Astrogeology
Earth's Mantle, Not Its Core, May Have Generated Planet's Early Magnetic Field 
New research lends credence to an unorthodox retelling of the story of early Earth first proposed by a geophysicist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.
Habitable Zones & Global Climate
Earth's Polar Night Boundary Layer As An Analogue For Dark Side Inversions On Synchronously Rotating Terrestrial Exoplanets
A key factor in determining the potential habitability of synchronously rotating planets is the strength of the atmospheric boundary layer inversion between the dark side surface and the free atmosphere.
Venus
Venusian Habitable Climate Scenarios: Modeling Venus Through Time And Applications To Slowly Rotating Venus-Like Exoplanets
One popular view of Venus' climate history describes a world that has spent much of its life with surface liquid water, plate tectonics, and a stable temperate climate.
Astrogeology
Water, Carbon And Nitrogen Were Not Immediately Supplied To Earth
Spearheaded by earth scientists of the University of Cologne, an international team of geologists has found evidence that a large proportion of the elements that are important for the formation of oceans and life, such as water, carbon and nitrogen, were delivered to Earth very late in its history.
comets
Puzzle About Nitrogen Solved Thanks to Cometary Analogues
Comets and asteroids are objects in our solar system that have not developed much since the planets were formed. As a result, they are in a sense the archives of the solar system, and determining their composition could also contribute to a better understanding of the formation of the planets.
Extrasolar Planets
Atmospheric Compositions And Observability Of Nitrogen Dominated Ultra-short Period Super-Earths
We explore the chemistry and observability of nitrogen dominated atmospheres for ultra-short-period super-Earths. We base the assumption, that super-Earths could have nitrogen filled atmospheres, on observations of 55 Cnc e that favour a scenario with a high-mean-molecular-weight atmosphere.
Habitable Zones & Global Climate
Earth's Ancient Barometric Pressure
Researchers supported in part by the NASA Astrobiology Program have attempted to better understand global barometric pressure on Earth during the Archaean by studying vesicle sizes in 2.9 billion year-old lavas that erupted near sea level.
Astrogeology
Flash Floods In The Mid-Archean
Scientists supported in part by the NASA Astrobiology Program have provided new details of how the Hooggeneoeg Formation in South Africa was formed. The Hooggeneoeg Formation is found in the Barberton Greenstone Belt, and holds some of the best-preserved examples of supracrustal rocks from the mid-Archean (3.5 to 3.2 billion years ago).
Astronomy
Slime Mold Simulations Used To Map Dark Matter Holding Universe Together
The behavior of one of nature's humblest creatures is helping astronomers probe the largest structures in the universe. The single-cell organism, known as slime mold (Physarum polycephalum), builds complex filamentary networks in search of food, finding near-optimal pathways to connect different locations.
Extrasolar Planets
Searching the Entirety of Kepler Data: 17 New Planet Candidates Including 1 Habitable Zone World
We present the results of an independent search of all ~200,000 stars observed over the four year Kepler mission (Q1-Q17) for multiplanet systems, using a three-transit minimum detection criteria to search orbital periods up to hundreds of days.
SETI
A Probabilistic Analysis Of The Fermi Paradox In Terms Of The Drake Formula: The Role Of The L Factor
In evaluating the number of technological civilizations N in the Galaxy through the Drake formula, emphasis is mostly put on the astrophysical and biotechnological factors describing the emergence of a civilization and much less on its the lifetime, which is intimately related to its demise.
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- 16 Mar: POSTPONED: 51st Lunar and Planetary Science Conference
- 17 Mar: NASA Advisory Council Aeronautics Committee; Meeting
- 19 Mar: NASA Advisory Council; Technology, Innovation and Engineering Committee Meeting
- 20 Mar: NASA Science Mission Directorate Virtual Community Town Hall Meeting
- 24 Mar: National Space Council Meeting
- 26 Mar: The SmallSat Revolution: Doing More with Less,
- 26 Mar: NASA Advisory Council STEM Engagement Committee Meeting
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