NASA Request For Information: The Past, Present, and Future of Life on Earth: Scientific Connections between NASA's Earth Science Division and Astrobiology Program

Solicitation Number: NNH10ZDA010L
Release Date: July 30, 2010
Response Date: October 29, 2010
Classification Code: A -- Research and Development

The NASA Science Mission Directorate (SMD) is soliciting information on connections and synergies between the research goals of the NASA Astrobiology Program and those of the NASA Earth Science Division. The Earth Science Division supports research activities that address the fundamental questions: How is the Earth changing and what are the consequences for life on Earth? It does so by supporting research into: the variability of the Earth system, the forcings of this variability, the response of the Earth system to change, the consequences of changes in the Earth system, and how we might improve our ability to predict future changes. NASA's Astrobiology Program is dedicated to addressing three fundamental questions: "How does life begin and evolve?" "Does life exist elsewhere in the universe?" "What is the future of life on Earth and beyond?" The two programs thus share a focus on life in the Earth system, including the conditions on Earth that allow an abundance and diversity of life to flourish, interactions between the biosphere and its planetary environment, and the future of life on Earth. This request seeks the broadest level of community input on areas in which research addressing the goals of one program has potential impact on achieving the goals of the other.

Responses to this Request for Information (RFI) will be used by NASA program managers in both the Earth Science Division and Astrobiology Program to consider possible joint research topics, scoping workshops or other joint program activities. However, the issuance of this RFI does not imply a new NASA commitment of funding by either program.

For more information: http://bit.ly/dzRxTQ

Posted by Keith Cowing at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Date/Time: Monday, June 21, 2010 11:00AM Pacific Speaker: Lee Kump (Pennsylvania State University) Title: "Evolution of the Oceans: Pale Pink Dot"

Although uniformitarian views dominated early thinking of ocean chemical evolution over geologic time, today we recognize that the composition of seawater has varied significantly over Earth's history. Some changes are ingrained in our thinking (for example, that the Archean ocean was anoxic and iron-rich) while others are rarely considered. For example, if sulfate was a trace constituent of the Archean ocean, then the chemistry of hydrothermal fluids would have been significantly different (more reduced, with high hydrogen partial pressures and iron concentrations but low concentrations of hydrogen sulfide); this may be of significance to those considering such environments as the locus for the origin of life and for early ecosystems. Refinement of radiometric ages of banded iron formations suggest that their deposition was episodic, not continuous, and this may require us to rethink the notion of a persistently Fe-replete Archean ocean. The rise of atmospheric oxygen in the earliest Proterozoic ironically created the potential for highly reducing marine conditions with free hydrogen sulfide in the upper water column supporting anoxygenic phototrophs. The persistence of these conditions through the Proterozoic is uncertain, but when they occurred, the "pale blue dot" may have been pink. Strategies for life detection on distant planets is based in part on our interpretation of Earth's oceanic and atmospheric evolution, and we have some way to go before we can confidently describe the evolutionary history and persistence of particular conditions on Earth.

For more information and participation instructions: http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/nai/seminars/detail/174 [Source: NAI Newsletter]

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Date/Time: Monday, June 7, 2010 11:00AM Pacific Speaker: Katrina Edwards (University of Southern California) Title: "Intraterrestrial Life on Earth"

In 1986, scientists sailing in the Pacific Ocean made an astonishing discovery. In sediments collected from 850m below the seafloor, they identified that microbes were living and thriving in an environment not previously known to contain life. This discovery has spawned a new field of research on the "deep biosphere" with researchers exploring how life persists and evolves at hostile temperatures and pressures. With estimates that the sub-seafloor may contain as much as two-thirds of the Earth's microbial population, research today focuses on understanding the importance, or lack thereof, of this community to the Earth's systems. This presentation will focus on the current state of knowledge with respect to the deep biosphere and the major questions being addressed in this field, such as what are the nature and extent of life on Earth? What are the physico-chemical limits of life on Earth? How metabolically active is the deep biosphere, and what are the most important redox processes? What are the dispersal mechanisms for life in the deep biosphere? How does life evolve in deeply buried geological deposits that can occur more than a km beneath the ocean floor? What is the influence of the deep biosphere on global-scale biogeochemical processes?

