Dr. Rafael Loureiro: Professor, Space Botanist, and an Ambassador of Science

By Aditi Sharma Before joining the Young Scientist Program as a Research Associate, I had never thought about the intersection of space and biology. This summer, I have had the wonderful opportunity to explore a new realm of science. I have also had the great pleasure of learning from numerous mentors and listening to their inspirational stories. Dr. Rafael Loureiro’s story is one that focuses on space, botany, and the importance of science communication. He received a B.Sc. in Marine […]

September 15, 2020

Venusian Phosphine: A Call for Further Research

Written by Sarah Treadwell If you have never heard of phosphine before, be prepared to see it as the hot new buzz word in planetary science. A press release by the Royal Astronomical Society revealed that the presence of phosphine was detected in the atmosphere of Venus by a team of researchers, including one of our scientists from BMSIS. While phosphine can be made in the laboratory and has been previously detected on Jupiter and Saturn, there’s no currently known […]

September 9, 2020 Leave a comment

Dr. Lev Horodyskyj: Science Education Gets a Virtual Makeover

by Emily Harari You’re driving and you pull up behind a car at a red light. The light switches to green, but the car sits unmoved. What do you do? Instinctively, you reach for the horn, and, after a quick blaring of sound, the car in front of you moves. You’ve just conducted a scientific experiment. You observed the car not moving, but didn’t know why, so you assumed the driver ahead of you wasn’t paying attention to the road. […]

September 6, 2020 Leave a comment

Dr. Afshin Khan: Crops on Mars

by Emily Harari Every 4th of July, many Americans turn their gaze to the night sky. From a pop of color and a quick clap like thunder, fireworks unveil themselves. In addition to gunpowder, a lesser known ingredient called perchlorates are responsible for the mesmerizing explosions. Perchlorates are salts containing an ion called perchlorate – a chlorine atom bonded to four oxygen atoms. These salts can serve as oxidants for fireworks and explosives, but also can be toxic to living […]

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 […]

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