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News and Events

In this section you'll find the latest news from the Office of the Chief Scientist and Chief Technologist about the many innovative developments happening here at JPL.

Exceptional and notable achievements by scientists and engineers at JPL are constantly being recognized and awarded all over the world.

In addition, scientific discovery and technological advancements are created and developed for a wide variety of missions and functions. The JPL Media Relations Office often issues press releases that announce the release of new science research findings and technologies as well as updates of existing ones. Check back often for the latest news and images in the ever-changing world of these dynamic areas of innovation.

LECTURE SERIES INFORMATION

Theodore von Karman Lecture Series

BOOK SERIES INFORMATION

JPL Space Science & Technology Book Series

NEWS STORIES AND NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

		FY 2009 Call for Directors Research and Development Fund Concept Papers This is a Call to solicit Concept Papers to the Directors Research and Development Fund (DRDF) program.

		Postdoc Lectures and Award Ceremony Winners of the 2008 Postdoc Research Day will present lectures on their research.

		Experts Discuss How to Find Another Earth On May 29 and 30, astronomers and scientists from all around the world will gather in Pasadena to discuss how we might find another Earth, and how we might detect possible life on it.

		Landing a Backhoe on Mars The Phoenix Lander will study the history of water and search for complex organic molecules in the ice-rich soil of the martian arctic.

		JPL Briefing to Industry 2008: Focus on Partnering The 9th biannual event will be held at the Hilton Los Angeles North/Glendale in Glendale, California. The one-day conference provides a forum for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory leadership to engage industry partners by providing insight into future business opportunities at JPL. It brings key JPL decision makers into direct contact with industry personnel. This years conference will focus on partnering. This briefing is sponsored by the National Space Club West Coast Committee and hosted by JPL.

		JPL Wins Award From U.S. Small Business Administration The U.S. Small Business Administration has named JPL as the winner of its 2008 Dwight D. Eisenhower Award for Excellence in the research and development category.

		Astronomers Detect First Organic Molecule on an Exoplanet A team of astronomers, led by JPLs Mark Swain, has made the first detection ever of an organic molecule in the atmosphere of a Jupiter-sized planet orbiting another star.

		JPL Technologies Chosen for Space Technology Hall of Fame PASADENA, CALIF. Two technologies developed by NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory have been selected for the Space Foundations 2008 Space Technology Hall of Fame.

		NASA Views Landing Site through Eyes of Future Moon Crew NASA has obtained the highest resolution terrain mapping to date of the moons rugged south polar region, with a resolution to 20 meters (66 feet) per pixel. Scientists at NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif. collected the data using the Deep Space Networks Goldstone Solar System Radar located in Californias Mojave Desert. Internal investment at JPL is seeding future development of this capability, namely to increase the resolution to ~5 meters, and possibly even to 1 meter.

		EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE COLLOQUIUM The History of Saturn's Rings Professor Larry Esposito, University of Colorado, Boulder Monday, March 17, 2008 11:30 am von Karman Auditorium

		EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE COLLOQUIUM Enceladus: An Active Ice World in the Saturn System Dr. John Spencer, Southwest Research Institute Monday, February 25, 2008 11:30 am von Karman Auditorium

		Exoplanet Science and Technology Fair Talks and posters on all aspects of current and future exoplanet science will be on display Friday, Feb. 22, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in von Karman.

		Efficient Verification of Pipelined Microprocessors Miroslav Velev will describe a highly automatic tool flow for formal verification of complex pipelined microprocessors in a talk Wednesday, Feb. 20, at 9 a.m. in Building 301-284A.

		EARTH AND SPACE SCIENCE COLLOQUIUM Following the Water: A Trek Through Interstellar Clouds to Other Star Systems Dr. Gary Melnick Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Tuesday, February 19, 2008 11:30 am von Karman Auditorium

		JPL Scientists Earn Highest National Engineering Honor Lee-Lueng Fu, a senior research scientist at JPL and Yahya Rahmat-Samii, a former JPL scientist who is now an engineering professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, have been elected to the National Academy of Engineering among the highest professional distinctions accorded an engineer.

		Life´s Origins Dieter Braun will pose a hydrothermal solution to the concentration problem of the origin of life in a discussion Thursday, Feb. 7, at noon in 180-101. Lifes origin is one of the most fundamental scientific puzzles. While we increasingly understand the intriguing structures that molecular evolution has provided, the first evolutionarily active molecular machines are hidden in the dark of Earths history.

		Indian Space Program: Future Perspectives G. Madhavan Nair, Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) A special seminar sponsored by GALCIT (Graduate Aeronautical Laboratories at Caltech) will occur Monday, February 4, 2008 from 1-2:00 PM at Beckman Institute Auditorium, Caltech.

		NASA and The Beatles Celebrate Anniversaries by Beaming Song Across The Universe Into Deep Space For the first time ever, NASA will beam a song – The Beatles "Across the Universe" - directly into deep space at 7 p.m. EST on Feb. 4.

		How Life Began in Our Water World Over 4 Billion Years Ago "SCIENCE 101" A SCIENCE LECTURE SERIES FOR THE NON-SCIENTIST Join Dr. Michael Russell as he journeys back in time over four billion years ago to when the world was young - to a world without land, except for solitary volcanoes that poured carbon dioxide into the atmosphere and into the all-enveloping and turbulent ocean.

		FY09 Call for R&TD Topic Area Concept Papers To: All JPL Employees From: Daniel McCleese, Chief Scientist and Paul Dimotakis, Chief Technologist Subject: FY09 Call for New Research and Technology Development Topic Area Concept Papers Deadline: Thursday, February 28, 2008 at 5PM PST This is a Call to solicit New Concept Papers to the Topic Area category of the Research and Technology Development (R&TD) program.

		Nanotube Technology May Help in the Development of New Advanced Medical Treatments PASADENA, Calif.- The potential of carbon nanotubes to diagnose and treat brain tumors is being explored through a partnership between NASAs Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, Calif., and City of Hope, a leading cancer research and treatment center in Duarte, Calif.

		Ultra-Thin Composite Materials Sergio Pellegrino will discuss thin composites, deployable structures and future concepts for large space structures in a talk Wednesday, Jan. 9, at 11:30 a.m. in 180-101.