For more information and participation instructions: http://astrobiology.nasa.gov/nai/seminars/detail/174 [Source: NAI Newsletter]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 5:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Beyond the Edge of the Sea is an exhibition of the work of scientific illustrator Karen Jacobsen. She has accompanied Dr. Cindy Lee Van Dover of Duke University in the deep-sea submersible Alvin numerous times to locations across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, exploring hydrothermal vent ecosystems. This unique collaboration has yielded a vast collection of extraordinary drawings and paintings. The traveling exhibition highlights five newly commissioned pieces, and features over 70 works selected from Jacobsen's sketchbooks.

The exhibition is on display currently at Penn State University where several events have been organized to highlight it, including a scientific colloquium, presentations at local middle school classrooms, an educator workshop (in collaboration with NSF's Ridge 2000 program), and several public lectures. The exhibition will also highlight two public events, Penn State's Exploration Day and Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts, at which two related films will accompany the exhibit, "Aliens of the Deep" and "Volcanoes of the Deep Sea."

If you're interested in the exhibition coming to a venue near you, please contact Daniella Scalice, daniella.m.scalice@nasa.gov, 650.604.4024.

[Source: NAI Newsletter]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Ediacaran Period (635-542 million years ago) was a time of fundamental environmental and evolutionary change, culminating in the first appearance of macroscopic animals. A new study from NAI's Arizona State University Team outlines a detailed record of Ediacaran ocean chemistry for the Doushantuo Formation in the Nanhua Basin, South China. Their results suggest a stratified ocean was maintained dynamically throughout the Ediacaran Period. Their model reconciles seemingly conflicting geochemical conditions proposed previously for Ediacaran deep oceans, and helps explain the patchy fossil record of early metazoans. Their paper appears in the April 2nd issue of Science.

[Source: NAI Newsletter]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 5:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

GeoBiology 2010, co-sponsored by the NAI, is an intensive course on how interactions between microorganisms and the environment have shaped the evolution of the Earth, and how microbe-mineral interactions leave imprints in the rock record. Participants get hands-on experience in research methods in geobiology and work in research groups solving current questions relevant to the field. The course will be held June 20-July 20, 2010. Applications are due March 5, 2010.

Themes include:
Microbial life in Yellowstone hot springs,
Mineral precipitation in Yellowstone,
Ancient stromatolites, and
Microbial dynamics in biofilms, emphasis on carbon and nitrogen.

This class will involve a field trip to Yellowstone National Park and surrounding areas. Lab work will be conducted at the Colorado School of Mines (Golden, CO) and the USC Wrigley Institute on Catalina Island, CA. The course also includes public mini-symposia. The 2010 GeoBiology course is open to students and researchers at any level, but preference is given to graduate students in their early years. For more information and online applications, please see http://college.usc.edu/wrigley/education/geobio.cfm or contact GeoBiology Course Coordinator Ann Close at close@usc.edu or (213) 740-6705.

Source: NAI Newsletter

Posted by Keith Cowing at 7:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Microbial Diversity Summer Course of the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) welcomes applications from members of the Astrobiology community who are seeking to understand the microbial basis of life. The MBL Microbial Diversity course, offered in Woods Hole, MA, since 1971, provides graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and established investigators with an unequaled opportunity to explore the diversity of the microbial world. The course is immersive, integrative, inter-disciplinary, and international in nature. The curriculum consists of lectures by foremost investigators, laboratory exercises, advanced technical training, field work, and substantial participant directed original research. Participants in the course traditionally represent a diversity of backgrounds and the course is open to all scientists who have a strong interest in microbes and their activities. This year's course is made possible, in part, by support from the NASA Astrobiology Institute.

Dates: June 12 - July 28, 2010
Application Deadline: February 1, 2010
More info at: http://www.mbl.edu/education/courses/summer/course_micro_div.html [Source NAI Newsletter]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It is widely accepted that around 2.4 billion years ago, the Earth's atmosphere underwent a dramatic change when oxygen levels rose sharply. Called the "Great Oxidation Event" (GOE), the oxygen spike marks an important milestone in Earth's history, the transformation from an oxygen-poor atmosphere to an oxygen-rich one paving the way for complex life to develop on the planet.

Two questions that remain unresolved in studies of the early Earth are when oxygen production via photosynthesis got started and when it began to alter the chemistry of Earth's ocean and atmosphere.

