his 1994 book A Pale Blue Dot. Learn more about the book

This image of Earth is one of 60 frames taken by the Voyager 1 spacecraft on February 14, 1990 from a distance of more than 6 billion kilometers (4 billion miles) and about 32 degrees above the ecliptic plane. In the image the Earth is a mere point of light, a crescent only 0.12 pixel in size. Courtesy of NASA/JPL

Carl Sagan

Sagan’s words could not be more timely as we wrestle with the uncertainties of the future: ” The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.”  Sagan also explains that settlement of other worlds will become a necessity for the human race to survive!

Wanderers has been nominated for a 2015 Webby Award  in the category Science & Education.

Watch Wanderers here