AARI Gift Shop Display in Queen Street Beads Artisan's Showcase

Today, we set up a small exhibition in a month-long showcase at Queen Street Beads (runs until March 31st). Since we couldn't display our entire inventory, I selected some of our higher-end items with the hope that as people see the quality of our jewelry, more will come to the website and (hopefully) purchase things to help us raise more money for research. I personally hope we have enough to start up a small lab in another 5 years or so when I complete my formal education. Given the current economic climate, it seemed prudent to start working towards that goal a bit early.

The pieces we selected for display were unlike anything else currently on display at Queen Street Beads so, looking ahead towards spring we selected items that were both fashionable, and colorful. The case currently consists of:

1) the "Mod Maven" set (composed of lemon jasper, purple agate and amethyst)
2) the "Antiqua" set (composed of amazonite, purple agate and amethyst)

3) the "Imperial Jade Cascade" set (composed of jade)

4) the "Crystal Heart" necklace (composed of quartz, pink agate and crystal)
5) the "Dark Passion" set (composed of pink agate, black agate and jet crystal) and

6) the "Heiress" set (composed of Swarovski crystal).

It would be nice to sell these items before the end of the exhibition but... who knows? I included a stack of business cards and informative pamphlets about AARI's mission, objectives and activities. At the very least, it will be a wonderful opportunity to gauge public opinion-- to see how Sault Ste. Marie feels about supporting astrobiology research (or at least, find out what people think of our jewelry!). I expect feedback about on AARI's desire to establish a laboratory and museum to be positive. As for the jewerly... I guess we'll just have to wait and see.

The Origin so the Ribosome (and a model for the prebiotic synthesis of complex structure)

Today, an article was brought to my attention about the (likely) origin of the ribosome. Although may other sites around the Internet are carrying this story, there are essentially 3 versions with differing degrees of detail which I will list below:
1) Origins Of Complex Structure Explained By University Of Montreal Scientists
2) Ribosome Building Blocks (Astrobiology)
3) Deconstructing the Ribosome (Science)

To summarize, Dr. Sergey Steinberg of the University of Montreal discovered the stepwise mechanism responsible for ribosome assembly through the utilization of molecular modeling techniques. What is, perhaps, most impressive about the study is the notion that the precise, step-wise assembly of the ribosome was so reliant on each preceding step that in essence, it would have been impossible for components to form anything but a ribosome! The fact that this discovery was made in Canada is just the icing on the cake!

Model of the Ribosome [Credit: Science]

Tired from an exciting and productive day

It's been one of those days... I spent the morning across the border mailing jewelry to Europe and searching for support scaffolding to use in a display I'm going to have in a local artisan's showcase throughout the month of March (more details to follow in a later post). This afternoon, I worked on putting together an informative pamphlet about AARI's mission, fundraising endeavors, and plans for the future. Then, this evening I recieved word that I was awarded the BP (British Petroleum)-University of Wisconsin Minority Research Assistantship along with my acceptance to the PhD program in the department of Geology and Geophysics (the University of Wisconsin is a NASA Astrobiology Institute Lead Team). I'm really excited about everything but to be honest, all the hard work and excitement has me completely wiped out. I hope you can empathize with my situation this evening.

For reasons I'm not quite ready to go into here, I'm completely drained so the details will just have to wait. However, I will tell you that I fully intend to use this blog to document my experience before, during and after my time in Madison. Furthermore, I hope to keep writing as I continue to develop AARI into a mature and proper research facility with all the trappings of a large scientific organization. Since astrobiology is such a young field, there haven't been many opportunities for those whose interests mirror my own (outside of NASA). I hope that by showing the world that it is, indeed, possible to construct something so ambitious from the ground up (and with an initial budget of $0.00), anything is possible... and that includes synthesizing life from scratch and discovering alien life on other worlds.

UW Acceptance Letter

First liquid water may have been spotted on Mars

[Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Max Planck Institute]

Droplets of what appeared to be liquid water were spotted on one of the Mars Phoenix Lander’s legs as it landed on May 25^th, 2008. These putative water droplets seemed to grow over the next few weeks in a manner consistent with condensation. It is thought that perhaps the concentration of perchlorate salts is sufficiently high to prevent freezing and sublimation of the water on Mars where temperatures never exceeded -20°C at the Phoenix landing site. Unfortunately, researchers doubt life could be sustained in water with such a high salt concentration (at least, not life as we know it) even with an exceedingly low freezing point of -70°C. It is possible that pockets of this highly concentrated saline water exist just beneath the surface of Mars. Details of this amazing discovery will be presented at the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference in Houston, Texas.

