NAI Ames Team Scientists Receive Honors

Three of our distinguished colleagues have just become even more so! Please join NAI in congratulating Dave Des Marais, Jack Lissauer, and Lou Allamandola on their continued achievements!

David Des Marais has been elected Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) in recognition of his contributions to biogeochemistry and astrobiology. This designation (election as Fellow) is conferred upon not more than 0.1 percent of all AGU members in any given year. The recently-elected fellows will be recognized at the 2008 Joint Assembly of AGU held May 27-30 in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Jack Lissauer received...

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June 4, 2008 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice

New Enzymes in the Laboratory

A new paper in Nature this week from NAI’s NASA Ames Research Center Team describes a new technique they’ve developed through which completely new enzymes can be evolved in the laboratory. The process does not require prior understanding of how the enzymes will work, but uses product formation as the sole selection criterion.

Source: [Link]

August 17, 2007 / Posted by: Shige Abe

NAI Scientist Receives Presidential Award

Please join NAI in congratulating Lou Allamandola of the NASA Ames Research Center Team who was recently bestowed the ‘Presidential Rank of Meritorious Senior Professional’ in a ceremony held at Ames on June 5th. Congratulations Lou!

Source: [Link]

June 6, 2007 / Posted by: Shige Abe

NASA Astrobiologists Elected to National Academy of Sciences

Congratulations are due to astrobiologists Donald E. Canfield and Paul G. Falkowski for their election to the distinguished ranks of membership in the National Academy of Sciences.

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May 2, 2007 / Posted by: Shige Abe

PAH's Responsible for "Red Glow"

New work from NAI NASA Ames Research Center Team members and their colleagues published recently in PNAS suggests that the cause for much of the extended red emission, or ERE, is due to closed-shell cationic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon, or PAH, dimers. Their work sheds light on the processes involved in carbonaceous dust evolution in the interstellar medium.

Source: [Link]

April 9, 2007 / Posted by: Shige Abe

Stardust Sample Analysis

A special issue of Science (Dec 15) includes several papers reporting on various aspects of Stardust sample analysis including an organics survey, isotopic and elemental compositions, mineralogy and petrology, and infrared spectroscopy. Many NAI researchers contributed to this comprehensive analytical campaign, including members of NAI’s Teams at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, NASA’s Ames Research Center and Goddard Space Flight Center, and NAI’s Alumni Team at the University of Washington.

Source: [Link]

December 14, 2006 / Posted by: Shige Abe

Astrobiology and Stardust

Carl Sagan once said “We are all star stuff.� But how? What does that really mean? One of the fundamental questions of astrobiology, how does life originate and evolve?, provides a structure in which to examine the relationship between life and the cosmos. Everywhere life has been found on Earth, which is essentially every place in which it has been sought, life’s intimate connection with water has also been found. Within the framework of contemplating life’s cosmic origins, one must also ask about the history of water on Earth. NASA’s Stardust mission has provided the opportunity for astrobiologists to gain deeper insight into this history.

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December 14, 2006 / Posted by: Shige Abe

Chemical Energy for Life on Early Earth and Mars

Researchers from NAI’s NASA Ames Research Center and University of Colorado, Boulder Teams published in the current issue of Astrobiology their study of the petrology and mineral chemistry of a cold spring in Northern California. They propose that the serpentinization process can provide a source of energy for chemosynthetic organisms, and outline criteria to aid in the identification of serpentinizing terranes on Mars.

Source: [Link]

June 6, 2006 / Posted by: Shige Abe

Surviving STS-107

Rocco Mancinelli, PI of NAI’s SETI Institute Lead Team, and member of NAI’s NASA Ames Research Center Lead Team joined researchers from KSC and Ames, as well as NAI’s Former Director, Barry Blumberg, in studying populations of C. Elegans which survived the atmospheric breakup of STS-107 during it’s fatal re-entry. Their results are published in Astrobiology. Five canisters were recovered, and live animals were observed in four of them. This demonstrates not only the ability of the culture medium to support the organisms during spaceflight, but also the ability of the animals to...

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Source: [Link]

January 12, 2006 / Posted by: Shige Abe

Rise in Earth's Oxygen Levels

David Des Marais from NAI’s NASA Ames Research Center Lead Team recently published a News and Views article in Nature. In it, he discusses a microbial “footprint” which bolsters geological data explaining the long term rise in Earth’s oxygen levels two billion years ago.

Source: [Link]

October 12, 2005 / Posted by: Shige Abe