Keith’s note: Astrobiologists are often focused on how a planet’s life history shapes the life on it and how that life can, in turn, alter a planet’s life history. Life forms as small as cyanobacteria can totally alter the atmosphere. So can humans. As we deal with changes we have brought to our ecosphere these lessons have applicability. They also may suggest ways to mitigate the bad effects of human activity. Here is one example. We all got sick and stopped polluting as much – and the Earth “noticed”. Moreover, as we look to expand humanity to other worlds or giant space colonies some people talk about altering sterile locations to become habitable via terraforming. Yet again, the impact of the anthropocene on Earth has relevance. More information: Short Term Impact of Human Activity During the Anthropocene: The Corona Pandemic Reduced The Melting Of Himalayan Glaciers

Keith’s note: An earthling – Weevil (by Dix Balino) and Mars Droid Perseverance’s “Bit Carousel” (NASA JPL). What lifeforms on Earth seem to be “alien” and what will our first robotic emissaries look like as they search for life on the “alien” worlds we will visit? A preview. More information on this topic at Astrobiology.com

Keith’s note: This is a revised version of the original website that was first posted – from Antarctica – in 1996. As far as Dale Andersen (who is in Antarctica now doing Astrobiology research) and I know we ran one of the first – if not the first website updated FROM someone onsite in Antarctica. You might find out 1996 take on things interesting … Dale wrote: “We have radio telephones that allow us to contact McMurdo via several repeaters which have been placed in Taylor Valley. With this phone line we can send data via computer (e-mail, access the web etc.) at about 4800 baud. The signal is first sent to McMurdo, and is then forwarded by the servers there to Black Island (thirty miles to the west of McMurdo), and then uplinked by satellite back to the states where it enters into the Internet and ends up at Keith’s house in Virginia.“ and I said “When images have been placed on the remote FTP server, I use FTP to retrieve the images (usually from my home). I then manipulate the images into thumbnail and webpage – optimized versions with Adobe PhotoShop 4.0, link them to a webpage using World Wide Web Weaver 1.1, and then mount them on the Reston Communications webserver. My webserver is a Radius 81/110 Mac clone, with 40 Mb of RAM, running Webstar 2.0, connected to the Internet via a dedicated 128 kbps ISDN connection.” In other words this was sporty at the time but still rudimentary. Here are the pics. Oh yes – they got to hang out with Sir Edmund Hillary there.

Dale Andersen: “The weather at Lake Untersee has been rough lately. Following the test run of our tents with a small storm that rolled through last week with 70 mph winds, our team of 7 faced the might of a 105 mph (159 kph)blizzard at Lake Untersee over the last several days. Some tents were deliberately collapsed to avoid destruction, while others suffered damage in the storm. Yet, like the Phoenix rising from ashes, we rallied, and, piece by piece we resurrected our camp, a true display of teamwork and resilience in the face of nature’s challenges. #AntarcticaStrong #SciencePrevails – here is an audio recording of a typical night (last night) with winds hitting the tent walls.” See: Dale Andersen’s Astrobiology Antarctic Status Report: 15 November 2023: More Bad Weather At Lake Untersee.

Hi Keith, Yesterday here at Lake Untersee, we experienced a day of contrasting weather. It started off beautifully with plenty of sunshine and very little wind. The highlight of the day, our seasoned field team member, Birgit Sattler, rejoined us, arriving via a Twin Otter aircraft operated by Ultima-Antarctic Logistics and operated by the skilled Ken Borek pilots. The serene weather, however, took a dramatic turn in the afternoon. Winds began to surge, reaching gusts of over 70 mph. This sudden change in weather conditions led to the unfortunate loss of one of our North Face Dome tents. We acted swiftly during the ground blizzard that had formed to secure the tent and its contents by weighing it down with rocks. More

Dale Andersen: “We’re excited to embark on a journey of discovery at Lake Untersee, a mysterious and untouched gem nestled in the heart of Antarctica. Our mission is to unravel the secrets of this ancient lake and its surrounding oasis, where time-locked paleolake basins and permafrost hold clues to understanding our planet’s past and future. Join us as we delve into this fascinating world, where science meets adventure in one of […]

Keith’s note: I am making a totally unexpected – but still exciting – career pivot effective 30 October 2023. After more than 25 years today is my last day with SpaceRef – not by choice. So now I am technically unemployed or semi-retired. Either way I am now going to focus only on what interests me and nothing else. More to follow. Here’s a hint. True Star Trek fans should be able to piece this together from the pics above. If you comment – wrong answers only 😉 FYI: I have Dan Goldin, Gerry Soffen, Barry Blumberg, Jill Tarter – and so many others – and (of course) ALH84001 to thank for creating the field that I will be focusing the rest of my career on. NASAWatch.com will continue albeit in a much more focused form and Astrobiology.com will continue in a more expanded form while I re-engage (and finish) with my book on Astrobiology. There will probably be no TV things for me for a while as the news outlets are all covering pre-World War III preparations. Otherwise, I am just going to to look up – and beyond. Ad Astra y’all.

