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November 30, 2007
November 29, 2007
Astrobiology Science News 29 November 2007
November 28, 2007
Astrobiology Science News 28 November 2007
November 27, 2007
Astrobiology Science News 27 November 2007
NAI Director's Seminar: "Getting to the Core of Exoplanets: From Gas to Ice Giants"
Speaker: Geoff Marcy (University of California, Berkeley)
Date/Time: Monday, December 3, 2007 11:00 AM PST
The measured masses and orbits of the 200 secure exoplanets within 200 parsecs reveal the processes of formation and subsequent dynamics. (One parsec is the distance at which one astronomical unit subtends an angle of 1 second of arc.) Several planets reveal information on their cores and interiors. Multiple-planet systems, especially those in resonances, inform us about migration, scattering, and capture. Planets from 5-14 Earth masses are now detectable, and several have been found. The Kepler Mission and a new 2.4-m "Automated Planet Finder" telescope at Lick Observatory portend the detection of rocky planets.
For more information and connection information: http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/seminars/seminar_detail.cfm?ID=114
[Source: NAI Newsletter]
AbSciCon Abstract Due Date
December 3rd A reminder, the abstract submission deadline for AbSciCon has been extended to December 3rd. For more information, see: http://abscicon.seti.org/
[Source: NAI Newsletter]
AbGradCon 2008
AbGradCon 08, an astrobiology conference for early-career astrobiologists, will take place on 13-14 April 2008 in Santa Clara, CA, USA (immediately before AbSciCon). AbGradCon is open to graduate students studying subjects relevant to astrobiology, and to those who have received their PhD in such subjects within the previous two years. Registration will be free and will be open shortly. There will be some funding available for travel grants. For more information, visit the AbGradCon website at http://people.ku.edu/~dimitra/agc08/agc08.html [Source: NAI Newsletter]
NAI Receives Grant to Work with Navajo Nation
NAI Central is pleased to announce the news that its recent proposal to the NASA Science Mission Directorate E/PO Program entitled "NASA and the Navajo Nation 2: The Moon" has been selected for funding. This award will enable the continued collaboration with leaders and educators from the Navajo Nation toward the production of educational materials which bring together astrobiology science and Navajo cultural knowledge, in particular of the Moon. For more information, please contact Daniella Scalice, daniella.m.scalice@nasa.gov.
[Source: NAI Newsletter]
Film: Invisible Yellowstone
Yellowstone research conducted by astrobiologists from NAI's new Montana State Team is highlighted in the new 30-minute film called "Invisible Yellowstone," produced by MSU's Thermal Biology Institute and MSU's Science and Natural History filmmaking program. Footage from the film was featured in an episode of National Geographic's Wild Chronicles television program, which can be previewed by visiting the TBI webpage: http://www.tbi.montana.edu/media/movieclips.html, and selecting #2 TBI Wild Chronicles. It is also available via DVD by contacting Susan Kelly at susank@montana.edu.
[Source: NAI Newsletter]
A Geobiological Perspective on the Emergence of Animal Life
Researchers from NAI's University of Hawai'i Team and their colleagues have a new paper in Geobiology reviewing recent work on the climatic, geochemical, and ecological events that preceded animal fossils, considering their portent for metazoan evolution. They also consider recent published research on the nature and chronology of the earliest fossil record of metazoans, and on the molecular-based analysis that yielded dates older than the last 35 million years of the Precambrian for the appearance of major animal groups.
[Source: NAI Newsletter]
Novel Proteobacteria in Microbial Mats at Loihi Seamount
With support from NAI Teams at the Carnegie Institution of Washington and UC Berkeley, researchers at the American Type Culture Collection and their colleagues have a new paper in PLOS One describing a novel lineage of proteobacteria which are dominant in iron-rich hydrothermal vent sites on the Loihi Seamount near Hawai'i. They form a unique morphological structure which could serve as a fossil biomarker.
[Source: NAI Newsletter]
ROSES-07 Amendment 28: New proposal opportunity for Astrobiology Science and Technology Instrument Development, including Concept Studies for Small Payloads and Satellites (ASTID)
This amendment reinstates a previously deferred program element in Appendix C.19 of ROSES-2007 now entitled "Astrobiology Science and Technology Instrument Development, including Concept Studies for Small Payloads and Satellites" (ASTID). This program element requests proposals to develop instrumentation capabilities to help meet Astrobiology science requirements on future space flight missions as well as unique Astrobiology science objectives on Earth.
Selected activities are expected to advance the development of scientific instruments or instrument components to the point where the instruments could credibly be proposed in response to future flight opportunity announcements, including instruments that could be accommodated on or in small satellites (under 50kg total spacecraft mass) or as small payloads in support of future science activities associated with missions of human exploration. Note that proposals to build and fly hardware on a specific mission opportunity are not solicited in this program element. In addition, this program solicits the development of instruments for use in future field campaigns under the Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets (ASTEP) Program. This year, this program element is also soliciting mission-concept proposals for Astrobiology missions that may be considered within the scope of future opportunities to use small satellite systems (under 50kg mass) or that could support human exploration missions, but need further refinement prior to being considered under a future small satellite / payload mission solicitation. Only small satellite / small payload mission concept proposals will be accepted under ASTID this year.
