BlueSciCon Episode 42: Temperature oscillations near natural nuclear reactor cores and the potential for prebiotic oligomer synthesis

Dr. Zach Adam Listen: [mp3 download] Questions to consider: What are natural nuclear reactors? What planetary conditions allow natural nuclear reactors to occur? What is so special about natural nuclear reactors with respect to the origins of life? There are already lots of theories about geological/atmospheric settings for origins of life, why do we need another one and how is it different? How is the energy of a reactor different from the energy of, say, lightning bolts or UV radiation? […]

September 3, 2015

BlueSciCon Episode 41: Genomes, the fossil record and more: Accessing the artifacts of Earth’s earliest evolutionary history

Dr. Betul Kacar Listen: [mp3 download] Questions to consider: What is experimental evolution? How do living microorganisms help us to better understand the fossil record? What is involved in “reconstructing” a genome? How do we understand the connection between protein functions and organism behavior? [ca_audio url=”http://beerwith.bmsis.org/BlueSciCon_41_SEP2015.mp3″ width=”500″ height=”27″ css_class=”codeart-google-mp3-player”]

August 5, 2015

Solar Events Unlikely to Cause Birth Defects

High-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 […]

July 1, 2015

Can Cosmic Rays Power Life?

A 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. […]

June 18, 2015

Re-conceptualizing the Origin of Life

Understanding the origin of life remains an elusive quest of astrobiology, and uniting the approaches of physics, chemistry, and biology remains one of the challenges of this interdisciplinary field. Dr. Sara Walker is part of the science organizing committee for the Carnegie science workshop titled “Re-conceptualizing the Origin of Life“, to be held November 9-13, 2015 in Washington, DC. Abstracts are due August 1st, and attendance is limited to 100 participants. [visit the conference website for Re-conceptualizing the Origin of […]

June 17, 2015

Reflections on EPO in Japan

The Earth-Life Science Institute in Tokyo has been rapidly developing its presence in the interdiscplinary research community, which has created the opportunity for many international scientists to visit ELSI and learn from its culture. Dr. Betul Kacar reflects on the changes she has noticed in ELSI’s culture that work toward fostering a culture of collaboration and creativity–which presents unique challenges for Japanese culture. Dr. Kacar discusses lessons from her experiences at ELSI and the role of SAGANet in helping to […]

June 1, 2015

The Problems with Talking to Aliens

A recent article in the Kernel features Michael Busch, Dimitra Atri, and Jacob Haqq-Misra on the subject of sending messages into space. The Lone Signal project of 2013 was an attempt at sending a crowdfunded message toward the star Gliese 526, and the article discusses both the funding perils and security concerns over this and other attempts at broadcasting messages that extraterrestrial intelligence might receive. [read the article at the Kernel]

March 26, 2015

BlueSciCon Episode 36: Winter-Safe Deterrence

Dr. Seth Baum & Kathryn McLaughlin Beverage: Yuengling (United States – Pennsylvania) Listen: [mp3 download] Questions to consider: What would be the consequences of a global nuclear winter? How significant is the threat of nuclear winter today? Is deterrence the primary motivation for states to acquire nuclear weapons? Can we achieve deterrence while eliminating the risk of nuclear winter? Are biological weapons a viable alternative, or do they carry too many unknown risks to serve as a winter-safe deterrent? [ca_audio […]

February 26, 2015

Podcast: Habitability of Tattoine Planets

Our “Beer with BMSIS” podcast for August features a conversation with Dr. Duncan Forgan of the University of St. Andrews titled “Habitability of Tattoine Planets: Even More Complicated Than You Think“. Planets in orbit around multiple star systems were once thought confined to realm of science fiction, but ongoing planet-finding missions have confirmed that planets can readily form in such environments. Dr. Duncan Forgan considers how habitable conditions could arise on such planets, and he presents some of his climate […]

November 11, 2014

NPP Newsletter Features Rika Anderson

The quarterly newsletter of the NASA Postdoctoral Program features our own Dr. Rika Anderson in a “First Impressions” article about her NPP fellowship. Her time as a fellow of the NASA Astrobiology Institute will be split across the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, the University of Washington, and Yellowstone National Park–all in pursuit of studying Archaea and their highly-evolved suitability to extreme environments. [Read the article in the NASA NPP newsletter]

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