By Bhargabi Banerjee “The universe is a place of mystery and wonder,” ~ Martin Rees.  Our very existence on this planet is an enormous mystery, and one key to unlocking the enigma of our origins and our place in the cosmos is space exploration. The best word to describe the link between the outcome of space exploration and our lives on Earth is mutualism. The money spent on space exploration directly benefits human society and advances our understanding of the […]

Ruvan de Graaf (he/him) is a current graduate student at College of the Atlantic, Maine, USA, pursuing a MPhil in Human Ecology, and he is our newest Visiting Scholar at BMSIS, taking on work with Dr. Shawn McGlynn. Born and raised in South Africa and Eswatini, he completed his baccalaureate at United World College Southern Africa in 2017, and continued to complete his undergraduate program in Human Ecology in Maine. His work focuses on a metabolism first theory for the […]

We’re excited to be welcoming Jake Lowe back to BMSIS. Jake was one of our YSP Research Associates previously, and is now joining us as a Visiting Scholar. Read below to learn more about Jake! My name is Jake, I’m 23, and I’m an aspiring astrobiologist. I’ve received my B.S. in microbiology with minors in earth science and astronomy from the University of Utah, USA, and I am continuing my studies as a master’s student in the biology of extreme […]

Guest Contributor – Dr. Lesley Anderson Barbara “Bobbie” John walked up the gangway with intentional steps, recognizing that this was the very last time she would ever board the JOIDES Resolution. After three previous expeditions on the JR, Bobbie found herself one of 20 international scientists embarking one more time on the drilling vessel. This particular expedition is very special to her, because she was onboard the ship that first discovered the Lost City at Atlantis Massif. In fact, she […]

by Jonathan Keathley Victor Hess was born in Styria, Austria on June 24th, 1883. He conducted his undergraduate studies at the University of Graz, where he got his Bachelor’s in 1905 and his Ph.D. in physics in 1910. Hess went on to discover cosmic rays in 1912 by using enhanced ion detectors invented just three years earlier. During his experiments in 1912, Hess produced a series of 7 hydrogen balloon experiments to figure out if some of the high-energy particles […]

Graham Lau, Research Investigator with Blue Marble Space Institute of Science, joins Builder Nation’s Podcast host Elisa Muñoz to share his thoughts on space exploration and its potential benefits to humanity: “There’s so much that we get from space. It’s not just the investment that we get in business and the return financially. There’s so much that we get from material science, biological science, medicine and technology as well.” Graham Lau, PhD What is Builder Nation? A community of engineering […]

By Angela Murphy It is believed that John Colter, former member of the Lewis and Clark expedition, was one of the first European explorers to set foot in the area we now know as Yellowstone. One can only imagine the surprise Colter or other early explorers felt upon entering this strange landscape for the first time. After arriving home, these explorers would eagerly tell friends and family stories of “boiling rivers,” “spouting waterfalls,” and  “noxious steam,” stories which, unfortunately, were […]

by Bimal Chopra Polymers are very diverse and their applications are even more diversified in today’s world. Polymers are not just limited to plastics, they also include and can be seen in paints, coatings, adhesives, the rubber industry, textiles, the packaging industry, the medical industry, and more. There are many other fields where we can find them such as the electronic industry — they aren’t very good at conducting electricity, but their contribution in the field of semiconductors has been […]

by Shagun Kothari Scientists in the early 20th century were rather dubious about the idea that molecules existed within the vacuum of space, free from being bound to stars or planets. This could be ascribed to the fact that they were able to rationalize how any molecules in space would be destroyed but not necessarily how they were formed. However, with advancements in astronomical facilities and laboratory spectroscopy, simple molecular species, carbon chains, complex organic molecules (COMs), fullerenes, and polycyclic […]