Continue reading "Oxygen Production in Earth's Early Oceans Predates the Great Oxidation Event" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 10:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

May 21 - 23, 2010 Denver, Colorado and Dinosaur Ridge, Cretaceous Dakota Sandstone, Denver

The conference presents an important and novel review on microbial mats and the sedimentary structures they form in siliciclastic settings through Earth times, from the early Archean to the present. The meeting brings together the expertise and knowledge of an international panel of leading researchers to provide a state-of-the art overview of the field. The participants give a timely review of the current and most topical areas of research, essential for all scientists interested in this rapidly growing field. For more information: http://www.sepm.org/activities/researchconferences/microbial/microbial_home.htm Source: NAI Newsletter

Posted by Keith Cowing at 10:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Date/Time: Monday June 29, 2009 11:00AM Pacific

Presenter: Chris Scholin, Molecular Biologist, Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI)

Abstract: In late April 2009, a team of MBARI researchers tested the world's only deep-sea robotic DNA lab beneath the waters of Monterey Bay. This instrument is the latest version of the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP), which MBARI molecular biologist Chris Scholin has been developing for over 10 years. The ESP is a self-contained robotic laboratory that collects samples of seawater and tests these samples for different types of genetic material, such as DNA.

Continue reading "NAI Director's Seminar: "Application of the Environmental Sample Processor (ESP) in Deep-sea and Coastal Ocean Biomes"" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 8:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

'Beyond the Edge of the Sea' is an exhibition of the work of scientific illustrator Karen Jacobsen. She has accompanied Dr. Cindy Lee Van Dover of Duke University in the deep-sea submersible Alvin numerous times to locations across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, exploring hydrothermal vent ecosystems. This unique collaboration has yielded a vast collection of extraordinary drawings and paintings. The traveling exhibition highlights five newly commissioned pieces, and features over 70 works selected from Jacobsen's sketchbooks.

Continue reading "Beyond the Edge of the Sea Traveling Art Exhibition" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 11:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Starting January 1, 2009, a new 4-year program will investigate hydrothermal systems on the Mid-Cayman Spreading Center (MCSC) under NASA's ASTEP program - a joint collaboration between Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), the Marine Biological Laboratory (MBL) and Duke University Marine Laboratory (DUML). The results of the work will be used to plan astrobiological exploration of any planetary body that can host hydrothermal circulation (for example, Europa).

Continue reading "2 PhD Student and 2 Postdoctoral Researcher Positions- Hydrothermal Activity on the Mid-Cayman Spreading Center" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Researchers from NAI's Penn State, MBL, and UCLA Teams have completed a study of the subseafloor marine biosphere, which may be one of the largest reservoirs of microbial biomass on Earth, and which has recently been the subject of debate in terms of the composition of its microbial inhabitants. Their metagenomic analysis indicates that the subsurface environment is the most unique studied to date, distinct in its microbial make-up from the surface waters.

Continue reading "Marine Subsurface is a Distinct Microbial Habitat" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 6:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Researchers from NAI's Marine Biological Laboratory Team continue their study of the deep biosphere, reporting the latest results in Nature. This new study reveals that bacterial communities dwelling on ocean-bottom rocks are more abundant and diverse than previously thought, especially relative to the overlying water column. The microbes appear to ?feed? on the oceanic crust through seawater-rock alteration reactions involving the oxidation and hydration of glassy basalt. [Source: NAI Newsletter]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 3:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Astrobiology December 2007, 7(6): 987-1005

http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/ast.2007.0075

We examine means for driving hydrothermal activity in extraterrestrial oceans on planets and satellites of less than one Earth mass, with implications for sustaining a low level of biological activity over geological timescales. Assuming ocean planets have olivine-dominated lithospheres, a model for cooling-induced thermal cracking shows how variation in planet size and internal thermal energy may drive variation in the dominant type of hydrothermal system--for example, high or low temperature system or chemically driven system.

