Astrobiology: Definition of life just keeps expanding (NASA scientist Dr. Pam Conrad)
Host Scott Simon speaks with NASA scientist Dr. Pam Conrad on the 50th anniversary of the space agency #39;s search for extraterrestrial life (October 23, 2010) ...
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Astrobiology: Definition of life just keeps expanding (NASA scientist Dr. Pam Conrad) - Video
In this historical photo from the U.S. space agency, the Goddard Space Flight Center was named in honor of Dr. Robert Goddard, a pioneer in rocket development. Dr. Goddard received patents for a multi-stage rocket and liquid propellants in 1914 and published a paper describing how to reach extreme altitudes six years later.
That paper, "A Method of Reaching Extreme Altitudes," detailed methods for raising weather-recording instruments higher than what could be achieved by balloons and explained the mathematical theories of rocket propulsion. The paper, which was published by the Smithsonian Institution, also discussed the possibility of a rocket reaching the moon a position for which the press ridiculed Goddard. Yet several copies of the report found their way to Europe, and by 1927, the German Rocket Society was established, and the German Army began its rocket program in 1931. Goddard, meanwhile, continued his work.
By 1926, he had constructed and tested the first rocket using liquid fuel. Goddard's work largely anticipated in technical detail the later German V-2 missiles, including gyroscopic control, steering by means of vanes in the jet stream of the rocket motor, gimbal-steering, power-driven fuel pumps and other devices.
The National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics (NACA) was a precursor to NASA. NACA was created by Congress in 1915.
Each weekday, SPACE.com looks back at the history of spaceflight through photos (archive).
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How Personalized Medicine will transform Human Space Flight
Significant attention has been given to methods of shielding human space participants from radiation on missions. But what if some astronauts suffer from susceptible DNAbeforeentering the space radiation environment? Two American scientists have proposed that certain astronaut molecular profilesmay 1) reduce inherent DNA stability, 2) slow DNA repair, and 3) render DNA more susceptible to mutational events when exposed to the radiation of space.
Michael A. Schmidt, Ph.D. (Sovaris Aerospace) andThomas J. Goodwin, Ph.D. (NASA Johnson Space Center) have identified a novel approach to space radiation countermeasures, which is based on understanding the DNA stability, DNA repair capability, and oxidative susceptibility of individual astronautsbeforethey enter the space environment. This methodology is linked to individual genotype and micronutrient status, both of which are potentially modifiable by appropriate pre-flight and in-flight countermeasures.
For instance, common gene mutations affecting one carbon metabolism (MTHFR, MTR, MTRR) may result in the build-up of a faulty base (uracil) within the DNA backbone. This can lead to single strand DNA breaks and double strand DNA breaks, before astronauts enter space. The effect of this is amplified by folate and B12 deficiency.
Other common gene mutations (Hfe) trigger excessive iron accumulation, which creates unstable DNA through oxidative stress mechanisms, also before entering space. Magnesium is a central atom in most DNArepairenzymes. Significant serum, urine, and muscle loss of Mg has already been found in ISS astronauts on long missions, thus raising the question about whether we are already flying some astronauts with diminished capacity to repair DNA damage.
According to Schmidt, "We are examining how individual molecular influences affect DNA stability and repair before astronauts enter the elevated radiation conditions of space, and then how to manage those influences while they live in space. But we are looking well beyond DNA and into the vast network of molecular influences on astronaut physiology. We and our colleagues are using genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and metabolomics to develop a platform for personalized medicine that will guide the present and future of human space flight. As the field evolves, we expect to increasingly be able to individualize countermeasures, so that each astronaut receives the protocol that is most suitable to him or her. This will be crucial for missions to the Moon, Mars, and beyond. Of equal importance, we use what we've learned from the complexity of space to translate these benefits to earth-based medicine."
Goodwin states, "In the end, it is about advancing the science and about developing solutions, which we see evolving in phases. Our goal, at minimum, includes: (1) establish the criteria for ''best evidence'' that can be used to develop individualized countermeasurestoday; (2) establish the criteria for best evidence that prioritizes research, clinical assessment, and individualized countermeasures to be developed in the near term; and (3) establish a deliberate discovery path that seeks to develop sophisticated and more complex models for long-term deployment of personalized medicine, as the future standard of preparation and care in human space flight."
