Dr. Catharine "Cassie" Conley, Visiting Investigator working with Dr. Andrew Steele, presented a seminar on "Assessing Confidence in Detections of Extraterrestrial Life."
Dr. Sara Walker of ASU is an astrobiologist and theoretical physicist interested in the origin of life and how to find life on other worlds. She presented on "Planetary systems biochemistry - inferring the laws of life at a global scale."
Dr. Carol Cleland of the University of Colorado Boulder presented on "Searching for unfamiliar forms of life without a definition of life."
Washington, DC—Carnegie’s Andrew Steele is a member of the Earth First Origins project, led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute’s Karyn Rogers, which has been awarded a $9 million grant by NASA’s Astrobiology Program.
Mars’ organic carbon may have originated from a series of electrochemical reactions between briny liquids and volcanic minerals, according to new analyses of three Martian meteorites from a team led by the Geophysical Laboratory’s Andrew Steele published in Science Advances.
NASA’s Curiosity rover has discovered new “tough” organic molecules in three-billion-year-old sedimentary rocks on Mars, increasing the chances that the record of habitability and potential life could have been preserved on the Red Planet, despite extremely harsh conditions on the surface that can easily break down organic molecules.
The Geophysical Laboratory's weekly seminar series continues with Ram Krishnamurthy of Scripps. He will present, "Reconciling Prebiotic Chemistry with Biological Chemistry - Destiny versus Destination in Origins of Life Research."
Our Broad Branch Road Spring Neighborhood Lecture Series continues with Carnegie's Observatories Director John Mulchaey. Mulchaey will present, "Eyes on the Universe: Carnegie’s Leadership in Astronomy Today."
The Geophysical Laboratory's weekly seminar series continues with Carl Agee from the University of New Mexico. He will present, "NWA 7034 aka Black Beauty: Unique Water-rich Meteorite from Ancient Mars."
Washington, DC— A team of scientists including Carnegie’s Dina Bower and Andrew Steele weigh in on whether microstructures found in 3.46 billion-year-old samples of a silica-rich rock called chert found in Western Australia are the planet’s oldest fossils.
