Oxygen on Mars? Don’t hold your breath.

Sarah Treadwell – BMSIS Science Writer Astrobiology asks three fundamental questions: How does life begin, could there be life beyond Earth and, if so, how can we detect it? For decades, NASA’s sights have been set towards Mars for answers. Previous research presented evidence of an oxygen-rich atmosphere in its ancient past; however a new paper released challenges this. A study from researchers at Washington University suggests that we may need to look for signs of life with a new […]

August 19, 2021

Why Space Exploration Matters

By Sarah Treadwell – BMSIS Science Writer Recently, several aerospace companies and billionaires have sent their own rockets up to space. The debates started before lift off… What is the definition of astronaut? What counts as “going to space”? The conversations were fast and furious, with many expressing frustration of billionaires using their money on what seemed as joy rides, rather than spend it on other Earth based causes. With all of the new recent launches, a long standing question […]

June 4, 2018

Outreach: The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in Astronomy

BMSIS Young Scientist Sumeet Kulkami gave a talk at the British Council’s “Cafe Scientifique.” Read his reflections below. I started with a brief history of the development of Artificial intelligence, and highlighted the difference in how a regular computer algorithm works as opposed to a machine learning algorithm, using the popular Towers of Hanoi toy. I also talked about how the development of computing power and AI was best reflected in how they conquered two games: chess and GO respectively. […]

June 4, 2018

Outreach: Inspiring the Younger Generation

Blue Marble Space Institute of Science Young Scientist Participants at NASA Ames, Genesis Berlanga and Stephanie Meursing, conducted an outreach workshop with four and five-year-old students at Stanford Madera Grove Childcare Center which was facilitated by their instructor, Vanya Chandra. We spoke about planetary science, geology, our X-ray diffraction work, and spectroscopy work at NASA, in support of the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover and the CheMin instrument. The activity included talking about rocks, rover instruments, and passing around various […]

March 26, 2018

Outreach: Society lives by faith and develops by science

BMSIS Young Scientist Grishma Gupte led an outreach event at the University of Mumbai, India. The Young Scientist Program (YSP) of BMSIS gave me the opportunity to promote science in the society. On 25th February, 2018 I conducted an outreach event for students of a certificate course in Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Mumbai. The topic of my presentation was Astrobiology, and it consisted of various aspects ranging from the basic definition of life to exoplanets. I always […]

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