Their paper, entitledPersonalized Medicine in Human Space Flight: Using Omics Based Analyses to Develop Individualized Countermeasures that Enhance Astronaut Safety and Performance, was recently published in the journalMetabolomics(Schmidt, MA, Goodwin, TJ.MetabolomicsDec 2013;9(6):1134-1156).
Michael A. Schmidt, Ph.D.is co-chair of the Advanced Pattern Analysis & Countermeasures Group. He and his team have ongoing collaborations with NASA Ames Research Center, NASA Johnson Space Center, and commercial space flight companies that are focused on human missions to the ISS, Moon, Mars, and elsewhere. Dr. Schmidt is the founder ofSovaris Aerospace, LLCand Chairman ofMetaboLogics, LLC, based at the Infectious Disease Research Complex at Colorado State University. Sovaris Aerospace, LLC uses pattern analysis, signal processing, and predictive modeling to develop molecular/physiologic assessment and countermeasure solutions for humans in space. MetaboLogics, LLC, applies these methods to earth-based medicine.
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Novel Ways to Protect Astronaut DNA before Entering Space Radiation Environments
GREENBELT, Md., Feb. 20 (UPI) -- A common space weather phenomenon on the outskirts of Earth's magnetic bubble has larger -- much larger -- repercussions for Venus, NASA scientists say.
Giant explosions called hot flow anomalies in the solar wind can be so large when they encounter Venus they're bigger than the entire planet can happen multiple times a day, they said.
"Not only are they gigantic," Glyn Collinson, a space scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., said, "but as Venus doesn't have a magnetic field to protect itself, the hot flow anomalies happen right on top of the planet. They could swallow the planet whole."
Collinson is the lead author of a paper based on observations from the European Space Agency's Venus Express, showing just how large and how frequent this kind of space weather is at Venus.
Earth is protected from the constant streaming solar wind of radiation by its magnetic bubble -- the magnetosphere -- while Venus, a barren, inhospitable planet with an atmosphere so dense spacecraft landing there are crushed within hours, Venus has no such magnetic protection.
At Earth, hot flow anomalies do not make it inside the magnetosphere, whereas on Venus they can create dramatic planet-scale disruptions, possibly sucking the planet's upper atmosphere up and away from the surface, the scientists said.
That suggests Earth without its magnetic field might be as barren and lifeless as Venus, they said.
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Beltsville, MD (PRWEB) February 20, 2014
NASA recently awarded ASRC Federal Space and Defense a two-year extension to the Multidiscipline Engineering and Technology Services II contract. The two-year bridge contract with an extension option has a maximum value of $110 million.
Under the METS II Bridge contract, ASRC Federal Space and Defense will continue to provide systems engineering support and guidance, navigation and control services for various projects at NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., including the James Webb Space Telescope, the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution mission, the Magnetosphere Multiscale mission and other critical Goddard missions.
The bridge contract award underscores excellent work performed by our ASRC Federal Space and Defense team on the current METS II effort, said Paul Dillahay, ASRC Federal president and CEO. We look forward to continuing our long-standing relationship with NASA Goddard and supporting the centers space exploration activities.
ASRC Federal Space and Defense will continue supporting several operating divisions in Goddard's Applied Engineering and Technology Directorate, including mechanical systems, software management, instrument systems and technology, electrical engineering and mission engineering, and systems analysis. Support provided to the operating divisions includes the formulation, design, development, flight and non-flight fabrication, integration, test, verification, and operation of components, subsystems, systems, science instruments and complete spacecraft for multiple projects.
About ASRC Federal ASRC Federal is a holding company with multiple subsidiaries, including ASRC Federal Space and Defense, which provide reliable, cost-efficient services to federal government agencies. Headquartered in Greenbelt, Md., ASRC Federal is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arctic Slope Regional Corporation. ASRC Federal Space and Defense delivers high-performance space systems engineering, integration and satellite operations services to civil and defense agencies. For more information about the ASRC Federal family of companies, please visit: http://www.asrcfederal.com.
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ASRC Federal Space and Defense Awarded NASA METS II Bridge Contract
PUBLIC RELEASE DATE:
20-Feb-2014
Contact: Susan Hendrix Susan.m.hendrix@nasa.gov 301-286-7745 NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
Researchers recently discovered that a common space weather phenomenon on the outskirts of Earth's magnetic bubble, the magnetosphere, has much larger repercussions for Venus. The giant explosions, called hot flow anomalies, can be so large at Venus that they're bigger than the entire planet and they can happen multiple times a day.
