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Upcoming Astrobiology Funding Opportunities

The deadlines for these funding opportunities for travel, research, and collaboration in astrobiology are approaching!

Astrobiology Graduate Conference (AbGradCon) 2018 – February 5, 2018
The Lewis and Clark Fund for Exploration and Field Research in Astrobiology – February 15, 2018
NASA Astrobiology Postdoctoral Program Fellowship – March 1, 2018
NASA Astrobiology Early Career Collaboration Award – April 1, 2018
NASA Astrobiology Faculty Diversity Program (formerly the MIRS Program) – April 15, 2018

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January 11, 2018 • Written by: Miki Huynh • Report issue

6th ELSI International Symposium Live Webcast

The 6th ELSI International Symposium, Building Bridges from Earth to Life: From Chemical Mechanism to Ancient Biology, begins January 9th at 9AM JST.

The webcast of the event streams live at SAGANet. To participate in the conference remotely, go to http://saganet.org/page/saganlive.

Source: [Earth-Life Science Institute and NASA Astrobiology Program]

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January 08, 2018 • Posted by: Miki Huynh • Report issue

Ancient Microbes Caused Earth's First Global Warming

Kazumi Ozaki, a NASA Postdoctoral Program Fellow at Georgia Tech, with the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) Alternative Earths team and Chris Reinhard, a member the NASA Astrobiology Institute team at Georgia Tech, have designed an innovative model linking microbial ecosystems, volcanism, photochemistry, and atmospheric escape to enable rapid analysis of probabilities of different climate states.Their work reveals the importance of early photosynthetic life for warming Earth-like planets around dim stars.

“We think this represents a wonderful example of what understanding the early Earth brings to the broader issue of planetary habitability and atmospheric signs of life,” says Reinhard.

The paper, “Effects of primitive photosynthesis on Earth’s early climate system,” is published in Nature Geosciences.

A press release is also available at New Scientist.

Source: [Nature Geosciences (via UCR and Georgia Tech)]

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January 02, 2018 • Posted by: Miki Huynh • Report issue

Gravity Assist Podcast

NASA proudly presents its latest podcast: Gravity Assist. Dr. Jim Green, Director of NASA’s Planetary Science Division, hosts the weekly program where he chats with notable planetary scientists about our Solar System, its origin, and its evolution. The first episode debuted November 15, 2017.

You can listen and subscribe via iTunes, SoundCloud, and RSS Feed.

Source: [NASA]

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December 21, 2017 • Posted by: Miki Huynh • Report issue

If Past Life on Mars Existed, It Co-evolved with the Martian Environment

In a new article published in Astrobiology, Nathalie Cabrol, Director of the Carl Sagan Center for Research at the SETI Institute and PI for the NASA Astrobiology Institute team at SETI, puts forth a proposition about possible past life on Mars. She suggests that just as environmental change and biological evolution are linked in a process known as coevolution on Earth, so too would have been the case on Mars, if indeed life existed there at one time. In addition, because of the unique environmental conditions on Mars—notably the collapse of its atmosphere—life would have evolved differently on Mars than it did on Earth.

Read the story at the SETI website.

Source: [SETI]

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December 19, 2017 • Posted by: Miki Huynh • Report issue

NASA Discovery Program Announcement of Opportunity Long-range Planning Information

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Science Mission Directorate (SMD) intends to release an Announcement of Opportunity (AO) for Discovery Program missions by February 2019. The Discovery Program conducts Principal Investigator (PI)-led space science investigations in SMD’s planetary programs under a not-to-exceed cost cap. It is anticipated that no more than three Discovery investigations will be selected for 9-month, $3M (RY) Phase A concept studies through this AO. At the conclusion of these concept studies, it is planned that at least one Discovery investigation will be selected to continue into Phase B and subsequent mission phases. Multiple missions may be selected if their total cost remains below the cost cap. There will be no Missions of Opportunity (MO) solicited as part of this AO nor through an accompanying Program Element Appendix to the SALMON-3 AO.

Source: [NASA Science Mission Directorate]

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December 15, 2017 • Posted by: Miki Huynh • Report issue

Mongolian Microfossils Point to the Rise of Animals on Earth

A Yale-led research team has discovered a cache of embryo-like microfossils in northern Mongolia that may shed light on questions about the long-ago shift from microbes to animals on Earth. Called the Khesen Formation, the site is one of the most significant for early Earth fossils since the discovery of the Doushantuo Formation in southern China nearly 20 years ago. The Dousantuo Formation is 600 million years old; the Khesen Formation is younger, at about 540 million years old.

“Understanding how and when animals evolved has proved very difficult for paleontologists. The discovery of an exceptionally well-preserved fossil assemblage with animal embryo-like fossils gives us a new window onto a critical transition in life’s history,” said Yale graduate student Ross Anderson, first author of a study in the journal Geology.

Read the full press release by Jim Shelton at YaleNews.

Source: [Yale]

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December 14, 2017 • Posted by: Miki Huynh • Report issue

A Popular Tool to Trace Earth’s Oxygen History Can Give False Positives

For researchers pursuing the primordial history of oxygen in Earth’s atmosphere, a new study might sour some “Eureka!” moments. A contemporary tool used to trace oxygen by examining ancient rock strata can produce false positives, according to the study, and the wayward results can mask as exhilarating discoveries.

Common molecules called ligands can bias the results of a popular chemical tracer called the chromium (Cr) isotope system, which is used to test sedimentary rock layers for clues about atmospheric oxygen levels during the epoch when the rock formed. Researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology have demonstrated in the lab that many ligands could have created a signal very similar to that of molecular oxygen.

