Dr. Eddie Schwieterman has been selected for the NASA Postdoctoral Program (NPP) fellowship in astrobiology. Dr. Schwieterman will work with the NASA astrobiology institute lead team at the University of California at Riverside, with advisor Prof. Timothy Lyons, on a project titled “Visualizing alternative Earths through time and space.” Congratulations and good luck to Eddie! [view the list of astrobiology NPP recipients]
Read moreInc. magazine recently featured an interview with Sanjoy Som about Blue Marble Space in an article titled “How Space Travel Will Save the World (And the People Living on It).” A tall order indeed, but we are grateful for the support we continually receive from other scientists, educators, and journalists who share our vision of using space exploration to improve our home on Earth. [read the article at Inc.]
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 moreGuest: Dr. Sergio Muñoz-Gómez
Subject: The specialization of the proto-mitochondrion as the respiratory organelle of eukaryotes
This month we feature Lauren Seyler, a research scientist with a specialty in oceanography and microbial ecology who recently joined our team. BMSIS: Please tell us a little about yourself. Lauren: I got my Ph.D. in biological oceanography from Rutgers University in 2015. My dissertation concerned the ecology and metabolic activity of marine archaea and the role of these microorganisms in the marine carbon cycle, and focused on using stable isotope probing (SIP) to track the uptake and incorporation of […]
Read moreTwo 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, […]
Read moreResearch Assistant in Experimental and Molecular Evolution Harvard University Organismic and Evolutionary Biology A laboratory technician (research assistant) position is available with Dr. Betül Kacar, Group Leader within the Edwards Laboratory at the Department of Organismic and Evolutionary Biology, Harvard University. The researcher will contribute to the development of a new experimental approach that involves reconstructing ancient molecular components and observing their biological function in modern bacterial cells through experimental evolution. This will generate experimental systems consisting of viable modern-ancient […]
Read moreOur “BlueSciCon” podcast for September features a conversation with Dr. Betul Kacar titled “Genomes, the fossil record and more: Accessing the artifacts of Earth’s earliest evolutionary history“. Living organisms today can help us understand the fossil record, as the genetic sequences of life today provides a direct link to the past. Experimental evolutionary biologists like Dr. Kacar are able to study microorganisms through hundreds and thousands of generations to understand how evolutionary selection pressures are directly expressed in these populations. […]
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 moreGuest: Haritina Mogosanu
Questions to consider:
What factors allow an institution like NASA to enable both space research and international security?
What is meant by the institutionalization of space research?
What historical factors from the space race are still lingering today?
How should nations balance the sharing of space resources with security concerns?