Continue reading "Hydrothermal Systems in Small Ocean Planets" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 9:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Astrobiology December 2007, 7(6): 971-986

http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/ast.2006.0096

Dissolved H2 concentrations up to the mM range and H2 levels up to 9-58% by volume in the free gas phase are reported for groundwaters at sites in the Precambrian shields of Canada and Finland. Along with previously reported dissolved H2 concentrations up to 7.4 mM for groundwaters from the Witwatersrand Basin, South Africa, these findings indicate that deep Precambrian Shield fracture waters contain some of the highest levels of dissolved H2 ever reported and represent a potentially important energy-rich environment for subsurface microbial life. The

Continue reading "Hydrogeologic Controls on Episodic H2 Release from Precambrian Fractured Rocks--Energy for Deep Subsurface Life on Earth and Mars" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 9:45 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Astrobiology December 2007, 7(6): 933-950

http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/ast.2006.0119

Numerical models are employed to investigate sources of chemical energy for autotrophic microbial metabolism that develop during mixing of oxidized seawater with strongly reduced fluids discharged from ultramafic-hosted hydrothermal systems on the seafloor. Hydrothermal fluids in these systems are highly enriched in H2 and CH4 as a result of alteration of ultramafic rocks (serpentinization) in the subsurface. Based on the availability of chemical energy sources, inferences are made about the likely metabolic diversity, relative abundance, and spatial distribution of microorganisms within ultramafic-hosted systems.

Continue reading "Geochemical Constraints on Sources of Metabolic Energy for Chemolithoautotrophy in Ultramafic-Hosted Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Systems" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 9:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Astrobiology December 2007, 7(6): 905-932

http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/pdfplus/10.1089/ast.2007.0128

In June 2003, the geochemical composition of geothermal fluids was determined at 9 sites in the Vulcano hydrothermal system, including sediment seeps, geothermal wells, and submarine vents. Compositional data were combined with standard state reaction properties to determine the overall Gibbs free energy (

Continue reading "Temporal Changes in Fluid Chemistry and Energy Profiles in the Vulcano Island Hydrothermal System" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 9:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 8:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 12:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Scientists from NAI's University of California, Berkeley Team have a new paper out in Nature outlining evidence for the presence of an ancient ocean on Mars. The study points to a large body of liquid water at the pole which could have shifted Mars' spin axis. This shift would have in turn deformed the shoreline of this ocean relative to the rest of the surface topography, in accordance with observations. [Source: NAI Newsletter]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 8:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Speaker: Steven D'Hondt (University of Rhode Island); Date/Time: Monday, April 30, 2007 11AM PDT

For more information and participation instructions, visit: http://nai.arc.nasa.gov/seminars/seminar_detail.cfm?ID=102 [Source: NAI Newsletter]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 10:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

NAI's Marine Biological Laboratory and Carnegie Institution of Washington Teams are contributing authors on a new paper in Earth and Planetary Science Letters presenting a new model for the evolution of Proterozoic deep seawater composition based on rare earth elements. Their data suggest transitional, suboxic conditions in the deep ocean (vs. sulfidic), which likely limited nutrient concentrations in seawater and, consequently, may have constrained biological evolution. [Source: NAI Newsletter]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 8:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Underwater robots work together without human input, Princeton University

"This August in Monterey Bay, Calif., an entire fleet of undersea robots will for the first time work together without the aid of humans to make detailed and efficient observations of the ocean. The mathematical system that allows the undersea robots to self-choreograph their movements in response to their environment might one day power other robotic teams that - without human supervision - could explore not just oceans, but deserts, rain forests and even other planets."

Posted by Keith Cowing at 11:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

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)

Descent Into the Ice, NOVA, PBS

"A team of "glacionauts" ventures into a labyrinth of unexplored and hazardous glacier caves on France's Mt. Blanc."

Editor's note: Highly recommended.

Posted by Keith Cowing at 3:26 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Researchers from NAI's University of Rhode Island Team and their colleagues have studied the use of phosphorus vs. sulfur in the membrane lipid sythesis pathways of organisms resident in the ocean's subtropical gyres.

Continue reading "Strategies for Evolutionary Success - Sulfolipids" »

Posted by Keith Cowing at 12:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Dave Goldberg at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory, and his colleague Howard Shuman, Professor of Microbiology at Columbia University, have funding and an immediate opening for a summer student / intern at Columbia on a microbiology project involving subseafloor samples. If you have a student who is looking for an interesting summer job, please contact Dave directly at 845-365-8674 or goldberg@ldeo.columbia.edu [Source: NAI Newsletter]

Posted by Keith Cowing at 11:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Management International (IODP-MI) and Joint Oceanographic Institutions (JOI) announce an international workshop on subseafloor life. The workshop will be held in Vancouver, British Columbia, October 3-5, 2006.

Continue reading "IODP International Workshop: Exploring Subseafloor Life With the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program" »

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