BlueSciCon Episode 40: Astrobiology with Cosmic Rays

Dr. Dimitra Atri Listen: [mp3 download] Questions to consider: What organisms on Earth can survive solely on non-solar sources of energy? What sources of high-energy radiation could provide habitable conditions to subsurface environments? Could galactic cosmic rays power life beneath thick sheets of ice or deep oceans? What regions in the Solar System are the most likely to have increased habitability from galactic cosmic rays? How would this additional habitability mechanism direct the remote search for life in the universe? […]

July 22, 2015

Podcast: Sustained Solar System Exploration

Live from the 2015 Astrobiology Science Conference in Chicago, our BlueSciCon podcast for June features a lively discussion of our collective ideas for the “Sustained Exploration of the Inner Solar System.” We are currently promoting our essay contest for undergraduate students with the same theme, and we hope that our discussion will help to stimulate ideas in many of our essay contest participants. We purposefully excluded Mars from the conversation (only because Mars gets a lot of attention…), and so […]

July 7, 2015

Betul Kacar’s Work Featured by Quanta

Paleogenomics involves the study of ancient genomic histories to understand the mechanisms of evolution. Dr. Betul Kacar’s experimental evolution research involves the application of ancient protients into modern E. coli to track how the microbes adapt to these changes. Dr. Kacar’s work was recently featured in Quanta magazine and represents a critical step in understanding the processes by which life evolves. [read the article at Quanta magazine]

July 1, 2015

Can Cosmic Rays Power Life?

A new hypothesis paper by Dr. Dimitra Atri suggests that galactic cosmic rays could provide a source for living organisms in subsurface environments. Dr. Atri suggests several mechanisms by which secondary particles induced by galactic cosmic rays could penetrate into deep subsurface environments and provide energy to biological systems. This suggests that planets with a strong geothermal heat flux, rogue planets, and other worlds previously thought to be uninhabitable could in fact support life in the absence of starlight. Dr. […]

June 18, 2015

Re-conceptualizing the Origin of Life

Understanding the origin of life remains an elusive quest of astrobiology, and uniting the approaches of physics, chemistry, and biology remains one of the challenges of this interdisciplinary field. Dr. Sara Walker is part of the science organizing committee for the Carnegie science workshop titled “Re-conceptualizing the Origin of Life“, to be held November 9-13, 2015 in Washington, DC. Abstracts are due August 1st, and attendance is limited to 100 participants. [visit the conference website for Re-conceptualizing the Origin of […]

June 17, 2015

Reflections on EPO in Japan

The Earth-Life Science Institute in Tokyo has been rapidly developing its presence in the interdiscplinary research community, which has created the opportunity for many international scientists to visit ELSI and learn from its culture. Dr. Betul Kacar reflects on the changes she has noticed in ELSI’s culture that work toward fostering a culture of collaboration and creativity–which presents unique challenges for Japanese culture. Dr. Kacar discusses lessons from her experiences at ELSI and the role of SAGANet in helping to […]

June 16, 2015

Siddharth Pandey Selected as an Emerging Space Leader

The International Astronautical Federation sponsors a grant program for Emerging Space Leaders, which enable students and young professionals to participate in the International Astronautical Congress each year. This year, our own Siddharth Pandey was selected as one of 14 grant recipients, which will allow him to attend the IAC in Jerusalem this year and extend his network with professionals in the space industry. Siddharth is helping to coordinate joint Astrobiological field research and workshops in India with support from research […]

June 15, 2015

Atacama Research Featured in HuffPo

Dr. Armando Azua-Bustos was recently featured in a Huffington Post article on the extreme limits of life in Chile’s Atacama Desert. Dr. Azua-Bustos discusses his team’s recent discovery of bacterial species at María Elena South, a location previously thought too dry to sustain life. The researchers are now investigating whether any such “dry limit” for life exists on Earth at all, and they are continuing to search for habitable environments with even less available water than at María Elena South. […]

June 14, 2015

BlueSciCon Episode 39: Sustained Exploration of the Inner Solar System

Live from AbSciCon 2015 Beverages: Various Listen: [mp3 download] Questions to consider: How can human civilization develop a successful strategy for the sustained exploration of the inner solar system for the next 200 years? What planets and astronomical bodies should we target? Can space exploration be profitable? Is space colonization desirable? [ca_audio url=”http://beerwith.bmsis.org/BlueSciCon_39_JUN2015.mp3″ width=”500″ height=”27″ css_class=”codeart-google-mp3-player”]

June 8, 2015

Astrobiology on All India Radio

Dr. Preeti Nema was recently featured as a guest on All India Radio (AIR)–the national radio station of India–to discuss the science of astrobiology. Dr. Nema’s talk was part of the English-language “Radioscope” audio science magazine, which is broadcast across India from New Delhi to educate the general public about the latest happenings in science and its relevance to the common person. [ca_audio url=”http://files.bmsis.org/PreetiNema_radioscope12June2015-10pm.mp3″ width=”500″ height=”27″ css_class=”codeart-google-mp3-player”] [mp3 download] [click to visit the AIR website]

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