According to NASA “Initial studies of the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu sample collected in space and brought to Earth by NASA show evidence of water and high-carbon content, which together could indicate the building blocks of life on Earth may be found in the rock. NASA made the news Wednesday from its Johnson Space Center in Houston where leadership and scientists showed off the asteroid material for the first time since it landed in September.” Keith’s note: A student in the audience at JSC asked the NASA OSIRIS_REx panel “where did asteroid Bennu come from?” A basic question people in the real world might want to know. The NASA panelists laughed at his question and the audience chuckled at NASA’s reaction. Not a smart thing for NASA SMD and PAO staff to do. Just sayin’.

Keith’s note: I was just on Alaraby TV in Qatar talking about the recent discovery of methane and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of super-earth exoplanet K2-18b by the Webb Space Telescope and what this means in terms of Astrobiology and the search for life in the universe. It is fun to not have to talk to jaded American TV. Surprise: People outside of our Americo-centric news bubble are interested in things we don’t seem to care much about. Among many other international networks, I have been on Alaraby, Al Arabiya, Alhurra, and Al Jazeera. Also, since I am being translated into Arabic in real time, it is fun since I used to be a professional American Sign Language interpreter (often on TV) and the translators like that I am good at parsing technical things for translation at a pace that facilitates translation – in real time. Keith’s fun aside, I get the clear impression that NASA has little – if any – interest in making people available to this vast viewing audience. I have asked NASA PAO about this in the past but they always declined to answer. To be certain, the viewership of these Arabic language networks overlaps – but the core audience is somewhere between 200-300 million located in over 150 countries. NASA has an astonishing soft power and branding reach and it rarely takes full advantage of it. This is one example. Baffling. Anyway: here’s the [Audio]

Keith’s note: I came across this photo by Morgan Cable standing in an ice cave and was instantly reminded of the iconic photo taken by Herbert Ponting in Antarctica in 1911. I hope NASA PAO starts to pay a little more attention to the parallels between terrestrial and extraterrestrial exploration as we move out into the solar system with humans and droids. Indeed, that core notion was the impetus for a NASA Administrator’s Symposium that Astronaut John Grunsfeld and I organized for NASA in 2004: “Risk and Exploration Earth, Sea And The Stars” (proceedings for which I was co-editor) Photos: [LEFT] NASA JPL scientist Dr. Morgan Cable tweeted via @starsarecalling on 16 September 2023. Her caption says: “Mapped a moulin today with LIDAR! We’re here at Athabasca Glacier in Canada to do science and engineering testing for the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor (EELS) Project @NASAJPL Dare mighty things!” [RIGHT] This photo was taken by Herbert Ponting on 5 January 1911 during Captain Robert Falcon Scott’s ‘Terra Nova Expedition’ aka ‘The British Antarctic Expedition’. Charles Wright and Thomas Griffith Taylor are shown standing in the ice cave or “grotto”. Imagine the Ponting photo updated with Morgan Cable standing in an ice cave on Europa with a lander against. dark sky in the background while Jupiter looms on the horizon.

Keith’s note: NASA has released its latest UAP report. There is a media briefing at 10:00 am EDT and of course, NASA PAO made sure that news media only saw the report by waiting until 29 minutes before the event to release it so we could all speed read it and ask intelligent questions. I spoke with the BBC World Service about the report moments before the press briefing began [Audio]. In a nutshell the report offers nothing new and simply repeats what was said at the committee’s 22 May 2023 meeting in other words – there is weird stuff going on out there and we need to study it more – and maybe dial down the stigma and add some more science. — Update: In the media briefing NASA speakers tried to put forth the notion that NASA should – and will – take study of UAP sightings much more serious using scientific rigor and with transparency to the public. There is no proof for/against the origin of these things – terrestrial or extraterrestrial. The committee chair David Spergel said “NASA can be a key player in a whole of government approach to UAP”. Bill Nelson said that NASA will announce a new Director of UAP research. Moments later a reporter asked who that person is. NASA SMD AA Nicky Fox said that they have a person who has been working on this for a while but she refused to give out “his” name. Dan Evans, NASA SMD assistant deputy associate administrator for research added that they are not going to name the person but that “Science should be free”. The whole stigma/trolling/harassment issue was cited – which is real. Oddly the entire panel was named. That said, what happened to all of that talk of “transparency” Bill Nelson? — Second Update: Here is the [Audio] from my second interview on the BBC World Service as the press event was ending.

