"Can you describe the famous experiment done in the 1950’s by Stanley Miller and how it relates to the origin of life?"
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MAVEN
In September, NASA awarded the University of Colorado the biggest research grant in the school’s history for a project led by NAI Emeritus PI Bruce Jakosky to investigate the history of the climate on Mars. The idea behind the $486 million project—known as Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, or MAVEN to try to discover why Mars’ climate has changed over the past few billions years, and whether the planet before those changes was an environment suitable for life…
July 1, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Astrobiology, To the Best of Our Knowledge
Today on WAMC’s radio program To The Best Of Our Knowledge, NAI Principal Investigator Doug Whittet talks about astrobiology, and the ongoing research and education activities of his New York Center for Astrobiology (NYCA), seated at RPI. This interview sets up future programs featuring staff scientists and guest lecturers at the NYCA.
June 29, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Salt Discovered in Saturn's Outermost Ring
For the first time, scientists working on NASA’s Cassini mission have detected sodium salts in ice grains of Saturn’s outermost ring. Detecting salty ice indicates that Saturn’s moon Enceladus, which primarily replenishes the ring with material from discharging jets, could harbor a reservoir of liquid water — perhaps an ocean — beneath its surface.
Cassini discovered the water-ice jets in 2005 on Enceladus. These jets expel tiny ice grains and vapor, some of which escape the moon’s gravity and form Saturn’s outermost ring. Cassini’s cosmic dust analyzer has examined the composition of those grains and found salt within...
Source: [NASA Press Release]
June 24, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Nickel: The New Biomarker
Members of NAI’s team at Penn State and their colleagues have a new paper in PNAS exploring the viability of using isotopes of the element nickel as biomarkers. Nickel is an important trace nutrient for methanogens, which preferentially use one isotope of nickel over another in their metabolic processes. Nickel, unlike iron, doesn’t seem to go through significant redox changes without a biological tie, therefore considering it as a biomarker is less complicated and potentially more reliable. Testing ancient sediments and observing nickel isotopic fractionation could pinpoint where and when methanogens arose.
Source: [Penn State press release]
June 23, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Increasing the Lifespan of Life on Earth
According to a new study from NAI’s Virtual Planetary Laboratory Team and colleagues at Cal Tech, the lifespan of Earth’s biosphere could be prolonged, even as the Sun’s luminosity increases and threatens to wipe out all life on Earth. Published earlier this month in PNAS, the study points to the substantial reduction of the total pressure of Earth’s atmosphere, achieved by removing massive amounts of nitrogen from it. This would regulate the surface temperatures, allow carbon dioxide to remain in the atmosphere to support life, and could tack an additional 1.3 billion years onto Earth’s...
Source: [Link]
June 19, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Expanding Horizons in Montana
“Microbial Bingo” was the name of the game in a recent outreach event for more than 50 junior high-aged girls from across Montana. The girls came to Montana State University’s astrobiology laboratories this Spring for “That’s Hot! Investigating the Edge of Life” as part of the national program called Expanding Your Horizons. The girls learned about MSU’s research in Yellowstone National Park, and how astrobiology might give us new insights into the early earth as well as life on other planets. The girls then became scientists themselves, using observational data in a race to fill...
June 16, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
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Nascence Man
NAI scientist Mike Russell is the subject of a recent Nature News Feature which likens his work on the origin of life to the alchemists of yore. His research, however, involves transforming elements not into gold, but into the ‘stirrings of life.’ The article describes the equipment in his lab as ‘the biological equivalent of a particle accelerator,’ as he is using two linked containers to attempt to recreate the first moments of life on Earth. One contains a liquid proxy for the Earth’s early oceans, and the other holds a liquid proxy...
June 16, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
- Planetary Science Decadal Survey
Planetary Science Decadal Survey: White Papers Posted for Comment- 2008 Annual Report
- NASA Selects New Science Teams for Astrobiology Institute
- NAI Team Overview Presentations
- 2008 Astrobiology Roadmap
- 2009 Santander Summer School
- NRC Assessment of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, 2008
- Astrobiology Small Payloads Workshop Report
- Seminar Series Podcasts
- Astrobiology Primer
- 6/29 NAI Director's Seminar: Chris Scholin, "Application of the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) in Deep-sea and Coastal Ocean Biomes"
- MIRS 2009 Sabbatical Awards
- 2009 Selections Announced for the NAI/APS Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research
- Recently Published Research from the NAI
- New Book: "Astrobiology of Earth: The Emergence, Evolution and Future of Life on a Planet in Turmoil"
- Ph.D. Position in Experimental Isotope Geochemistry/Petrology - Utrecht University
- Astrobiology Night at the Ballpark
- NASA Accepting Proposals for the Global Climate Change Education Cooperative Agreement Notice
- Expanding Horizons in Montana
- Planetary Science Decadal Survey: White Papers Posted for Comment
- ROSES-09 Amendment 6: New proposal opportunity in Appendix D.11 entitled "Technology Development for Exoplanet Missions."
- Timetree of Life
June 16, 2009 