Notices of Intent to propose are due December 14, 2007, and proposals are due February 15, 2008. For more information: http://nspires.nasaprs.com/external/viewrepositorydocument/cmdocumentid=119318/Amendment%2028.pdf
[Source: NAI Newsletter]
NSF Funding Opportunity: Paleo Perspectives on Climate Change (P2C2)
The goal of research funded under the interdisciplinary P2C2 solicitation is to utilize key geological, chemical, and biological records of climate system variability to provide insights into the mechanisms and rate of change that characterized Earth's past climate variability, the sensitivity of Earth's climate system to changes in forcing, and the response of key components of the Earth system to these changes.
Important scientific objectives of P2C2 are to: 1) provide comprehensive paleoclimate data sets that can serve as model test data sets analogous to instrumental observations; and 2) enable transformative syntheses of paleoclimate data and modeling outcomes to understand the response of the longer-term and higher magnitude variability of the climate system that is observed in the geological record.
For more information: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2008/nsf08505/nsf08505.htm
[Source: NAI Newsletter]
November 26, 2007
Astrobiology Science News 26 November 2007
November 23, 2007
Astrobiology Science News 23 November 2007
November 21, 2007
Astrobiology Science News 21 November 2007
November 16, 2007
Astrobiology Science News 16 November 2007
November 15, 2007
Astrobiology Science News 15 November 2007
November 14, 2007
ASGSB 2008 Annual Meeting in France
Dear ASGSB members: We have received a Dear Colleague notification from ESA that our joint international meeting is proceeding on schedule. A call will come shortly for abstract submission. This is a rare opportunity to share our research and strengthen our interactions in the global community. Please try to find a way to participate in person at our 24th Annual ASGSB Meeting to demonstrate the collective spirit and importance of international collaboration in space-related science.
Danny A. Riley President, ASGSB, dariley@mcw.edu
ESA.Conference.Bureau@esa.int 11/4/2007 9:54 AM
Dear Colleagues,
This is to announce the Symposium "Life in Space for Life on Earth" that will be held from 22-27 June in Angers, France. The symposium will combine the 29th Annual ISGP Meeting, 10th ESA Life Sciences Symposium, 24th Annual ASGSB Meeting, ELGRA Symposium. Further information can be found at the following web site: http://www.congrex.nl/08a09
On behalf of the organisers:
ESA Conference Bureau
European Space Agency - ESA/ESTEC
Postbus 299, 2200 AG Noordwijk, The Netherlands
Telephone: +31 71 565 5005
Fax: +31 71 565 5658
Email: esa.conference.bureau@esa.int
Astrobiology Science News 14 November 2007
November 13, 2007
Astrobiology Science News 13 November 2007
November 12, 2007
ASGSB Election Results
Dear ASGSB Members,
I am pleased to announce that the membership of the ASGSB has successfully voted electronically for the first time and elected Jeffery R. Alberts President-Elect and 5 new Governing Board members: Ted A. Bateman, J. David Dickman, Melissa Kirven-Brooks, Stephen J. Moorman (completing the term of Diana Jennings), and Muneo Takaoki.
We greatly appreciate the willingness and efforts of all of the members who ran for office, including Marshall Porterfield, Elison Blancaflor, Gioia Massa, and Bruce Yost, to contribute to the governance and mission of the Society. Special thanks for service is given to members who rotated off the Board: Simon Gilroy, Diana Jennings, David Klaus, April Ronca, Paul Todd, and Wenonah Vercoutere. The Board also approved David K. Chapman as Secretary-Treasurer, who kindly consented to continue dealing with the challenges of this position. I look forward to working with the newly elected members and members at large as we strengthen the role of our Society in advancing America's leadership in space-related science.
