Latest News Items:

Jul 02, 2007 | SCIENCE
NAI Publication Receives Jubilee Award
(http://astrobiology.ciw.edu/main.php) - A recent publication by members of the NAI's Carnegie Institution of Washington Team was honored this week with the Jubilee Award from the Geological Society of South Africa. The team's research, published in the South African Journal of Geology, concerned sulfur isotopes in ancient rocks in South Africa. Congratulations CIW!

Jun 29, 2007 | SCIENCE
NAI Scientist Receives Award from L'Oreal
(The Marine Biological Laboratory) - Julie Huber from NAI's Marine Biological Laboratory Team received a 2007 L'Oreal USA Fellowship for Women in Science. Now in its fourth year, the highly selective L'Oreal USA Fellowships annually recognize and reward five up-and-coming female scientists who are conducting innovative and groundbreaking research. Please join NAI in congratulating Dr. Huber!

Jun 22, 2007 | SCIENCE
Antarctic Icebergs: Unlikely Oases for Ocean Life
(NSF) - Scientists have found that trapped terrestrial material released from icebergs as they melt out at sea has a major impact on the ecology of the ocean around them. The floating chunks of ice support thriving communities of ocean life, and may play an important role in climate regulation on Earth.

Jun 22, 2007 | SCIENCE
Another ASTEP expedition prepares
to take off
(NASA) -

Preview: Another ASTEP expedition prepares to take off

Jun 21, 2007 | SCIENCE
The meaning of life
(SEED Magazine) - Science blogger Carl Zimmer addresses the past, present, and future of origins of life research and the intersection of science and philosophy in this field of study; as well as the scientific search for evidence of extraterrestrial life in the solar system; and scientific definitions of life, or the lack thereof. The work of philosophy professor Carol Cleland, a member of the NASA Astrobiology Institutes University of Colorado Center for Astrobiology team, is a prominent element of the story.

Jun 20, 2007 | SCIENCE
DEPTHX project completed
(NASA) - The Deep Phreatic Thermal Explorer (DEPTHX) project, funded by NASA's Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets (ASTEP) program*, concluded at the end of May, upon completing a series of field tests in Mexico. DEPTHX Principal Investigator Bill Stone reported on the project June 14 at a NASA Headquarters briefing.

Jun 15, 2007 | SCIENCE
Extracellular Protein-Metal Aggregates: A New Biosignature?
(Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory) - Deep inside a flooded mine in Wisconsin, scientists from NAIs University of California Team have discovered a world in which bacteria emit proteins that sweep up metal nanoparticles into immobile clumps. Their finding may lead to innovative ways to remediate subsurface metal toxins, and have exciting implications for identifying biosignatures on Earth and other worlds. The research, published in today's issue of Science, was done in collaboration with a team from the U.S. Department of Energys Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Jun 14, 2007 | SCIENCE
Evidence for Ancient Ocean on Mars
(NASA) - 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.

Jun 13, 2007 | SCIENCE
Massive Birdlike Dinosaur Unearthed in China
(National Geographic News) - The remains of a huge beaked dinosaur with the looks of an ostrich but the weight of a rhino have been discovered in China's Gobi desert, fossil hunters have announced.

Jun 08, 2007 | SCIENCE
HiRISE Mars
(University of Arizona, in Tucson) - Anyone connected to the Internet can now see Mars through the eyes of the most powerful camera ever to orbit another planet. The collection includes important scientific images of craters, caverns and sedimentary rocks used by researchers to yield clues about the history of Mars' environment.

Jun 07, 2007 | SCIENCE
MESSENGER Probes Venus' Atmosphere
(NASA) - On route to Mercury, the MESSENGER spacecraft is doing a flyby of Venus where, on June 5th, it sent out a laser beam to measure the location of Venus' cloud decks. "We are treating the Venus flyby as a full dress rehearsal for the first flyby of Mercury in January 2008," says Sean Solomon, PI of both the MESSENGER mission and NAI's Carnegie Institution of Washington Team.

Jun 07, 2007 | SCIENCE
Magnetic Field Uses Sound Waves to Ignite Sun's Ring of Fire
(NSF) - Research funded by the NSF and NASA has solved a century old mystery concerning the Sun's chromosphere. The findings may also yield information about climate variability on our planet.

Jun 06, 2007 | SCIENCE
NAI Scientist Receives Presidential Award
(NASA NAI) - Please join NAI in congratulating Lou Allamandola of the NASA Ames Research Center Team who was recently bestowed the 'Presidential Rank of Meritorious Senior Professional' in a ceremony held at Ames on June 5th. Congratulations Lou!

Jun 06, 2007 | SCIENCE
Building Titan
(Science and Technology Facilities Council) - The Huygens probe landed on Titan two and a half years ago, but the data it collected is still yielding new scientific insights about Saturn's largest moon.

