Welcome to Penn State Astrobiology Research Center (PSARC), part of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI).
A major research focus of astrobiology is enabling the recognition of signatures of life on the early Earth, in extreme environments, and in extraterrestrial settings. Our team will develop novel approaches to detecting and characterizing life, investigate biosignatures in mission-relevant ecosystems and ancient rock and evaluate the potential for biosignatures in extraterrestrial settings.
A major research focus of astrobiology is enabling the recognition of signatures of life on the early Earth, in extreme environments, and in extraterrestrial settings. Our team will develop novel approaches to detecting and characterizing life, investigate biosignatures in mission-relevant ecosystems and ancient rock and evaluate the potential for biosignatures in extraterrestrial settings.
Contact Us
Dr. Christopher House Director Professor of Geosciences 2217 Earth and Engineering Sciences Building University Park, PA 16802 chrishouse@psu.edu Phone: 814.865.8802 | Fax: 814.863.9563 |
Latest News
The search for habitable planets should be more conservative (November 25, 2013) Scientists should take the conservative approach when searching for habitable zones where life-sustaining planets might exist, according to James Kasting, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences at Penn State, including when building Terrestrial Planet Finders. That conservative approach means looking for planets that have liquid water and solid or liquid surfaces, as opposed to gas giants like Jupiter or Saturn. The habitable zone in a solar system is the area where liquid water, and by extension life, could exist. Defining the habitable zone is key to the search for life sustaining planets in part because the idea of a habitable zone is used in designing the space-based telescopes that scientists would use to find planets where metabolism -- and potentially life -- life might exist. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Penn State Press Release Ramirez and Kasting: Unusual greenhouse gases may have raised ancient Martian temperature (November 24, 2013) The presence of molecular hydrogen, in addition to carbon dioxide and water, could have created a greenhouse effect on Mars 3.8 billion years ago that pushed temperatures high enough to allow for liquid water, the researchers state in the current issue of Nature Geoscience. The team includes Ramses M. Ramirez, a doctoral student working with James Kasting, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences, Penn State. Previous efforts to produce temperatures warm enough to allow for liquid water used climate models that include only carbon dioxide and water and were unsuccessful. The researchers used a model to show that an atmosphere with sufficient carbon dioxide, water and hydrogen could have made the surface temperatures of Mars warm to above freezing. Those above-freezing temperatures would allow liquid water to flow across the Martian surface over 3.8 billion years ago and form the ancient valley networks, such as Nanedi Valles, much the way sections of the Grand Canyon snake across the western United States today. Nature Geoscience Publication Penn State Press Release Macalady Featured in BBC1 Documentary "How to Build a Planet" Jenn Macalady, professor of geosciences, Penn State, is featured in the new BBC1 Documentary, "How to Build a Planet". Jenn and her team travel to Italy and showcase their astrobiology related research in the Frasassi cave system. Frasassi, discovered in 1948, is one of the show caves of Europe. The 19-mile subterranean system comprises one of the largest and most spectacular limestone complexes in the world and contains some really interesting biofilms. These biofilms are particularly adept at colonizing extreme environments, from hot springs to glaciers. In Frasassi, they exist on damp walls and in the pools and streams of an underground aquifer, entirely without light and mostly without oxygen. Yet these self-contained ecosystems have found a way not just to survive, but to thrive. In fact, their presence plays a vital role in the cave system’s continuing formation. And for Macalady, the underground environment they inhabit is a rare working model of early Earth. More information Video Link (Minutes 21:30 to 27:30) Freeman Elected to the National Academy of Sciences Katherine Freeman, professor of geosciences, Penn State, has been elected to membership in the National Academy of Sciences for her excellence in original scientific research. Membership in the NAS is one of the highest honors given to a scientist or engineer in the United States. Like a paleontologist, Freeman uses fossil biomolecules -- biomarkers -- and the stable isotopes of carbon and other elements to study ancient oceans, soils and lakes. She has used lipid and pigment biomarkers from algae, plants and microbes to study the links between water and carbon cycles and changes in climate over Earth's history. Her work shows that atmospheric carbon dioxide is high during periods of warm climate, plant ecosystems rapidly shift with changes in rain patterns and that global oxygen levels in the ocean impact and are impacted by microbial communities. More information New Model for identifying Habitable Zones Around Extrasolar Planetary Systems Using the latest data, the Penn State Department of Geosciences team developed an updated model for determining whether discovered planets fall within a habitable zone – where they could be capable of having liquid water and thus sustaining life. The work, described in a paper accepted for publication in Astrophysical Journal, builds on a prior model by James Kasting, Evan Pugh Professor of Geosciences at Penn State, to offer a more precise calculation of where habitable zones around a star can be found. More information |