This piece was inspired by the idea of launching microbes in space*, and directing them with lasers towards Proxima Centauri B. Proxima Centauri B is the closest exoplanet to earth, meaning that it probably has conditions most similar to earth, not too hot, and not too cold, hence it’s known as the goldilocks zone. These microbes would then reproduce on the exoplanet, and through genetic engineering, be programmed to create bioluminescence visible from earth.
* This idea was proposed by George Church (a professor of genetics at Harvard), and is a revised take of ‘Breakthrough Starshot’ a project meant to launch probes towards exoplanets to gain information about them.