"Not only are they gigantic," said Glyn Collinson, a space scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md. "But as Venus doesn't have a magnetic field to protect itself, the hot flow anomalies happen right on top of the planet. They could swallow the planet whole."
Collinson is the first author of a paper on these results that appeared online in the Journal of Geophysical Research in February 2014. The work is based on observations from the European Space Agency's Venus Express. The results show just how large and how frequent this kind of space weather is at Venus.
Earth is protected from the constant streaming solar wind of radiation by its magnetosphere. Venus, however, has no such luck. A barren, inhospitable planet, with an atmosphere so dense that spacecraft landing there are crushed within hours, Venus has no magnetic protection.
Scientists like to compare the two: What happened differently at Earth to make it into the life-supporting planet it is today? What would Earth be like without its magnetic field?
At Earth, hot flow anomalies do not make it inside the magnetosphere, but they release so much energy just outside that the solar wind is deflected, and can be forced to move back toward the sun. Without a magnetosphere, what happens at Venus is very different.
Venus's only protection from the solar wind is the charged outer layer of its atmosphere called the ionosphere. A sensitive pressure balance exists between the ionosphere and the solar wind, a balance easily disrupted by the giant energy rush of a hot flow anomaly. The hot flow anomalies may create dramatic, planet-scale disruptions, possibly sucking the ionosphere up and away from the surface of the planet.
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NASA researcher finds planet-sized space weather explosions at Venus
The Texas Tech baseball team will play Oral Roberts this weekend in the memorial series for former Tech player and assistant coach Brooks Wallace.
Wallace is one of four Red Raiders to have his number retired by the team, according to a news release from Tech athletics, and died at age 27 after a battle with leukemia.
Tech junior pitcher Dominic Moreno said he has a friend who is dealing with leukemia and the after effects of it, and it will probably be an emotional weekend for him.
You get up for morning workouts and youre like I dont want to be here, I dont want to do the running, I dont want to do this, and hes gone through more than any of us have, Moreno said. Hes kind of a guy that I use for motivation every single day.
The Red Raiders enter the series ranked No. 28 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers poll after beating No. 3 Indiana three times in last weekends four-game series.
Sophomore utility player Eric Gutierrez said the series win against Indiana was great for momentum, but the players are trying to just take it one game at a time.
Everybody is pumped for this weekend, Gutierrez said. I mean, were just taking it day by day and weve been working as hard as we worked in the offseason.
In the series against Indiana, the Red Raiders were strong offensively, scoring 23 runs in their three wins. The one loss on opening day was the only time Tech struggled at the plate, giving Moreno zero runs in his start.
Moreno credited the Indiana pitcher in the opening game, but said he thought all of the hitters throughout the lineup stepped up in the next three games.
No matter how good your offense is, Moreno said, youre always going to run into a buzzsaw.
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Navy, NASA Partner for Underway Recovery Test; E-Learning Access Change
All Hands Update Feb. 21, 2014 #1 Navy, NASA Partner for Underway Recovery Test; E-Learning Access Change.
By: U.S. Navy
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Navy, NASA Partner for Underway Recovery Test; E-Learning Access Change - Video
NASA EDGE: Orion Service Module
Engineers at NASA #39;s Marshall Space Flight Center are testing parts of the Orion service module to ensure the spacecraft can withstand the harsh realities of ...
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N.A.S.A - Hide Music Video
Made using Final Cut Pro and some clips i had left over from another project. Comment/Likes Appreciated! Music Is Not Mine...
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NASA Releases Stunning Video of Saturn #39;s Dancing Auroras
NASA is releasing incredible footage of Saturn #39;s aurora borealis as seen by its Cassini spacecraft. NASA scientists say this is only the tip of the iceberg a...
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NASA Releases Stunning Video of Saturn's Dancing Auroras - Video
It #39;s Not Rocket Science! Creating NASA #39;s Data Visualizations
We kicked off our first Visual Dimension #39;s vodcast with data visualization veteran Rob Simmon, art director of NASA #39;s Earth Observatory. Catch the recording ...
