"Is the rate for natural disasters increasing, I recently heard it has increased by 62%."
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Seeking Signs of Life at the Glacier’s Edge
Ice augering at a glacier, taking measurements in Greenland, and collecting a sediment core. Credits: Seth Young, Lisa Pratt
Microbes living at the edges of Arctic ice sheets could help researchers pinpoint evidence for similar microorganisms that could have evolved on Mars, the Jovian moon Europa, or Saturn’s moon Enceladus. With support from the NASA ASTEP program, a team of scientists recently investigated the western edge of the Greenland ice sheet in order to study the release of methane while as the ice sheet recedes. Careful isotopic analysis will help them determine if the methane comes directly or indirectly from methanogenic microbes.In 2011, the researchers used an infrared laser to look for methane at...
Source: [astrobio.net]
May 17, 2012 / Written by: Charles Q. Choi
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Recorded Sessions from AbSciCon Now Available
John Grotzinger leads a plenary session at AbSciCon, as broadcast in Adobe Connect.Several sessions at the 2012 Astrobiology Science Conference were broadcast live via Adobe Connect and recorded. An archive of talks from 18 sessions is now available for viewing online via the AbSciCon website.
Source: [AbSciCon]
May 3, 2012 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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FameLab Astrobiology...and the Winner is...
Join us in congratulating Brendan Mullan from Pennsylvania State University on winning the 2012 FameLab Astrobiology competition! The Finals were held on Monday, April 16th during the Astrobiology Science Conference in Atlanta, GA. The judges selected one winner from among the 11 finalists, whose presentations can all be seen here. Brendan joins the winners of FameLab competitions from all over the world this June in the UK, and will represent the United States in the FameLab International Final event!
FameLab was set up in 2005 by Cheltenham Festivals in partnership with the UK’s...
Source: [NASA]
May 1, 2012 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Impacts Could be Boon for Subterranean Life
On site at the Chesapeake Bay Impact Structure, geologists examine and catalog core sections. Credit: Aaron L. Gronstal
A drilling project into the Chesapeake Bay impact structure has found evidence that the subsurface may become more habitable after a large impact. Although major impacts could have been responsible for some of Earth’s largest mass extinctions, microbes living deep underground may actually benefit from such events.
“Impacts can fracture the rocks in the deep surface, which will allow fluids and nutrients to flow in,” says Charles Cockell from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, and lead author of the study recently published in the journal Astrobiology.Source: [astrobio.net]
April 26, 2012 / Written by: Michael Schirber
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NASA and Library of Congress Select First Astrobiology Chair
David GrinspoonNASA and the Library of Congress have announced the selection of David H. Grinspoon to be the first Baruch S. Blumberg NASA-Library of Congress Chair in Astrobiology.
The chair, selected through an international competition, is named for the late Nobel Laureate and founding director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, Baruch “Barry” Blumberg. Applications are solicited by the Library of Congress and reviewed by a panel jointly established by the Library and NASA. The prestigious position was created in November 2011.
Grinspoon will be in residence for a year beginning November 2012 at the library’s scholarly research...
April 19, 2012 / Posted by: Marco Boldt
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FameLab Astrobiology Finals - Live Webcast!
The 2012 FameLab Astrobiology Finals will be broadcast live on NASA TV as well as over the internet! The event will be held from 7-9 PM (EDT) on Monday, April 16th.
The livestream will be available at http://livestream.com/FameLabAstrobiology and at http://www.nasa.gov/ntv. Check local listings for the NASA TV channel number in your area.
FameLab Astrobiology is a science communication extravaganza! Over the past few months, more than 70 early career astrobiologists have gathered at sites across the USA (and on YouTube) to compete in FameLab Astrobiology preliminaries. Eleven have emerged...
Source: [NASA]
April 12, 2012 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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How Deep Must Life Hide to be Safe on Europa?
The icy crust at the surface of Europa. Credit: NASA
Jupiter’s icy moon Europa is subject to constant and significant blasts of radiation. Researchers at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory are now attempting to determine how deep life must lay beneath the moon’s crust in order to survive.
“Simple theories of how deep the electrons go are only known for very high energy electrons,” said Murthy Gudipati, of JPL, California Institute of Technology, whose research focuses on electrons bombarding ice. “Even in the megaelectron volt range, we do not have any laboratory data that has been measured on ices containing organic matter, which is really important for astrobiology.”
The...Source: [astrobio.net]
April 4, 2012 / Written by: Nola Taylor Redd
