How to become an astrobiologist
Some time ago I wrote this post, answering my little son's question: Why is Mars red?
http://shkrobius.livejournal.com/68404.html
It started a whole train of thought of mine. It got me funded by NASA and resulted in some new insigths in martian chemistry. We just published another paper in Astrobiology, which is readable. It is attempting to explain three related puzzles: (i) why is Mars covered by iron (III) oxides? (ii) how seasonably variable plumes of methane are produced on Mars? and (iii) where does the meteoritic carbon go? why no organics have been found in the soil?
It is http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ast.2009.0433
So now I am an official astrobiologist ;-)
PS: some PR on http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100610154457.htm
http://shkrobius.livejournal.com/68404.html
It started a whole train of thought of mine. It got me funded by NASA and resulted in some new insigths in martian chemistry. We just published another paper in Astrobiology, which is readable. It is attempting to explain three related puzzles: (i) why is Mars covered by iron (III) oxides? (ii) how seasonably variable plumes of methane are produced on Mars? and (iii) where does the meteoritic carbon go? why no organics have been found in the soil?
It is http://www.liebertonline.com/doi/abs/10.1089/ast.2009.0433
So now I am an official astrobiologist ;-)
PS: some PR on http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/06/100610154457.htm