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It's Not Rocket Science! Creating NASA's Data Visualizations - Video
Always On Roving the Moon and Mars in NASA #39;s concept space explorer110
By: Adelle Reppe
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Always On Roving the Moon and Mars in NASA's concept space explorer110 - Video
EVIDENCE EMERGES Force Fed Nanoparticles By NWO - Rev Michelle Hopkins Nanotechnology - ViewTrakr
The NWO is using Nanotechnology against us. Help fight the truth by sharing videos online with ViewTrakr! http://www.TrackYourViews.com :: Contact Ryan Conley for m...
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IdeasLabs 2013 - Hele Savin - Using Nanotechnology to Manufacture a Solar Revolution
http://www.weforum.org/ To reach our goal of a green earth we need to make solar panels more affordable. Professor Hele Savin, from Aalto University in Finla...
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IdeasLabs 2013 - Hele Savin - Using Nanotechnology to Manufacture a Solar Revolution - Video
Nanotechnology - University of Twente
By: University of Twente/ Universiteit Twente
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Professor Sami Franssila is participating in a research project that could, if successful, revolutionise the treatment of coronary thrombosis and brain damage.
You cannot walk into the clean rooms of Micronova with your snowy boots.
'We fabricate nano-scale objects so any undesired particles, including dust, must be smaller than the objects being made,' Sami Franssila, Professor of Microtechnology explains and points at the researchers working in their protective clothing on the other side of the window.
'The floor is vibration isolated and the air conditioning keeps the temperature and humidity between precise limits.'
Accelerating stem cell differentiation
Precision is also required in the large strategic research opening by Tekes which Franssila and his research group are participating in with the University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Central Hospital. The project has an ambitious goal: getting damaged organs to heal themselves. Achieving this goal requires drugs that are targeted at an organ, such as the heart or the brain, using nanotechnology. The drugs then locally enhance the differentiation of stem cells so that the necessary new heart or nerve cells are created.
'The idea is to heal cell damages locally,' Sami Franssila explains.
'One of the greatest challenges is determining the essential chemicals which affect the differentiation of cells. The work requires micro and nanotechnology as we, in collaboration with the University of Helsinki Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry, have to develop an analysis method that is so sensitive that it can be used to examine extremely small amounts of substance consisting of as few as one thousand molecules. In addition to sensitivity, the method also has to be accurate to counterbalance the natural biological fluctuation of the samples taken from the cells,' Franssila continues.
Ten years of cooperation
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U.S. Navy photo
Naval Surface Warfare Center Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD) and Virginia Tech Center for Naval Systems leadership are pictured at the NSWCDD-Virginia Tech Relationship Review held Jan. 30. The Navy and Virginia Tech representatives met to review current and planned efforts associated with their extensive contract and partnering vehicles. These efforts permit the universitys students and professors to work in key technology areas for NSWCDD, including work on technological projects with the commands scientists and engineers on location here.
How is the Navy making dreams a reality in the fields of science and engineering for wounded warriors, interns, new employees and students in middle and high school?
The Navy scientists and engineers who celebrated National Mentoring Month in January said the answer has not changed since they were mentees.
They responded unanimously with one word - mentors.
President Barack Obama agrees.
His Presidential Proclamation of National Mentoring Month, 2014, stated that: In every corner of our Nation, mentors push our next generation to shape their ambitions, set a positive course, and achieve their boundless potential. During National Mentoring Month, we celebrate everyone who teaches, inspires, and guides young Americans as they reach for their dreams.
National Mentoring Month began in 2002 as an outreach campaign to focus national attention on the need for mentors - individuals, businesses, government agencies, schools, faith communities and nonprofits - to work together to increase mentoring of our nations youth with the hope of assuring brighter futures.
Scores of scientists and engineers respond to this call by mentoring young students in the classrooms and robotics competitions in addition to the summer camps and laboratories at the Navys surface and undersea warfare centers.
They enjoy inspiring their young colleagues and students to live the dream.
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Sharon Gaudin | Feb. 21, 2014
A U.S. soldier is on patrol with his squad when he kneels to check something out, unknowingly putting his knee into a puddle of contaminants.
A U.S. soldier is on patrol with his squad when he kneels to check something out, unknowingly putting his knee into a puddle of contaminants.
The soldier isn't harmed, though, because he or she is wearing a smart suit that immediately senses the threat and transforms the material covering his knee into a protective state that repels the potential deadly bacteria.
Scientists at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, a federal government research facility in Livermore, Calif., are using nanotechnology to create clothing designed to protect U.S. soldiers from chemical and biological attacks.
