NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI)

Marine Methane Oxidation Without Sulfur

A new study in the current issue of Science from NAI’s Penn State team shows that the anaerobic oxidation of methane is not solely a sulfate-dependent process. Microbes cultured from marine methane seeps in California’s Eel River Basin have demonstrated capability of using manganese and iron to oxidize methane to carbon dioxide. These same compounds may have been key to methane oxidation in the early, oxygen-less days of Earth’s atmosphere.

Source: [Link]

July 9, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice

NOVA ScienceNOW - Hunt for Alien Earths

NOVA’s ScienceNOW series, hosted by Neil de Grasse Tyson, has just released a new episode called Hunt for Alien Earths which is devoted to the work of astronomers who search for planets orbiting other stars that might host life. Astrobiologists Lisa Kaltenegger, David Charbonneau, and Geoff Marcy are featured in this beautifully produced, twelve minute video.

July 9, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice

MAVEN

In September, NASA awarded the University of Colorado the biggest research grant in the school’s history for a project led by NAI Emeritus PI Bruce Jakosky to investigate the history of the climate on Mars. The idea behind the $486 million project—known as Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, or MAVEN to try to discover why Mars’ climate has changed over the past few billions years, and whether the planet before those changes was an environment suitable for life…

July 1, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice

Astrobiology, To the Best of Our Knowledge

Today on WAMC’s radio program To The Best Of Our Knowledge, NAI Principal Investigator Doug Whittet talks about astrobiology, and the ongoing research and education activities of his New York Center for Astrobiology (NYCA), seated at RPI. This interview sets up future programs featuring staff scientists and guest lecturers at the NYCA.

June 29, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice

Salt Discovered in Saturn's Outermost Ring

For the first time, scientists working on NASA’s Cassini mission have detected sodium salts in ice grains of Saturn’s outermost ring. Detecting salty ice indicates that Saturn’s moon Enceladus, which primarily replenishes the ring with material from discharging jets, could harbor a reservoir of liquid water — perhaps an ocean — beneath its surface.

Cassini discovered the water-ice jets in 2005 on Enceladus. These jets expel tiny ice grains and vapor, some of which escape the moon’s gravity and form Saturn’s outermost ring. Cassini’s cosmic dust analyzer has examined the composition of those grains and found salt within...

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Source: [NASA Press Release]

June 24, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice

Nickel: The New Biomarker

Members of NAI’s team at Penn State and their colleagues have a new paper in PNAS exploring the viability of using isotopes of the element nickel as biomarkers. Nickel is an important trace nutrient for methanogens, which preferentially use one isotope of nickel over another in their metabolic processes. Nickel, unlike iron, doesn’t seem to go through significant redox changes without a biological tie, therefore considering it as a biomarker is less complicated and potentially more reliable. Testing ancient sediments and observing nickel isotopic fractionation could pinpoint where and when methanogens arose.

Source: [Penn State press release]

June 23, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice

Increasing the Lifespan of Life on Earth

According to a new study from NAI’s Virtual Planetary Laboratory Team and colleagues at Cal Tech, the lifespan of Earth’s biosphere could be prolonged, even as the Sun’s luminosity increases and threatens to wipe out all life on Earth. Published earlier this month in PNAS, the study points to the substantial reduction of the total pressure of Earth’s atmosphere, achieved by removing massive amounts of nitrogen from it. This would regulate the surface temperatures, allow carbon dioxide to remain in the atmosphere to support life, and could tack an additional 1.3 billion years onto Earth’s...

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Source: [Link]

June 19, 2009 / Posted by: Daniella Scalice