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, […]

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]