NASA, Library of Congress Establish Honorary Astrobiology Chair

Steve Cole
Headquarters, Washington

Michael Mewhinney

Ames Research Center, Moffett Field Calif.

WASHINGTON -- NASA and the Library of Congress have established the Baruch S. Blumberg NASA-Library of Congress chair in Astrobiology at the Library's scholarly research organization, the John W. Kluge Center in Washington. The chair is named for the late Nobel Laureate and founding director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute, Baruch "Barry" Blumberg.

Astrobiology is the study of the origins, evolution, distribution and future of life in the universe. Astrobiology addresses three fundamental questions: How did life begin and evolve? Is there life elsewhere? What is the future of life on Earth and beyond?

Blumberg was awarded the 1976 Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine for discovery of the Hepatitis B virus and development of a vaccine to prevent Hepatitis B infection. He served as the NASA Astrobiology Institute director from 1999 to 2002. The institute's mission is to promote interdisciplinary research in astrobiology, train the next generation of astrobiologists, provide scientific and technical leadership for NASA space missions, and share astrobiology's discoveries with learners of all ages.

"Relationships with external research organizations are critical to NASA's success as a leader in science and technology," NASA Chief Scientist Waleed Abdalati said. "Opportunities like the Blumberg chair really help strengthen those relationships."

At the Library of Congress, Blumberg was a founding member of the Scholar's Council, a 12-member group of distinguished scholars which advises the Librarian of Congress on matters of scholarship.

"This collaboration between NASA and the Library of Congress is an unparalleled opportunity to broaden public discourse on the intersection of astrobiology and its societal implications," said NASA Astrobiology Institute Director Carl Pilcher of NASA's Ames Research Center at Moffett Field, Calif. "Astrobiology uses the tools of modern science to address questions with philosophical, ethical and theological implications. The chair will be able to use the vast resources of the Library of Congress to explore these issues."

An annual international competition will be held to select a chairperson, who will serve in residence at the Kluge Center for up to one year, beginning in fall 2012.

Likely research topics include the societal implications of discovering life beyond Earth, exploring whether life is rare in the universe, or the ways astrobiology influences and is influenced by culture.

"For many years, Barry worked in his inimitable and energetic way to connect scholars from astrobiology with those studying the humanities," said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. "We are delighted to be moving forward with this important opportunity to examine the societal implications of this frontier field."

Applications for the chair will be solicited by the Library of Congress and reviewed by a panel jointly established by the library and NASA. The first selection will be announced in spring 2012.

For more information about the NASA Astrobiology Program and the NASA Astrobiology Institute, visit http://astrobiology.nasa.gov.

For more information about the Kluge Center of the Library of Congress, visit http://www.loc.gov/loc/kluge.

- end -

NASA'S Next-Generation Space Observatory Comes To Baltimore

Dwayne Brown / Trent J. Perrotto
Headquarters, Washington     

Lynn Chandler

Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md.

WASHINGTON -- Media representatives are invited to an up-close look at a full-size model of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope at the Maryland Science Center, located at 601 Light Street in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

The model will be displayed from Oct. 14-26 as part of the Association of Science-Technology Centers (ASTC) annual conference being held in Baltimore. ASTC is a nonprofit organization of science centers and museums dedicated to furthering public engagement with science among increasingly diverse audiences. Several supporting activities are planned with scientists and engineers to talk about the unprecedented science capabilities of the largest space telescope ever built.

On Friday, Oct. 14, at 2 p.m. EDT, NASA Administrator Charles Bolden will make brief remarks, take questions from reporters and tour the Webb model.

A press conference will culminate the 13-day public display on Wednesday, Oct. 26, at 9:45 a.m., at the Maryland Science Center. Participants will include:

- U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.)

- NASA Deputy Administrator Lori Garver
- John Mather, recipient of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics and Webb telescope senior project scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md.
- Adam Riess, recipient of the 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, professor of astronomy and physics at the Johns Hopkins University, and a senior member of the Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore
- Riccardo Giacconi, recipient of the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics and university professor at the Johns Hopkins University
- John Grunsfeld, deputy director of the Space Telescope Science Institute and a former astronaut who participated in three spaceflights to service Hubble

For more information or access to events, media representatives should contact Lynn Chandler at 301-286-2806 or lynn.chandler-1@nasa.gov.

The Webb telescope will provide images of the first galaxies ever formed and explore planets around distant stars. The unique observatory is a joint project of NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.

For more information about the Webb telescope, visit http://jwst.nasa.gov.

- end -

2010 Nobel Laureates Include Four NSF-supported Scientists

Among the 2010 Nobel laureates are four scientists whose research has been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) over the years. Richard F. Heck and Ei-ichi Negishi received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry; and Peter A. Diamond and Dale Mortensen received the Nobel Prize in Economics.