“There are some geographical locations and ancient situations where measurable signals could have been generated that had nothing to do with how much oxygen was around,” said Chris Reinhard, one of the study’s lead authors. Though the new research may impact how some recent findings are assessed, that doesn’t mean the tool isn’t useful overall.

Yuanzhi Tang and Reinhard, both assistant professors of biogeochemistry in Georgia Tech’s School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, published their team’s results in a study on November 17, 2017, in the journal Nature Communications.

Source: [Georgia Tech]

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December 12, 2017 • Written by: Georgia Tech • Report issue

Hydrothermal Vent Experiments Bring Enceladus to Earth

Laboratory experiments on Earth can now simulate the conditions under which life might emerge on Saturn’s moon Enceladus, as well as other icy alien worlds, according to new research published in the September 2017 issue of the journal Astrobiology.

Since there is life virtually wherever there is water on Earth, researchers looking for alien life often focus on planets in the habitable zones of stars, which are the regions around stars where it is warm enough for worlds to possess water on their surfaces. However, in the past few decades, scientists have increasingly found evidence for oceans – and, potentially, life – hidden under the icy crusts of places such as Jupiter’s moons Europa, Ganymede and Callisto, and Saturn’s moons Enceladus and Titan.

Source: [Astrobio.net]

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December 08, 2017 • Written by: Charles Q. Choi • Report issue

AbGradCon 2018 - Applications Open

The application period for the Astrobiology Graduate Conference (AbGradCon) 2018 is now open! Abstract submission closes Monday, February 5, 2018.

AbGradCon 2018 will be held at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta from Monday, June 4th to Friday, June 8th, with a Proposal Writing Retreat (PWR) taking place from June 1st to June 4th. Applicants for AbGradCon will be able to apply for PWR at the same time as they submit their AbGradCon application. AbGradCon has funds to support a limited number of participants, with the ability to accommodate more individuals if participants are able to provide some or ...

Source: [AbGradCon]

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December 01, 2017 • Posted by: Miki Huynh • Report issue

Early Career Collaboration Award Recipients Announced

We are pleased to announce the selections for the October 2017 Early Career Collaboration Award (ECCA).

Source: [NASA Astrobiology Early Career Collaboration Award]

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November 27, 2017 • Posted by: Miki Huynh • Report issue

Thresholds of Catastrophe in the Earth System

Daniel Rothman, professor of geophysics in the MIT Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences, co-director of MIT’s Lorenz Center, and member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute team based at MIT has analyzed significant changes in the carbon cycle over the last 540 million years, including the five mass extinction events. He has identified “thresholds of catastrophe” in the carbon cycle that, if exceeded, would lead to an unstable environment, and ultimately, mass extinction.

In the paper, “Thresholds of catastrophe in the Earth system,” published in Science Advances, Rothman proposes that mass extinction occurs if one of two thresholds are crossed: For changes in the carbon cycle that occur over long timescales, extinctions will follow if those changes occur at rates faster than global ecosystems can adapt. For carbon perturbations that take place over shorter timescales, the pace of carbon-cycle changes will not matter; instead, the size or magnitude of the change will determine the likelihood of an extinction event. Taking this reasoning forward in time, Rothman predicts that, given the recent rise in carbon dioxide emissions over a relatively short timescale, a sixth extinction will depend on whether a critical amount of carbon is added to the oceans. That amount, he calculates, is about 310 gigatons, which he estimates to be roughly equivalent to the amount of carbon that human activities will have added to the world’s oceans by the year 2100.

The full press release by Jennifer Chu is available at MIT News.

Source: [Science Advances]

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November 20, 2017 • Posted by: Miki Huynh • Report issue

Astrobiology Science Strategy for the Search for Life in the Universe - Call for White Papers

In preparation for and as an input to the upcoming decadal surveys in astronomy and astrophysics and planetary science, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine has been charged with carrying out a study on the astrobiology science strategy as it relates to the search for life in the solar system and extrasolar planetary systems (http://sites.nationalacademies.org/SSB/CurrentProjects/SSB_180812). The committee is requesting community input in the form of white papers. White papers will be accepted from immediately until January 8, 2018. Papers received earlier will have a higher liklihood of being read and considered.

Source: [National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine]

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November 17, 2017 • Posted by: Miki Huynh • Report issue

Astrobiology Rising at Georgia Tech

The growing visibility of researchers interested in astrobiology is helping Georgia Tech emerge as a powerhouse in the field.

“Georgia Tech is clearly recognized as a hub for astrobiology and maybe the one that’s growing the most quickly,” says Edward Goolish, the deputy director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI), one of the six elements of the NASA Astrobiology Program. People at Georgia Tech, Goolish adds, “have been generous with their time and have contributed in important ways when NASA has reached out to the science community for input.”

Read the full story at the Georgia Tech website.

Source: [Georgia Tech]

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November 16, 2017 • Written by: Georgia Tech • Report issue

Heating Enceladus for a Billion Years

Building from the revelation of oceans underneath the surface of Saturn’s moon Enceladus by the late Cassini spacecraft, a new study suggests that tidal friction could generate enough heat to power tens of millions to billions of years of hydrothermal activity inside Enceladus if the moon has a highly porous core. The likelihood would increase the moon’s potential as a habitable world.

The paper, “Powering prolonged hydrothermal activity inside Enceladus” is published in Nature Astronomy and authored by Gaël Choblet, Gabriel Tobie, Christophe Sotin, Marie Běhounková, Ondřej Čadek, Frank Postberg, and Ondřej Souček. Choblet and Tobie are also members of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) team based at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), and Sotin is a Co-I for the NAI team at JPL.

A press release is available through the European Space Agency.

Source: [Nature Astronomy]

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November 15, 2017 • Posted by: Miki Huynh • Report issue