Danny A. Riley
President, ASGSB
November 9, 2007
Astrobiology Science News 9 November 2007
November 8, 2007
Astrobiology Science News 8 November 2007
November 7, 2007
Astrobiology Science News 7 November 2007
November 6, 2007
Astrobiology Science News 6 November 2007
November 3, 2007
Just published: Planets & Life: The Emerging Science of Astrobiology
Planets & Life: The Emerging Science of Astrobiology Woodruff Sullivan & John Baross (eds.). Cambridge Univ. Pr. (2007) Twenty-eight chapters (650 pp) by experts on all aspects of astrobiology; designed for seniors and graduate student science majors and professionals who want to learn the basics outside their own field; also appropriate as a textbook for astrobiology courses. For more information: http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521531023 [Source: NAI Newsletter]
Oxygen in Earth's Atmosphere Before Great Oxidation Event
NAI's Astrobiology Drilling Program supported researchers in 2004 to obtain subsurface core samples from the Hamersley Basin in Western Australia. Those samples, representing the time just before the Great Oxidation Event, have been analyzed, and two research papers detailing the results (Anbar, et al. and Kaufman, et al.) appear in September 28, 2007 issue of Science. Both groups found unexpected, correlated changes that reveal the presence of small but significant amounts of O2 in the environment 2.5 billion years ago, ~50-100 milion years before the Great Oxidation Event, and a shift from lower O2 abundance prior to that time. [Source: NAI Newsletter]
Special Issue: Towards the Artificial Cell
The Royal Society announces the availability of a special themed issue - Towards the Artificial Cell, organized and edited by Ricard V. Sole, Steen Rasmussen and Mark Bedau. The special issue, available at http://www.publishing.royalsoc.ac.uk/artificial-cell, provides entirely new approaches to the problem of protocell reproduction. [Source: NAI Newsletter]
Workshop on the Chronology of Meteorites and the Early Solar System
Nov 5 – 7, 2007, Kauai, HI
This interdisciplinary meeting is aimed at understanding the chronology of the processes in the early solar system as revealed by meteorites. This includes the astrophysical setting of solar system formation, the origin of short-lived radioisotopes, and the chronology of nebular and asteroidal processes: formation of chondrules, refractory inclusions and matrices of primitive chondrites, timing of accretion and thermal processing (aqueous alteration, thermal metamorphism, and igneous differentiation) of asteroids and comets.
For more information: http://www.lpi.usra.edu/meetings/metchron2007/metchron2007.1st.shtml [Source: NAI Newsletter]
NAI Director's Seminar: "A Whiff of Oxygen before the Great Oxidation Event"
Speaker: Ariel Anbar (Arizona State University)
Date/Time: Monday, November 5, 2007 11:00 AM PST
Abstract: Many lines of evidence point to a rapid rise of atmospheric O2 between 2.45 - 2.22 billion years ago (Ga), a transition often referred to as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE). The cause of the GOE is unknown. It could have been an immediate consequence of the evolution of oxygenic photosynthesis. Alternatively, O2 biogenesis may be ancient and the GOE a consequence of an abiotic shift in the balance of oxidants and reductants at the Earth's surface that crossed a critical threshold at that time. In the latter case, oxygenic photosynthesis could have evolved long before the GOE. This debate can be addressed by looking for evidence of localized or short-lived concentrations of O2 before 2.45 Ga.
We have found evidence of low levels of O2 in the late Archean Mt. McRae Shale, Western Australia. Samples were obtained from a drill core recovered as part of the Deep Time Drilling Project of the NAI Astrobiology Drilling Program. Analyses at high stratigraphic resolution across ca. 100 meters of this core reveal an episode of enrichment of the redox sensitive transition metals Mo and Re, as well as correlated changes in S isotope systematics. Re-Os geochronology demonstrates that the enrichment is a primary sedimentary feature dating to 2501 +/- 8 Ma. Mo and Re were probably supplied to Archean oceans by oxidative weathering of crustal sulfide minerals. The changes in S isotopes indicate onset of oxidative S cycling. Together, these findings point to the presence of small amounts of O2 in the environment > 50 Ma before the start of the Great Oxidation Event.
For more information and connection information: http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/seminars/seminar_detail.cfm?ID=112
[Source: NAI Newsletter]
November 2, 2007
NAI Icy Worlds Focus Group Discussions on Outer Planet Flagship Studies
The NAI Icy Worlds Focus Group met at NASA Ames Research Center on September 20 and 21, 2007. Discussions included a review of the astrobiology potential of four flagship missions to: Europa, Titan, Enceladus, and the Jupiter System. Ron Greeley, the Focus Group co-chair, will share the assessments of the Focus Group with the four mission study leads and NASA Headquarters. [Source: NAI Newsletter]
Discovering Earth-like Exoplanets
In Science, astrobiologists from NAI's University of Hawai'i Team review the prospects for discovering smaller planets more like Earth, some of which may even have conditions suitable for life. Improved techniques and the ability to monitor fainter stars now enable astronomers to discover smaller planets, particularly planets orbiting much closer to their host star than the Earth is to the Sun. This review article is based on an NAI-supported session at the May, 2007 meeting of the American Astronomical Society. [Source: NAI Newsletter]
Oxygen in Earth's Early Atmosphere
Researchers from NAI's Carnegie Institution of Washington Team have a paper in Nature describing evidence that Earth's Mesoarchean atmosphere (3.2 and 2.8 Gya) possessed very low amounts oxygen. These findings contrast with prior claims that Earth's atmosphere underwent its first rise in oxygen during the Mesoarchean, and indicate that oxygen first rose above parts per million levels sometime between 2.45 and 2.4 billion years ago. [Source: NAI Newsletter]
Astrobiology Science News 2 November 2007
November 1, 2007
Microbial Population Structures in the Deep Marine Biosphere
NAI's Marine Biological Laboratory Team has a new paper in Science detailing aspects of population structure for microbial communities at two neighboring hydrothermal vents. Using environmental DNA sequencing techniques, they found the two populations reflect the geochemical conditions of each vent. [Source: NAI Newsletter]
Astrobiology Science News 1 November 2007
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