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Astrobiology Opens Pandora's Box
Lisa Kaltenegger from NAI’s MIT team discusses exoplanets and science fiction with CNN World, noting that it’s likely many moons such as Avatar’s Pandora exist, and we’re that much closer to finding them with NASA’s Kepler mission.
Source: [CNN World]
January 11, 2010 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Kepler: The First Five
NASA’s Kepler space telescope, designed to find Earth-size planets in the habitable zone of sun-like stars, has discovered its first five new exoplanets, or planets beyond our solar system.
Kepler’s high sensitivity to both small and large planets enabled the discovery of the exoplanets, named Kepler 4b, 5b, 6b, 7b and 8b. The discoveries were announced Monday, Jan. 4, by the members of the Kepler science team during a news briefing at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Washington.
Source: [Astrobio.net]
January 4, 2010 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Could Kepler Find Avatar's Moon Pandora?
In the new blockbuster Avatar, humans visit the habitable – and inhabited – alien moon called Pandora. Life-bearing moons like Pandora or the Star Wars forest moon of Endor are a staple of science fiction. With NASA’s Kepler mission showing the potential to detect Earth-sized objects, habitable moons may soon become science fact. If we find them nearby, a new paper by Smithsonian astronomer Lisa Kaltenegger shows that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) will be able to study their atmospheres and detect key gases like carbon dioxide, oxygen, and water vapor.
“If Pandora existed, we potentially...
Source: [Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics]
December 17, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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What Life Leaves Behind
In 1976, NASA’s twin Viking landers arrived on Mars, equipped with four experiments designed to offer foolproof evidence of life on the Red Planet. They were looking for biosignatures, or fingerprints of life. As they took their first scoops of Martian soil, the whole world held its breath.
Source: [SEED Magazine]
December 3, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Sinking Life in Shallow Seas
Researchers supported by the NASA Exobiology program have revealed new information about a period of time spanning three of Earth’s largest mass extinctions. Their work shows how ancient oceans and intercontinental seas responded differently to agents of mass extinction. The work may help scientists understand how climate change could affect different marine environments in the future.
Source: [University of Cincinnati]
November 25, 2009 / Posted by: Aaron Gronstal
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Kepler Named An Innovation of the Year by Popular Science
Kepler, NASA’s first “astrobiology mission,” has been named by Popular Science Magazine the Aviation and Space Grand Award Winner in their 2009 Best of What’s New review.
November 24, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Daniel Glavin Wins 2010 Nier Prize
Daniel Glavin, winner of the 2010 Nier Prize. Photo Credit: Chris Gunn
Daniel Glavin has been selected by the international Meteoritical Society as the recipient of the 2010 Nier Prize. The prestigious Nier Prize is awarded to young scientists performing valuable research in fields related to meteoritics and planetary science.
Dr. Glavin was presented with the prize for his work on extraterrestrial organic chemistry. By examining carbonaceous meteorites, Glavin and his team have made important contributions toward understanding why life uses only left-handed versions of amino acids. It turns out that molecules delivered to Earth in meteorites may have played a role in life’s eventual bias toward...Source: [NASA GSFC]
November 18, 2009 / Posted by: Aaron Gronstal