Is intelligent extraterrestrial life out there somewhere?

Define "intelligent" and then use that scheme to classify all known terrestrial organisms. It's the best we can do for now, unfortunately.

Technologically-advanced extraterrestrial civilizations could be so alien that they don't even pique our interest. Evidence of alien civilizations, particularly when we are forced to contend with profound differences in biology, may not be recognizable to us as the products of "life" at all. If intelligent extraterrestrials happen to be highly skilled in areas such as conservation and the reduction/minimization of environmental footprints, they could simply blend into the background and we would be none the wiser. Unless their civilizations are sufficiently similar (in their evolutionary paths and biology) to our own, we could miss each other completely... passing like two dark ships in the night.

I think a better question is, "What are the odds that we will find an extraterrestrial civilization enough like us that we will be able to recognize each other?" The galaxy could be teeming with technologies beyond our wildest dreams but if we lack the means with which to detect them (and signal the presence of our own existence), we may (wrongfully) come to believe that we are alone in the universe.

The Benefits of Bandettes

Yesterday was one of those days… when science fell completely by the wayside. I attended a reunion of sorts last Sunday and as much as I knew I had an ulterior motive for showing up in addition to meeting up with old friends (pushing jewelry and trying to spread the word about AARI), I couldn’t help wishing I could just leave the business cards at home and just enjoy the afternoon reminiscing about all the good times we had.

When I was in high school, I toured with the Bandettes Drum & Bugle Corps as a mellophone player. Each summer, we trekked across the continent; sleeping on gym floors and marching across football fields under the scorching summer sun. You wouldn’t think it would be any fun at all but it was. The corps was like a second family to me and it certainly didn’t hurt to have a bunch of hot young guys as instructors! The director, Mary Wilson and our drum major at the time, Leslie Sawchyn, looked after us with as much care as our mothers would have, if they had come along for the ride.

This Sunday, marked the opening of an exhibit dedicated to the Bandettes at the Sault Ste. Marie Museum. The tiny color guard, started by Mary in 1967, became a full-fledged drum & bugle corps in 1972. Throughout the next three decades, the corps flourished and won countless awards as it brought the joy of music (and the performing arts in general) to the (largely) female youth of Sault Ste. Marie. Unfortunately, the corps disbanded just this past year; another victim of the current economic climate.

Bandettes wasn’t just about traveling around the country or meeting new friends, it was also about learning to toughen up. We all came to realize that no matter how badly things got screwed up during a show, we were still expected to recover as swiftly as possible and keep going (because if you didn’t get your act together and move on, someone else was going to step on your toes or knock you off your feet!). In life, we all have to perform under pressure. Each person’s path across the field is as unique as the loads we bear. When everyone does their job, we make beautiful formations and music together. For me, drum corps was a dress rehearsal for life and I truly believe that without the Bandettes, many of us former members (myself included), would not be as successful as we are today.

Happy Belated 200th Birthday, Charles Darwin!

Yesterday, I happened to be watching the CBS show, “Sunday Morning” and there was a segment about Darwin which, happened to include some statistics on evolution. Apparently, the number of Americans who accept evolution as scientific fact has yet to reach the 50% mark. Although the commentator didn’t go into the reasons behind these shocking statistics, it is shocking that in other industrialized nations, the numbers aren’t nearly so dismal. In 2007, the United States ranked 33^rd out of 34 countries with a percentage of 47%. This year, the number fell to just 39%. Just 14% however, accept the fact that humans evolved over millions of years. Such widespread ignorance is not exactly news, but shouldn't increased access to scientific resources have had some effect?

Darwin vs. Intelligent Design
Darwin & Lincoln's Bday: Do People Believe in Evolution?
A Note on Darwin
"Praise Darwin" billboard goes up in Dover, PA

Several years ago, a Polish friend of mine asked me what we did for Darwin Day in North America. I recall giving her a puzzled look. While I had always thought that celebrating Darwin and his discover of biological evolution was a terrific idea, I didn't realize that anyone actually did so. Not only that, but in Europe, the date is considered to be a very big deal!

Celebrate Darwin Day Feb 12th 2009

So, in honor of Darwin (since we don’t celebrate this day in Canada or the United States), I’m dedicating today’s blog entry to Charles Darwin, without whom, I would most definitely be out of a job! It is my personal hope that his efforts will ultimately provide the answer to the most fundamental question in biology: “How did life originate on Earth?” If we can determine a range of scenarios under which life could arise, then it may even be possible to demonstrate a significant likelihood that we are not alone in the universe.