Jun 05, 2007 | SCIENCE
Astrobiology Primer
( Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.) - The Astrobiology Primer has been created as a reference tool for those who are interested in the interdisciplinary field of astrobiology. The field incorporates many diverse research en- deavors, but it is our hope that this slim volume will present the reader with all he or she needs to know to become involved and to understand, at least at a fundamental level, the state of the art.

Jun 01, 2007 | SCIENCE
Soaking Up Radiation
(Albert Einstein College of Medicine) - Researchers have found that fungi may be able to use radioactivity as an energy source for making food and spurring growth. The findings may have profound implications for how we understand the cycles of biologically available energy for life, and could also have important applications for space exploration.

May 25, 2007 | SCIENCE
Fishing out New Species
(British Antarctic Survey) - Scientists have found hundreds of new marine creatures in the vast, dark deep-sea surrounding Antarctica. The discoveries shed new light on the evolution and diversity of ocean life.

May 25, 2007 | SCIENCE
Legendary origins of life researcher Stanley Miller
(University of California, San Diego) - Miller was a member of the first generation of researchers funded by NASAs exobiology research program, now a part of the Astrobiology Program, and remained active in exobiology/astrobiology research for decades. In recent years, Miller served as a member of the NASA Astrobiology Institutes Europa Focus Group.

May 24, 2007 | SCIENCE
Forecasting Earth-Like Worlds
(Astrobiology Magazine) - Future missions like COROT, KEPLER, and DARWIN should find Earth-like exoplanets. In this interview from Astrobiology Magazine, European Edition, Franck Selsis, an astrophysicist specializing in planetary atmospheres, explains how we can learn if any of those alien worlds contain life.

May 23, 2007 | SCIENCE
Gertrude's All Wet
(NASA) - A silica-rich patch of Martian soil analyzed by NASA's rover Spirit may provide some of the strongest evidence yet that ancient Mars was much wetter than it is now.

May 18, 2007 | SCIENCE
Habitable World Around Gliese 581?
(SETI) - Astronomers have discovered a far away planet around the M Dwarf star Gliese 581 that might be similar to Earth, but does it have life? Space.com's SETI Thursday has the story...

May 17, 2007 | SCIENCE
Astrobiology Magazine's European Edition - France
(Astrobiology Magazine) - The Spring 2007 European Edition of the Astrobiology Magazine focuses on astrobiology research and news from France.

May 15, 2007 | SCIENCE
Deep Phreatic Thermal Explorer DEPTHX
(Washington Post) - The Astrobiology Science and Technology for Exploring Planets (ASTEP) Program's DEPTHX (Deep Phreatic Thermal Explorer) project is profiled in the May 14 edition of the Washington Post DEPTHX story, Washington Post reporter Ceci Connolly will be online Tuesday May 15 at 10:30 a.m. Eastern time to discuss the DEPTHX project.

May 10, 2007 | SCIENCE
STONEs in Space
(NASA - Leslie Mullen) - Can life travel from planet to planet? From Astrobiology Magazine, European Edition comes a story about the possibility of Panspermia. This theory says that meteorites could act as miniature spaceships, carrying microorganism passengers. But a new study has found that photosynthetic life probably wouldnt survive the journey.

May 09, 2007 | SCIENCE
NAI Expands to Include Four New Teams
(NASA NAI) - The NASA Astrobiology Institute is pleased to announce the selections of four new research teams: the University of Wisconsin, California Institute of Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and the Montana State University. These new teams join the twelve others selected to be part of the Institute in 2003. Welcome to the NAI!

May 04, 2007 | SCIENCE
NAIs Tullis Onstott makes Time 100
(TIME Magazine) - Astrobiologist Tullis Onstott has made this years Time 100, an annual list of the 100 men and women whose power, talent or moral example is transforming the world, according to list-maker Time magazine.

May 02, 2007 | SCIENCE
Astrobiologists Canfield and Falkowski Elected to Academy
(National Academy of Science) - Congratulations are due to astrobiologists Donald E. Canfield and Paul G. Falkowski for their election to the distinguished ranks of membership in the National Academy of Sciences.

May 01, 2007 | SCIENCE
Exploring Caves from 30 Feet in the Air
(NASA) - Underground caves could prove ideal as places for future human explorers to live on Mars. But first, someone has to find them. Jut Wynne is trying to figure out how.

Apr 27, 2007 | SCIENCE
Taking the Ocean's Pulse
(NASA) - The MBARI Environmental Sample Processorthe ESPprovides on-site (in situ) collection and analysis of water samples from the subsurface ocean. The instrument is an electromechanical/fluidic system designed to collect discrete water samples, concentrate microorganisms (particulates), and automate application of molecular probes which identify microorganisms and their gene products. The ESP also archives samples so that further analyses may be done after the instrument is recovered.