The researchers turned to nanotechnology to overcome the tough task of creating military-grade protective clothing that's breathable and isn't heavy to wear.
"The threat is nanoscale so we need to work in the nano realm, which helps to keep it light and breathable," said Francesco Fornasiero, a staff scientist at the lab. "If you have a nano-size threat, you need a nano-sized defense."
For a little more than a year, the team of scientists has focused on developing a proof of concept suit that's both tough and inexpensive to manufacture. The lab group is teaming up with scientists from MIT, Rutgers University, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and other schools to get it done.
Fornasiero said the task is a difficult one, and the suits may not be ready for the field for another 10 to 20 years.
Ross Kozarsky, a senior analyst with Boston-based Lux Research, said the effort could also lead to a lot of other uses for smart nano-based clothing or devices.
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Gov't developing smart suits to protect U.S. troops from bio attacks
The power of regenerative medicine appears to have turned science fiction into scientific reality -- by allowing scientists to transform skin cells into cells that closely resemble beating heart cells. However, the methods required are complex, and the transformation is often incomplete. But now, scientists at the Gladstone Institutes have devised a new method that allows for the more efficient -- and, importantly, more complete -- reprogramming of skin cells into cells that are virtually indistinguishable from heart muscle cells. These findings, based on animal models and described in the latest issue of Cell Reports, offer new-found optimism in the hunt for a way to regenerate muscle lost in a heart attack.
Heart disease is the world's leading cause of death, but recent advances in science and medicine have improved the chances of surviving a heart attack. In the United States alone, nearly 1 million people have survived an attack, but are living with heart failure -- a chronic condition in which the heart, having lost muscle during the attack, does not beat at full capacity. So, scientists have begun to look toward cellular reprogramming as a way to regenerate this damaged heart muscle.
The reprogramming of skin cells into heart cells, an approach pioneered by Gladstone Investigator, Deepak Srivastava, MD, has required the insertion of several genetic factors to spur the reprogramming process. However, scientists have recognized potential problems with scaling this gene-based method into successful therapies. So some experts, including Gladstone Senior Investigator Sheng Ding, PhD, have taken a somewhat different approach.
"Scientists have previously shown that the insertion of between four and seven genetic factors can result in a skin cell being directly reprogrammed into a beating heart cell," explained Dr. Ding, the paper's senior author and a professor of pharmaceutical chemistry at UCSF, with which Gladstone is affiliated. "But in my lab, we set out to see if we could perform a similar transformation by eliminating -- or at least reducing -- the reliance on this type of genetic manipulation."
To that effect, the research team used skin cells extracted from adult mice to screen for chemical compounds, so-called 'small molecules,' that could replace the genetic factors. Dr. Ding and his research team have previously harnessed the power of small molecules to reprogram skin cells into neurons and, more recently, insulin-producing pancreas cells. They reasoned that a similar technique could be used to do the same with heart cells.
"After testing various combinations of small molecules, we narrowed down the list to a four-molecule 'cocktail,' which we called SPCF, that could guide the skin cells into becoming more like heart cells," said Gladstone Postdoctoral Scholar Haixia Wang, PhD, the paper's lead author. "These newly reprogramed cells exhibited some of the twitching and contracting normally seen in mature heart cells, but the transformation wasn't entirely complete."
So, Drs. Ding and Wang decided to add one genetic factor, called Oct4, to the small molecule cocktail. And by doing so, the research team was able to generate a completely reprogrammed beating heart cell.
"Once we added Oct4 to the mix, we observed clusters of contracting cells after a period of just 20 days," explained Dr. Ding. "Remarkably, additional analysis revealed that these cells showed the same patterns of gene activation and electric signaling patterns normally seen in the ventricles of the heart."
Dr. Ding and his team believe that these results may point to a more desirable method for reprogramming, as ventricular heart cells are the type of cells typically lost during a heart attack. These findings give the team newfound optimism that the research is well on its way towards an entirely pharmaceutical-based method to regrow heart muscle.
"The fact that the combination of Oct4 and small molecules appears to generate beating heart cells in an accelerated fashion is encouraging," said Joseph Wu, MD, PhD, Director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute, who was not involved in this study. "Future advances by Dr. Ding and others will likely focus on improving the efficiency of conversion as well as duplicating the data in adult human cells."
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Molecular 'cocktail' transforms skin cells into beating heart cells