Stay up to date with all of the Blue Marble Space news and happenings here.

Search for the Origin of Life – The Movie

Search for the Origin of Life is a new documentary movie made in collaboration with the NASA Astrobiology Institute and Montana State University and distributed by PBS International. Featuring 8 astrobiologists, including BMSIS scientist Dr. Betül Kacar, the show takes a personal look at individual researchers who, through their experiments and field work, seek to understand the very beginnings of life on Earth. [Watch the full video at Montana PBS]

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Podcast: Is the Earth Rare?

This month, our “Beer with BMSIS” podcast features a conversation with Penn State Professor Jim Kasting about the question, Is the Earth Rare?. One of the pioneers of the field of planetary habitability, and author of the book How to Find a Habitable Planet, Dr. Kasting leads a discussion on some of the factors that have been suggested to be necessary for the development of life, complexity, and intelligence. Drawing from his own research, Kasting describes how many of the […]

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Dr. Rika Anderson Awarded NAI Fellowship

Our own Dr. Rika Anderson was selected for the prestigious NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Program for her proposal titled, “Unraveling the impact of ecological selection pressures on the archaeal pangenome”. In her research, Dr. Anderson seeks to understand the evolution of microorganisms and how they adapt to fill new ecological niches. She will compare the genomics of organisms adapted to extreme environments by studying several species collected from Yellowstone National Park. The goal of this research is to understand the factors […]

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Connect with us on Social Networks

BMSIS now has a presence on most of the major social networks, so feel free to follow along for news items, project updates, and opportunities to get involved! Twitter profile: @BlueMarbleSpace Facebook group: facebook.com/BMSInstituteofScience LinkedIn company: linkedin.com/company/2671691 Google+ page: plus.google.com/106603522036139665595

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Pubs: Galactic Rays and Habitability

A new paper led by Dr. Dimitra Atri explores the effect of galactic cosmic rays on planetary habitability. The paper is titled “Galactic cosmic ray induced radiation dose on terrestrial exoplanets” and is currently in press in the journal Astrobiology. In a new episode of our podcast series “Pubs with BMSIS”, join Brendan Mullen in a conversation with Dimitra about the importance of cosmic rays in both astrobiology and daily life. [listen to the conversation]

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Podcast: Five Billion Years of Solitude – A Conversation with the Author

In a special September edition of our “Beer with BMSIS” podcast we feature a conversation with journalist and author Lee Billings about his upcoming book Five Billion Years of Solitude: The Search for Life Among the Stars. In his book, scheduled for release on October 3rd, Lee takes the reader on a journey through the recent history of exoplanet discoveries by introducing some of the most influential and colorful characters in the field. Carefully researched through numerous interviews with experts […]

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“Target Earth” on History 2

Airing on September 13th at 9:00 PM Eastern, the new show “Target Earth” on History 2 features BMSIS research scientist Dr. Jacob Haqq-Misra as an interviewee. The show explores the possibility of direct contact with extraterrestrial intelligent beings and considers areas where our civilization may be particularly vulnerable. A speculative scenario, “Target Earth” includes interviews with a variety of scientists, engineers, and former government officials to weave its narrative. [View the History 2 Channel Schedule]

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Podcast: Buddhism & Training for Happiness

Our “Beer with BMSIS” podcast for August features a conversation with Dr. Ryan Hastings titled Buddhism: Training for Happiness. Although his scientific training is in meteorology, Dr. Hastings describes his lifelong interest in modern Buddhist practice through the lens of interstellar travel. In particular, Ryan points out that long-term strategies for space exploration–taking place over generations of human time–will require much more than scientific prowess, and even modest space exploration endeavors of recent time have shown the importance of human […]

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Children’s Book Published by Armando Azua-Bustos

Are we alone among aaaaall these stars? While astrobiologists continue to ponder this question, BMSIS research scientist Armando Azua-Bustos published a children’s book to help explain the ideas and wonder of the search for life to young people (and their parents). The book is written for children in order to introduce them, in very simple terms, to astrobiology, the understanding of the origin of life on Earth and the possibility of its existence elsewhere in the Universe from the scientific […]

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