Apr 19, 2007 | SCIENCE
Antarctic Lake Robot Probe Sets Sights on Outer Space
(UIC News Bureau) - A robotic probe designed to draw an underwater three-dimensional map showing the biological and geochemical composition of an ice-bound Antarctica lake may prove to be the ideal tool to search for life on other planets or moons where ice is known to exist. Peter Doran, associate professor of earth and environmental sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, is the lead investigator in a three-year, $2.3 million dollar study funded by NASA to build the probe that will map Antarctica's West Lake Bonney, a two-and-a-half mile long, one-mile wide, 130 foot-deep lake located in the continent's McMurdo Dry Valleys.

Apr 16, 2007 | SCIENCE
Thirty-Two Mile Cable Installed for First Deep-Sea Observatory
(NSF) - A 32 mile cable will soon provide power for a deep-sea observatory in the Monterrey Bay, providing scientists with 24-hour access to instruments and experiments. The project is a stepping stone for further research in an extremely isolated environment on Earth that harbors many unique forms of life.

Apr 10, 2007 |
Tolbert is receiving the 2007 Hazel
(UC-Boulder) - This prize is the university's most prestigious faculty award. Tolbert has earned it, UC-Boulder has announced, "for her contributions to understanding the chemistry and climate of planetary atmospheres, including past and present," and "for her teaching and research efforts with undergraduates and graduate students, 15 of whom have won prestigious NASA and Environmental Protection Agency fellowships in recent years."

Apr 09, 2007 | SCIENCE
Lab-On-a-Chip Works Aboard the ISS
(NASA) - The Lab-On-a-Chip Application Development Portable Test System (LOCAD-PTS) is an instrument developed by the NAI Carnegie Institution of Washington Team over the past 4 years in collaboration with NASA Marshall Space Flight Center and Charles River Labs. LOCAD-PTS was flown to and recently tested aboard the International Space Station (ISS) to enable crew to monitor microorganisms and potentially hazardous chemicals within the cabin environment....

Apr 06, 2007 | SCIENCE
Mars 500
(ESA) - Europe is preparing for Mars by sending a crew of six on a simulated Mars mission for 500 days. The mission will help pave the way for future missions to the Moon and Mars by providing important insight into the psychological and medical aspects of long-duration spaceflight.

Apr 05, 2007 | SCIENCE
Rethinking Species
(American Society for Microbiology) - Microbiologists are rethinking the ways in which they define and classify microbial species. Studying microbes and understanding how they are related to one another throughout evolutionary time is important in determining how life originated on our planet.

Apr 04, 2007 | SCIENCE
Caves on Mars
(Northern Arizona University) - Techniques used to scope out caves on Earth have been used to identify potential entrances to caves on Mars. If caves do exist on Mars, they might serve as a habitat for life by helping to protect organisms from harsh surface radiation and other factors.

Apr 03, 2007 | SCIENCE
Mega-advances from Metagenomics
(National Academy of Sciences) - The emerging field of metegenomics allows researchers to study the DNA of entire communities of microbes simultaneously and is set to provide major advances in our knowledge of Earth's most prolific organisms. Microbes can thrive in Earth's most inhospitable environments and are the most likely candidates for life on other locations in the Solar System.

Mar 28, 2007 | EDUCATION
The Virus Hunters
(Canadian Broadcasting Company) - "The Virus Hunters" is a fascinating look at viruses, from their role in disease to the possibility of being the oldest form of life on Earth. NAI Virus Focus Group chair Ken Stedman and his team are featured during one of their field trips to Lassen Volcanic National Park

Mar 22, 2007 |
The Ancient Past, Alive
(astrobio.net) - Cuatro Cienegas, a butterfly-shaped valley in Mexicos Chihuahua desert, is a living laboratory for astrobiologists. By studying this unique and endangered ecosystem, they hope to learn more about the earliest life on Earth.

Mar 21, 2007 | SCIENCE
Norman Pace is receiving Microbiologys 2007 Abbott-ASM Lifetime Achievement Award
(NASA, ASM) - Norman Pace, professor of molecular, cellular, and developmental biology at the University of Colorado in Boulder, is receiving the American Society for Microbiology's 2007 Abbott-ASM Lifetime Achievement Award for outstanding contributions to the field of microbial ecology. Dr. Pace is a member of the NASA Astrobiology Institute research team headed by the University of Colorado Center for Astrobiology. This team is studying the origin of stars and planets, development of habitable planets, "RNA World" and the origins of life, biological evolution on Earth, energetics of life on other planets, and philosophical aspects of astrobiology and the search for life elsewhere.