Welcome to the NAI Newsletter! The Newsletter is a compendium of announcements, events, updates, and news items related to the NAI and its research. If you have news items or suggestions you can send them to the editor, Marco Boldt at: Marco.Boldt@nasa.gov.
Newsletter for November 1, 2006
- Faculty Positions in Science and Engineering: Arizona State University
- Astrobiology Primer is Published!
- University of Washington Seminar: Self-assembly Processes in the Prebiotic Environment
Faculty Positions in Science and Engineering: Arizona State University
In July 2006, Arizona State University launched the School of Earth and Space Exploration (SESE) as part of a university-wide initiative in transdisciplinary research and education. SESE faculty are explicitly organizing their research efforts around "grand challenges" in the earth and space sciences, such as:
* Understanding the origin of life, the nature of biological evolution, and the distribution of life in the universe;
* Understanding the formation and evolution of galaxies, stars, and planetary systems;
* Understanding the chemical, physical, and biological process interactions that define the evolution of Earth and similar planets;
* Understanding the co-evolution of Earth and human societies; and
* Designing and implementing optimal strategies for the human and robotic exploration of space.
Success in these endeavors will demand the effective integration of disciplines such as astronomy, astrophysics, biogeochemistry, evolutionary and organismic biology, climate science, geochemistry, geology, geophysics, oceanography, and public policy. Importantly, meeting these challenges requires a fusion of science with "collaborative engineering", which we define for our purposes simply as the integration of design and informatics theories from many branches of engineering to facilitate scientific exploration and research on Earth and beyond.
Over the next four years, the School will be hiring a large number of faculty in order to build its capacity for such transdisciplinary research and education. We are now accepting applications from creative researchers and inspired educators as part of the first phase in this process.
For more information: http://sese.asu.edu/faculty_positions.php
Astrobiology Primer is Published!
The Astrobiology Primer: An Outline of General Knowledge appears in this month's issue of Astrobiology. Sponsored by the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI), the Primer was spearheaded by editor-in-chief Lucas Mix, and represents the work of 8 editors, 13 authors, and countless contributors. Intended as a reference tool, it provides information in these 7 topics: Stellar Formation and Evolution, Planetary Formation and Evolution, Astrobiogeochemistry and the Origin of Life, Evolution of Life Through Time, Planet Detection and Characterization, Diversity of Life, and Science in Space. The Primer came about in large part because of NAI support for graduate student research, collaboration, and inclusion as well as direct funding. Download your copy today: http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/ast.2006.6.735
University of Washington Seminar: Self-assembly Processes in the Prebiotic Environment
Join us for the next University of Washington Astrobiology Seminar! David Deamer of U.C. Santa Cruz will be speaking on the topic "Self-assembly Processes in the Prebiotic Environment "
Date/Time: Tuesday, November 14th 2:30PM PST
Abstract
Although the physical environment that fostered primitive cellular life is still largely unconstrained, we can be reasonably confident that liquid water was required, together with a source of organic compounds and energy to drive polymerization reactions. There must also have been a process by which the compounds were sufficiently concentrated to undergo physical and chemical interactions. Our laboratory is exploring self-assembly processes and polymerization reactions of organic compounds in natural geothermal environments and related laboratory simulations. We have found that RNA-like polymers can be synthesized non-enzymatically from ordered arrays of mononucleotides in lipid microenvironments. Chemical activation of the mononucleotides is not required. Instead, synthesis of phosphodiester bonds is driven by the chemical potential of fluctuating anhydrous and hydrated conditions, with heat providing activation energy during dehydration. In the final hydration step, the RNA is encapsulated within lipid vesicles. The reaction has been shown to occur not only in a laboratory setting, but also on mineral surfaces of a hydrothermal volcanic site on Mt. Lassen. We are now extending this approach to template-directed synthesis of RNA, in which lipid-assisted polymerization serves as a model of an early stage of evolution toward an RNA World.
Recently Published Research from the NAI
Romer's Gap Confirmed
Peter Ward from NAI's Alumni Team at the University of Washington and his collaborators have a new paper out in PNAS this week providing supportive evidence for Romer's Gap. Their results link this gap in vertebrate terrestrialization with a low atmospheric oxygen interval. This paper supports Ward's new book on the evolution of effective respiratory systems, entitled "Out of Thin Air."
Microbes of the Deep
In this week's Science, researchers from NAI's Indiana, Princeton, Tennessee Astrobiology Initiative (IPTAI) and Carnegie Institution of Washington Teams report that they have found an extant microbial biome at 2.8km depth in a South African mine. Analyses showed thermophilic sulfate reducers existing "with no apparent reliance on photosynthetically derived substrates."
Astrobiology EPO, Undergrads, Grads, Postdocs
NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) program
NASA announces a call for graduate fellowship proposals to the NASA Earth and Space Science Fellowship (NESSF) program for the 2007/2008 academic year. This call for fellowship proposals solicits applications from accredited U.S. Universities on behalf of individuals pursuing Master of Science (M.Sc.) or Doctoral (Ph.D.) degrees in Earth and space sciences, or related disciplines. The purpose of NESSF is to ensure continued training of a highly qualified workforce in disciplines needed to achieve NASA’s scientific goals outlined above. Awards resulting from the competitive selection will be made in the form of training grants to the respective universities.
The deadline for NEW applications is February 1, 2007, and the deadline for RENEWAL applications is March 15, 2007. Note that last year the program was called the Earth System Science Fellowship (ESSF) program.
The NESSF call for proposals may be found at the NESSF 07 solicitation index page at http://nspires.nasaprs.com (select "Solicitations" then select "Open Solicitations" then select "NESSF 07").
Proposals must be submitted electronically through NASA's NSPIRES system. The advisor has an active role in the electronic submission of the fellowship proposal. To use the NSPIRES system, the student, the advisor, and the university must all register. Once you are in the NSPIRES database system, you will be registered for all future NASA submissions. Extended instructions on how to submit an electronic proposal package are posted on the NESSF 07 solicitation index page listed above. You can register in NSPIRES here http://nspires.nasaprs.com .
For further information contact:
Program Administrator for NESSF Earth Science Research – Anne Crouch at (202) 358-0855 or by E-mail at hq-nessf-Earth@nasa.gov .
Program Administrator for NESSF Heliophysics Research, Planetary Science Research, and Astrophysics Research – Dolores Holland at (202) 358-0734 or by E-mail at
hq-nessf-Space@nasa.gov .
