"Is it true that scientists at NASA are looking for life on the moons of Jupiter?"
-
Chris Impey receives ASP Richard H. Emmons Award
University of Arizona researcher and educator Chris Impey has received the 2008 ASP Richard H. Emmons award, which recognizes and celebrates outstanding achievement in the teaching of college-level introductory astronomy for non-science majors. The award citation states that “Innovation is certainly a hallmark of Chris’s approach to teaching astronomy. He is ever thought provoking and engaging; students benefit from his refreshing methods that use interactive techniques and a blend of online and classroom teaching.”
May 12, 2008 / Written by: Wendy Dolci
-
Jim Kasting elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and of the Geochemical Society
Jim Kasting was recently elected as Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Jim is a member of the NAI’s Pennsylvania State University and Virtual Planetary Laboratory @ UW teams, and a PI in the Exobiology program. The American Academy of Arts & Sciences is one of the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honorary societies and independent policy research centers. Jim has also been named a Fellow of the Geochemical Society. The honorary title...
May 12, 2008 / Written by: Wendy Dolci
-
Organic Haze, Glaciations and Multiple Sulfur Isotopes in the Mid-Archean Era
Shawn D. Domagal-Goldman (NAI PSU team), J.F. Kasting (NAI PSU team), D. T. Johnson (NAI CIW team), and J. Farquhar (NAI CIW and UCLA teams) have just published an article Organic haze, glaciations and multiple sulfur isotopes in the Mid-Archean era in Earth and Planetary Science Letters. The team used sulfur isotope signatures within ancient sediments and a photochemical model of sulfur dioxide photolysis to interpret the evolution of...
May 9, 2008 / Posted by: Marco Boldt
-
NAI Student Poster Competition at AbSciCon 2008
The competition was fierce! Of 37 posters representing the full gamut of astrobiology research areas, six finalists moved into second round judging, and four awards were made. Please join NAI in thanking our judges and congratulating this year’s winners:
First place, $2,000, and the Frank Drake Award goes to Tsubasa Otake of Pennsylvania State University for his poster “Theoretical investigations of equilibrium and surface adsorption effects on mass-dependent fractionation in multiple sulfur isotope systems.”
Second place, and $1,250 goes to Pamela...
April 30, 2008 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
-
Astrobiology Meets the Video Game: Spore
Video games and virtual worlds are a great way to inspire kids’ interest in science and technology. The President’s Commission on Implementation of US Space Exploration Policy reports that “…video and simulation games are not only a multi-billion dollar industry, they are proving to be effective as learning devices for people of all ages” … “The potential for converting hobbies and amusements to more educational pursuits is enormous.”
The soon-to-be-released Astrobiology-based...
April 30, 2008 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
-
Methane and Water Vapor Observed in Atmosphere of Exoplanet
Former NAI Postdoctoral Fellow Giovanna Tinetti is co-author on a groundbreaking paper in this week’s Nature detailing the observation of methane and water vapor in the atmosphere of the extrasolar planet HD 189733b. The team used the NASA Hubble Space Telescope to observe the transiting exoplanet, using the NICMOS camera to obtain a spectrophotometric time series. This result is a milestone in the search for life elsewhere in the Universe, most importantly because it...
March 25, 2008 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
-
New Classroom Materials from the NAI: Exploring Deep Subsurface Life
Created by NAI’s IPTAI Team, the Exploring Deep Subsurface Life Workbook and DVD teaching materials highlight research sites at Harmony Gold Mine in South Africa, and Lupin Gold Mine and High Lake Mine in Nunavut Territory, Canada. The workbook¹s imagery invites the audience into the mine sites, and the lessons correspond to the astrobiology research carried out in the deep subsurface. The video and animation materials support and...
March 25, 2008 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice
- NAI Student Poster Competition at AbSciCon 2008
- NAI Focus Groups Meet at AbSciCon 2008
- Recently Published Research from the NAI
- NAI Central and Astrobiology Grad Students Participate in Yuri's Night Exhibit
- Autumn 2008 Lloyd V. Berkner Space Policy Internship at the National Research Council's Space Studies Board
- XV International Conference on the Origin of Life
- Summer School on Life in Extreme Conditions
- GSA session T96 "Planetary Pummelling: Cataclysmic Bombardment of the Solar System as Catastrophe, Catalyst, Cauldron and Crucible"
April 30, 2008 