Keith’s note: I was just on Alhurra TV with Lincoln Bloomfield, Former National Security Advisor to Vice President Quayle. We were interviewed about yesterday’s hearing on UAPs in Congress. And yes, I used props (again) – a little green alien 👽 and a shattercone from a meteorite crater on Devon Island. [Audio]

Keith’s note: On 7 July I appeared live on BBC Radio London with host Jumoké Fashola to talk about Saturn’s moon Enceladus and the possibility that it could host life. Plus culture, fashion, and Star Trek. [Audio]

Keith’s note: Just sent this note to some folks at NASA: “I was just on Al Jazeera Arabic to talk about NASA GSFC’s Prabal Saxena comments about life on the Moon and “pollution” caused by Apollo astronauts – and how the media ran with it with their crazy headlines. I hope I set both stories straight. I am baffled, of course, as to why NASA never seems to want to talk to this vast underserved audience of hundreds of millions of people. I am told that I get called because I speak plain english (their interpreters love me – I used to be an interpreter in another language) while you people babble in acronyms and carefully guarded bland sound bites. Not expecting a reply. Have a nice day.” Audio

Keith’s note: Today at the NASA UAP media briefing I asked Dr. Dan Evans from NASA “My question with regard to the whole transparency issue: why is it that the NASA Astrobiology website, the NASA citizen science, the NASA education website etc. make no mention of this FACA committee or this FACA meeting today – or the topic under discussion in general? How can NASA address this issue with a straight face without at least acknowledging this great public interest in the topic of life in the universe and do so in the very program – Astrobiology – where these topics are actually being investigated?” I did not get an answer. Instead I got a government spokesperson wandering around using lots of words and talking points – but never actually answering a simple question – why doesn’t NASA mention this topic on the obvious websites that the agency has in place to deal with the specific topics raised repeatedly in this FACA committee’s meeting – and elsewhere? Everyone kept asking about the whole “UAP” acronym. Well, I guess NASA = Never A Straight Answer (audio) Update: I spoke with BBC 5 Live about this event and how NASA never seems to be able to have a conversation with the rest of society – who share a great interest in the idea of life elsewhere in the universe. Instead, NASA transmits talking points and never stop to listen to what real people have to say. There is intelligent life outside of your office cubicle, NASA. FYI. (Audio)

Keith’s note: You might want to take a closer look of this photo of Dr. Makenzie Lystrup as she is sworn in as the new director of Goddard Space Flight Center. Normally I just pass on these staged pics. But people have noticed something unusual about this photo. Look closely at where Dr. Lystrup’s left hand is. It is on a book. The book is not the Bible. That book is Carl Sagan’s 1994 bestseller “Pale Blue Dot“. Oh my. Why do I suddenly get the urge to apply for a job over in Maryland At Goddard? Anyone who does this has to be cool to work for. Wow. Astrobiologists: take note. Yet NASA PAO does not seem to think that such a symbolic statement – a really cool one at that – is worthy of mention – especially when we worry about the ability of our Pale Blue Dot to survive our tenancy. Just sayin’ Update: @NASAGoddard just tweeted “Imagination will often carry us to worlds that never were, but without it we go nowhere.” — Carl Sagan Goddard has a new center director! Last week Dr. Makenzie Lystrup was sworn in on Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot” and we’re feeling the #MondayMotivation. https://go.nasa.gov/41fo3y1“ It took them nearly a week – but at least they “get” how cool this is. Now if only @NASA and @NASAastrobio etc could retweet this then the impact could spread. Globally – all across the Pale Blue Dot.🔵

Keith’s note: According to Astrobiology Spinoff: NASA Funded Research Used Tardigrade Proteins To Make A Human Health Breakthrough “University of Wyoming researchers’ study of how microscopic creatures called tardigrades survive extreme conditions has led to a major breakthrough that could eventually make life-saving treatments available to people where refrigeration isn’t possible.” NASA funded this research. And there is an important “spinoff”. And you will never hear about it from NASA Public Affairs because they either do not know how to tell the story and/or do not care to take the time to bring together disparate parts of the agency to make a coherent story. More below.

Keith’s note: Remember in the film “2010” when they found something on Europa? Well Uracil has been found on Ryugu URACIL! I am an actual (former) space biologist – this is a big deal. Oh yes – they found Niacin aka Vitamin B3 – and lots of other stuff that appeared on the pages of my organic chemistry, genetics, and biochemistry textbooks. There are NASA authors on this research paper and NASA provided funding. And its presented to the world in an open access paper in Nature. Yet there is no mention whatsoever made at NASA.gov or Astrobiology.nasa.gov or on @NASAAstroBio. Yet it is on every major news service globally. Oh yes – we have an OSIRIS-REx sample return canister coming back to Earth from asteroid Bennu – which is similar in many ways to asteroid Ryugu. I wonder what’s in there. Time for Marc Etkind and his staff at NASA PAO to wake up.

Keith’s note: Back in the mid 1980s, when I was working at the Life Science Division at NASA HQ, I met Jack Farmer. He was only a few years older than me. He was the classic field paleontologist/geologist/exobiologist. Every time I’d see him over the next 30 or so years – whether it was at peer review panels or PI meetings – he was always in khakis ready to go out and get dirty at a moment’s notice. Eventually, in the late 1990s such a multi-/cross-disciplinary sort of researcher became known as an “astrobiologist”. He was one of the iconic archetypes that generations of astrobiologists have emulated. Ad astra Jack. Memorial arrangements below: