Image showing the Moon, Mars, spheres for microbes, and a chisel and hammer

Microbes: Miners of the Moon and Mars?

By Anurup Mohanty Mining projects often require a lot of equipment, capital, and work-force. When we mine using conventional methods there can be a number of environmental concerns associated with it. Soil erosion, loss of biodiversity, formation of sink-holes, contamination of surface and groundwater are just to name a few. Moreover, mining poses threat to miners’ health, the tiny particles inside a mine can cause severe respiratory diseases. Biomining is a method that employs microorganisms to extract metals from ores. […]

August 7, 2020 Leave a comment

“Science Nomad,” Dr. Daniel Angerhausen, Looks for Habitable Planets

By Emily Harari Dr. Daniel Angerhausen is an astrophysicist and astrobiologist at ETH Zürich. Ask him what the oldest question of humankind is and he’ll immediately jump to life on other planets: Are we alone, or are other planets outside our solar system similarly habitable? But Angerhausen doubles back: “That’s also a bit exaggerated. Maybe the oldest question is, ‘Can I eat this?’ But I really think [habitability] is one of the biggest scientific questions and also one that is […]

An illustration showing a planet and moon

August 6, 2020

Is Space Exploration a Waste of Money?

By Sarah Treadwell It is estimated that for humans to have first reached Australia approximately 65,000 years ago, they would have had to travel across vast bodies of open water. Much is unknown about how exactly they achieved this. Archaeologists and historians credit this as one of the first, remarkable achievements made by humans. While admirable today, their courage could also be described as reckless. When these early humans set sail, they took incalculable risks. They had to weather the […]

August 6, 2020

BMSIS Scientist Feature: Dr. Sanjoy Som

By Aditi Sharma On January 28th, 1986, the space shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight. Age five at the time and living in Switzerland, Sanjoy Som was watching the news with his parents and was in awe and confusion of the fatal incident. He asked his parents what was happening and they told him that a group of people sent to space had been in a terrible accident. Sanjoy explains now, looking back, that he couldn’t believe […]

July 21, 2020

“When I think of the Earth, I think about…”

By Rabeea Rasheed When I think of the Earth, I think about it as one strange rock orbiting in space around an average star. Earth makes me think about my place in the universe, forcing me to seek answers to some of the biggest questions – questions about our existence and mysteries of the universe such as what is the possibility of life somewhere out there, in the great unknown; if it exists, what would be the nature of that […]

July 20, 2020

Patience is a Virtue

By Kurt Ger Almost every major technological advance throughout history originated from basic research that was conducted as its own goal, and seemingly offered no short-term benefit. For example, studies about the atom have led to computers as we use them today, and much of modern anatomy and medicine stems from dissections on dead bodies performed centuries ago. Humanity’s relationship with space is much more than just building rockets and sending them somewhere. As expanding our reach into the far […]

Photo of a network over the Earth in space

July 14, 2020 Leave a comment

Just an ‘Earth Thing’

by Emily Harari When I think of Earth, the first thing that comes to mind is life. When I was an undergraduate student studying biology, I saw our planet as an oasis in the desert of our galaxy, where extreme conditions made life seemingly impossible. As I graduated from university, however, I realized that life maybe isn’t just an ‘Earth thing.’ Astrobiology is a field of study that brings together the studies of life on Earth with the possibility for […]

July 14, 2020

Julia DeMarines: A real-life Ellie Arroway who wants to “watch the stars, and see [herself] running with them”

By Rabeea Rasheed Learning about the cosmic perspective and our seemingly insignificant, yet rare and beautiful place in the universe, makes one think, are there any others out there? Are we alone in the cosmos? These questions are a matter of interest for a lot of humans, but they’ve become a lifelong passion for Julia DeMarines. She’s seeking answers to these questions with help from her extensive academic career and diligent research work. Julia is an astrobiologist, National Geographic Explorer, […]

July 10, 2020

BMSIS Scientist Feature: An Interview with Daniella Scalice

It’s a stormy summer afternoon as I sit down to a virtual chat with Ms. Daniella Scalice. On her side of the screen the room looks warm and inviting. There is natural sunlight spilling onto the bookshelves behind her. She takes sips of tea from a large glass in-between my questions. As the Education and Communications Lead for the NASA Astrobiology Program, enthusiastic engagement comes naturally to Daniella. She also brings passion to our discussion. It should be no surprise […]

July 9, 2020

“Why do we waste so much money on space when we have so many problems here on Earth?”

By Aditi Sharma From the climate crisis to the current global pandemic, our Earth faces significant threats. This has led many people to criticize space exploration, emphasizing instead that before looking to the stars we should focus on the issues on the planet we live on. It seems that many believe investing in space signifies a severe lack of commitment to improving the Earth. However, such an argument fails to address how space exploration has already benefited modern society and […]

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