Now a total of 191 U.S. and U.S.-based researchers have had their research pursuits funded by NSF earlier in their careers, before going on to become Nobel laureates.

Richard F. Heck and Ei-ichi Negishi- Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Richard F. Heck of the University of Delaware, Ei-ichi Negishi of Purdue University and Akira Suzuki of Hokkaido University in Japan were awarded this year's Nobel Prize in Chemistry for "for palladium-catalyzed cross couplings in organic synthesis," in other words, for finding new ways to bond carbon atoms together. NSF has funded Heck and Negishi multiple times since 1977 and 1980 respectively for carbon-based (organic) chemistry research that set the groundwork for the development of these award-winning scientific methods now widely used in medicine/pharmaceuticals, agriculture and electronics.

Carbon-based chemistry is the basis of life which has allowed humans to build on nature's chemistry--making use of carbon's ability to provide a stable skeleton for functional molecules. This innovation has given the world new medicines and revolutionary materials such as plastics.

In order to create these complex chemicals, chemists need to be able to join carbon atoms together. However, carbon is stable and carbon atoms do not easily react with one another. The first methods used by chemists to bind carbon atoms together were therefore based upon various techniques for rendering carbon more reactive. Such methods worked when creating simple molecules. However, when synthesizing more complex molecules chemists ended up with too many unwanted by-products.

Palladium-catalyzed cross coupling solved that problem and provided chemists with a more precise and efficient tool to work with. In the Heck reaction, the Negishi coupling and the Suzuki reaction, carbon atoms meet on a palladium atom, where their proximity to one another kick-starts the chemical reaction.

Negishi's research was most recently funded by NSF in 2007. In an interview with the publication, "New Scientist," Negishi described the focus of his research in this way: "Most of nature's important substances have molecular 'asymmetry,' so they are either right-handed or left-handed rather than a mixture. Chemists have already solved how to make asymmetric C-H [carbon-hydrogen] and C-O [carbon-oxygen] bonds, but the most critical--asymmetric C-C bond formation--is still lagging behind. When making new C-C bonds, palladium gives you a mixture, so I'm hoping to find new catalysts for C-C bond formation that give you only one or the other. I'm finding that a combination of zirconium and aluminum works." 

To date, NSF has funded 50 researchers who earned Nobel Prizes in Chemistry.

Peter A. Diamond and Dale Mortensen - Nobel Prize in Economics

Peter A. Diamond of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Dale Mortensen of Northwestern University and Christopher Pissarides of the London School of Economics are the 2010 winners of the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel. Over the past three decades, Diamond and Mortensen have both received multiple NSF awards. Awards to Mortensen included support for his collaborative research with Pissarides, who teaches at the London School of Economics.

The laureates were recognized for their work that developed a new theoretical framework for understanding how markets work with "search frictions." This is the term economists use to describe a market in which buyers and sellers do not have enough information to immediately identify each other. For example, in a labor market with search frictions, a worker who needs a job must invest time and effort to learn about possible job openings, while an employer with a job opening must search for suitable job applicants. This market cannot easily "clear;" one may concurrently observe unemployed workers and unfilled openings.

Diamond's research developed the economic theory that is the foundation for analyzing these markets. All three laureates then worked to expand the theory. Mortensen and Pissarides have tested the predictions of the theory for labor markets using very detailed data from actual workers and employers.

Their research has been tremendously important for labor economics and macroeconomics. For example, their theory explains why one observes labor markets that fluctuate between situations of high unemployment and much lower unemployment. The theory is widely used to predict the effects of real-world policy tools such as unemployment insurance.  The theory of markets with search frictions has a wide range of other applications across many other fields of economics.

To date, NSF has funded 43 researchers who earned Nobel Prizes in Economics, all but three Americans to whom the prize was awarded since 1969.

Alfred Nobel

Alfred Nobel, the Swede who invented dynamite, in his will in 1896 established awards for achievements in physics, chemistry, medicine, peace and literature. The economics prize was set up by Sweden's central bank in 1968. Former winners include Milton Friedman, Amartya Sen and Friedrich August von Hayek. The economics award's official name is The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel.

On Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death, the laureates will receive 10 million kronor ($1.5 million), a gold medal and a diploma at a ceremony in Stockholm.

A complete list of all NSF-funded Nobel Prize winners to date is posted on this fact sheet.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, founded in 1739, is an independent organization whose overall objective is to promote the sciences and strengthen their influence in society. The Academy takes special responsibility for the natural sciences and mathematics, but endeavors to promote the exchange of ideas between various disciplines.

-NSF-