This amendment delays the proposal due date for Appendix C.7, Outer Planets Research (OPR) Program. The program element in ROSES-2009, Appendix C.7, Outer Planets Research (OPR), solicits proposals for diverse scientific investigations that contribute to the understanding of the outer Solar System, including the giant planets, their satellites, and smaller solid bodies including comets, asteroids, and Kuiper Belt objects. The program includes both data analysis from NASA missions and fundamental research.

Continue reading "ROSES-09 Amendment 17: New Due Date, Start Date and Clarification for C.7, Outer Planets Research (OPR) Program" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 9:51 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NAI's Deep Time Drilling Project supported the drilling of several pristine cores from ancient rocks in Western Australia in 2004, and a new paper in Science, led by University of Washington astrobiologists, outlines results from the analysis of these cores. The nitrogen isotope values in the core from the 2.5-billion-year-old Mount McRae Shale vary over 30 meters, evidently recording a temporary change from an anaerobic to an aerobic nitrogen cycle, and back again to anaerobic. Other data suggest that nitrification occurred in response to a small increase in surface-ocean oxygenation. The data imply that nitrifying and denitrifying microbes had already evolved by the late Archean and were present before oxygen first began to accumulate in the atmosphere.

[Source: NAI Newsletter]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 12:10 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

An ecosystem discovered 2.8 kilometers underground in the Mponeng Gold Mine near Johannesburg, South Africa two years ago has now been shown to comprise only a single species of microbe, existing on energy from radioactivity, completely independently of the Sun. The community of rod-shaped bacteria of the species Desulforudis audaxviator was discovered in 2005-06 by members of the NAI's Indiana-Princeton-Tennessee Astrobiology Initiative (IPTAI) Team. Their current results are presented in the October 10th issue of Science.

Continue reading "Life Without the Sun" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 8:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Members of NAI's University of Wisconsin, Madison team have a new paper in Earth and Planetary Science Letters presenting their analyses of 4.35 - 3.36 billion year old detrital zircons from the Jack Hills, Western Australia.

Continue reading "Jack Hills Zircons: New Information About Earth's Earliest Crust" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 6:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Join us for the next NAI Director's Seminar on Monday, February 4th at 11am PST. The seminar, "The Effect of Protoplanetary Disk Dispersal on Planet Formation," will be given by David Hollenbach of NASA Ames Research Center. For information on how to join the seminar, go to: http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/seminars/seminar_detail.cfm?ID=117.

Continue reading "NAI Director's Seminar: The Effect of Protoplanetary Disk Dispersal on Planet Formation" »

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Date: December 6-7th, 2007
Time: TBA
Venue: NASA Ames Research Center, Auditorium, Building N-245, Mountain View, CA

Organizing Committee: Ignacio Mosqueira (NASA Ames/SETI Institute), Dale Cruikshank (NASA Ames) Owing to spacecraft missions and groundbased observations, we possess a wealth of Solar System data. The richness of the observations should provide a solid foundation for our understanding of the early history of the Solar System. Yet, this abundance also means that in practice one must subdivide the problem into more manageable pieces. While this is a practical approach, before reliable conclusions can be obtained in this way, they must survive consistency checks, and a battery of tests involving a sufficiently broad observational sample. Only then can we attain a deeper understanding of the origins of planetary systems in general, and the Solar System in particular.

Continue reading "Formation, Composition and Early Evolution of Outer Giant and Dwarf Planets and of their Satellites" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 8:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Speaker: Tim Raub (Yale University), Date/Time: Monday, February 26, 2007 11AM PST

Background: Using atmospheric chemical models of a Snowball Earth, scientists from NAI's Alumni Virtual Planetary Laboratory Team showed that, during long and severe glacial intervals, a weak hydrological cycle coupled with photochemical reactions involving water vapor would give rise to the sustained production of hydrogen peroxide. The peroxide, upon release from melting ice into the oceans and atmosphere at the end of the snowball event, could mediate global oxidation events.

Continue reading "NAI Director's Seminar "New and Emerging Perspectives on Late Precambrian 'Snowball Earth' Glaciation"" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 1:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society (B). Organised and edited by Charles Cockell, Sydney Leach and Ian Smith Published August 2006

Continue reading "Conditions for the Emergence of Life on the Early Earth: Special Issue Special Issue" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 9:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Automated Drilling Field Demonstrations Exceed Goals, Go "Naked" in Haughton Crater 2006 DAME Tests

To look for ice or especially organics on Mars, we will need to drill below the oxidized and irradiated surface, probably at least 1-2m. Hardened subsurface ice layers aren't going to be addressed with lightweight scoops on manipulator arms, drills will be needed. But drilling is an art form on Earth, even "automated" offshore oil drilling platforms have control rooms full of people watching and adjusting the drilling.

Posted by Keith Cowing at 8:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cassini Radar Finds Hydrocarbon Lakes on Titan

"The Cassini spacecraft, using its radar system, has discovered very strong evidence for hydrocarbon lakes on Titan. Dark patches, which resemble terrestrial lakes, seem to be sprinkled all over the high latitudes surrounding Titan's north pole. Scientists have speculated that liquid methane or ethane might form lakes on Titan, particularly near the somewhat colder polar regions."

Posted by Keith Cowing at 4:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Join NAI for the Polycom and WebEx broadcast of the second annual Summer Student Seminar Series. The talks will be given on Friday, July 28th and Friday August 11th at 12:00pm PDT (9:00am HT/1:00pm MDT/2:00pm CDT/3:00pm EDT.)

Continue reading "Second Annual Summer Student Seminar Series Begins July 28" »

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Undersea Vehicles to Study Formation of Gold and Other Precious Metals On the Pacific Ocean Floor, WHOI

"The joint expedition includes a 32-day WHOI research program funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to the Pacmanus vent sites in the Eastern Manus Basin. The remotely operated vehicle Jason will be used to survey and map the vent areas around an Ocean Drilling Program hole drilled in 2000."

Posted by Keith Cowing at 12:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NAI congratulates Dr. Sean C. Solomon, Principal Investigator of Carnegie Institution of Washington's NASA Astrobiology Institute and Director of the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism of CIW, on his receipt of the Caltech Distinguished Alumni Award on May 20.

Continue reading "Solomon Receives Caltech Distinguished Alumni Award" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 11:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The ISBOX-II expedition lead by Eric Gaidos of the University of Hawaii NAI team will drill and sample a subglacial lake for microbiology and geochemistry. The expedition takes place June 6-13, 2006. Details and progress of "ISBOX 2" can be found at: http://www.ifa.hawaii.edu/UHNAI/isbox2.htm [Source: NAI Newsletter]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University is pleased to announce the 40th Anniversary of the Nininger Award for undergraduate and graduate students pursuing research in meteoritical sciences.

Continue reading "ASU Award for Students Pursuing Research in Meteoritical Sciences" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 12:34 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The NAI is sponsoring an expedition to one of the Earth's most active volcanic regions. Jake Maule of the Carnegie Institution of Washington, will lead the expedition to the Klyuchevsky Volcano group in eastern Russia, from August to October of 2006. Developed under guidance of the Kamchatka Tiger Team, including representatives of the NAI, the Russian Astrobiology Center and the Australian Centre for Astrobiology, the expedition will obtain microbial mats, gas, water, mud, and rock samples from drill sites and vents in the hot springs and permafrost of the Kamchatkan peninsula. (POC: Jake Maule: j.maule@gl.ciw.edu)

Posted by Keith Cowing at 5:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)