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Dr. Armando Azua-Bustos has been appointed as Scientific Adviser to the Senate of Chile. Dr. Azua-Bustos’ responsibilities include providing advice or clarifications on a wide range of scientific and technology-related activities that pertain to policies in or affecting Chile. Congratulations to Dr. Azua-Bustos as he serves his community in this role.
Read moreOur BMSIS Scientist Dr. Ivan Glaucio Paulino Lima recently traveled to Brazil and spent 3 weeks engaged in public outreach activities. He talked about his role as microbiologist in the space mission Eu:CROPIS, a partnership between NASA and the German Space Agency, DLR., as well as the Space Settlement Design Contest, co-operated by NASA Ames Research Center, San Jose State University, and the National Space Society (NSS) for all students up to 12th grade (18 years old) from anywhere in […]
Read moreNASA/BMSIS Young Scientist Program participant Mastewal Abate engaged 10 high school students and 3 college students at the San Francisco Ethiopian Community Center. Mastewal’s engagement was part of her Communications requirements for the NASA/BMSIS Young Scientist Program. BMSIS is continuously committed to engaging the public in the wonders of Space Exploration and the Earth System. The NASA/BMSIS Young Scientist Program in Space Biosciences at NASA Ames continues this tradition by engaging the local community in the vicinity of NASA’s Silicon […]
Read moreResearch Assistant in Experimental and Molecular Evolution Harvard University Organismic and Evolutionary Biology A laboratory technician (research assistant) position is available with Dr. Betül Kacar, Group Leader within the Edwards Laboratory at the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University. The researcher will contribute to the development of a new experimental approach that involves reconstructing ancient molecular components and observing their biological function in modern bacterial cells through experimental evolution. This will generate experimental systems consisting of viable modern-ancient […]
Read morePalmer Fliss shares his ethics & society case study, which he completed as part of our Young Scientist Program. When one hears the phrase “synthetic biology”, images of clone soldiers, designer babies, cyborgs, and GMOs spring to mind. With the cost of genetic sequencing dropping precipitously thanks to advances in the technology, coupled with the rise of increasingly specific genetic manipulation techniques, synthetic biology has developed from a field only touched upon in science fiction to a real scientific field […]
Read moreOur “BlueSciCon” podcast for September features a conversation with Dr. Betul Kacar titled “Genomes, the fossil record and more: Accessing the artifacts of Earth’s earliest evolutionary history“. Living organisms today can help us understand the fossil record, as the genetic sequences of life today provides a direct link to the past. Experimental evolutionary biologists like Dr. Kacar are able to study microorganisms through hundreds and thousands of generations to understand how evolutionary selection pressures are directly expressed in these populations. […]
Read moreSeveral national space agencies and private corporations are eyeing the red planet as a target for eventual human settlement, but the language of the Outer Space Treaty creates some ambiguity about whether or not colonizing Mars is permissible. BMSIS Young Scientist Sara Bruhns discusses her ideas about “How to Colonize Mars” on the political science blog of the Guardian. Exclusive economic rights that forgo claims to sovereignty could be one approach, although revisiting the Outer Space Treaty may ultimately be […]
Read moreAnuti Joshi shares her ethics & society case study, which she completed as part of our Young Scientist Program. Astronauts are inevitably exposed to radiation whether they are trapped solar protons or Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR). Heavy ions produce distinct types of biological damage to cells and tissues compared to X-rays or gamma-rays. An increase in the Solar Proton Event (SPE) or GCR can cause a greater chance of DNA mutation and therefore an even higher probability of contracting cancer. […]
Read moreBMSIS Young Scientist Anuti Joshi engaged a group of fifteen engineering teachers at Saraswati College of Engineering in Mumbai, India. Anuti’s engagement was part of her Communications requirements for the BMSIS Young Scientist Program. BMSIS is continuously committed to engaging the public in the wonders of Space Exploration and the Earth System. Our Young Scientist Program continues this tradition by engaging local communities around the world. Read Anuti’s impressions below: I had the wonderful opportunity to spend time with […]
Read moreMohit Nalavadi shares his ethics & society case study, which he completed as part of our Young Scientist Program. Characterized by the belief that we can plan and create a better world through action, the 1960s approach to human progress may soon meet us again in 15 years. NASA, the ESA, SpaceX and others agree that the 2030s is the realistic decade in which we send humans to Mars. Inevitably, this in consequence will reinvigorate our primal instinct of exploration […]
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