The Art of Communication

Written by Sarah Treadwell – BMSIS Science Communication and Education Affiliate. Shock rippled through the space community this past February 6th when it was announced that JPL would be letting go 530 of its employees. Of course, first my heart goes out to people going through such difficult circumstances. However, upon hearing this news, it gave me reminiscent feelings of a reaction to a similar shocking announcement; occurring just months before I set sail as an on-board communicator on the […]

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 […]

February 1, 2016

NAI Director’s Discretionary Fund

Two BMSIS scientists have been selected for a 2015 DDF award through the NASA Astrobiology Institute! Dr. Laurie Barge (JPL) has been selected for her proposal, “Catalytic Diversity at the Emergence of Metabolism: Hydrothermal Carbon Dioxide Reduction on Fe/Ni-Sulfide Catalysts.” Dr. Barge will lead a team of investigators to simulate hydrothermal vent systems in an effort to understand the potential role of these environments in the origin of life. Eddie Schwieterman (University of Washington) has been selected for his proposal, […]

March 17, 2014

A Fuel Cell Model for the Origin of Life

Dr. Laurie Barge has published a paper suggesting a novel way to study the origin of life by using fuel cells. Although fuel cells carry the potential to create cleaner-burning cars, Dr. Barge and her co-authors suggest that fuel cells are also an ideal laboratory for probing one of astrobiology’s deepest mysteries. This research is published in the journal Astrobiology, and news coverage appears on the NASA JPL website. [Read the article at JPL]