A new article and podcast by Scientia features five of our young scientists working at the NASA Ames Research Center. Meg Cheng Campbell, Ryan T. Scott, Samantha Torres, Matthew Murray, and Eric Moyer have all worked in the space biosciences division with their research advisors to understand the effects of long-term spaceflight on humans. Congratulations to this outstanding team of scientists! [Read the Scientia article] [Listen to the SciPod podcast]
Read moreSara Bruhns and Jacob Haqq-Misra recently published a paper titled “A pragmatic approach to sovereignty on Mars” in the journal Space Policy. Sara performed this work during her participation in the BMSIS Young Scientist Program. Below is a short summary of this idea. National space agencies and private corporations have declared plans to send humans to the red planet, with longer-term planets of settlement and resource extraction likely to follow. Such actions may conflict with the Outer Space Treaty, which […]
Read moreWe are pleased to announce that the first volume of the Blue Marble Space Short Story Collection is now available! This volume, titled Tales From Spaceship Earth, includes stories from six of our scientists and is the first in an ongoing series of science-informed fiction. This collection of stories reflects an intersection of each author’s knowledge of science and vision of the future. These unique perspectives range from the near-term evolution of the space station program, to the beginnings of […]
Read moreZach Adam recently published a paper titled “Temperature oscillations near natural nuclear reactor cores and the potential for prebiotic oligomer synthesis” in the journal Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres. Below is a short summary of his idea. This paper is about how complex geological energy transfer processes could have been on the early Earth. Most people don’t automatically think about nuclear fission reactors when they think about radioactive rocks. One reason is because we have this idea that […]
Read moreSeveral national space agencies and private corporations are eyeing the red planet as a target for eventual human settlement, but the language of the Outer Space Treaty creates some ambiguity about whether or not colonizing Mars is permissible. BMSIS Young Scientist Sara Bruhns discusses her ideas about “How to Colonize Mars” on the political science blog of the Guardian. Exclusive economic rights that forgo claims to sovereignty could be one approach, although revisiting the Outer Space Treaty may ultimately be […]
Read moreHigh-energy cosmic rays can pose threats to airline crews at high altitudes, but how much risk do they pose for everyday life on the surface? A new study by a team of scientists that includes Dr. Dimitra Atri finds that Earth’s atmosphere provides a shilding mechanism that protects us at the surface, further confounding the problem of birth defects but at least giving us a sense of safety from cosmic rays above. This research has been featured by Science Daily […]
Read moreA new hypothesis paper by Dr. Dimitra Atri suggests that galactic cosmic rays could provide a source for living organisms in subsurface environments. Dr. Atri suggests several mechanisms by which secondary particles induced by galactic cosmic rays could penetrate into deep subsurface environments and provide energy to biological systems. This suggests that planets with a strong geothermal heat flux, rogue planets, and other worlds previously thought to be uninhabitable could in fact support life in the absence of starlight. Dr. […]
Read moreA new astrobiology textbook is scheduled for publication in October and includes chapters written by our own Dr. Jim Cleaves and Dr. Sara Walker! The book is titled Astrobiology: An Evolutionary Approach and will be released by CRC Press on October 2, 2014. The book provides an interdisciplinary cross-section of many contemporary issues in astrobiology and could form the basis for an undergraduate or graduate course. Pre-orders can be placed now on Amazon.com!
Read moreDr. 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]
Read moreA new paper led by Dr. Sara Imari Walker explores some novel concepts in quantum mechanics using conceptual models for the decay of an excited atom and the tunneling of a particle through a barrier. The paper is titled “Quantum Non-Barking Dogs” and is available as a pre-print on arXiv.org. In a new episode of our podcast series “Pubs with BMSIS”, join Brendan Mullan in a conversation with Dr. Walker about quantum mechanics and the implications of her new ideas. […]
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