http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wamc/local-wamc-923061.mp3
Albany, NY – ASTROBIOLOGY RESEARCH AND EDUCATION SERIES
EXXONMOBIL BERNARD HARRIS SUMMER SCIENCE CAMP
THEME: "QUEST FOR LIFE"
WINNING TEAM FOUR
RESEARCH PROJECT: "IS THERE LIFE ON EUROPA?"
Part One: Europa Reveals Itself to Students -
Imagine, a rocket ship soaring through space, landing on a distant icy moon, and probing for life in the cold environment of the outer solar system?
That's what some 15-hundred students did this summer at 30 university sites throughout the U.S. They were participating in the ExxonMobil Bernard Harris Summer Science Camp. The program is sponsored by grants from the Harris Foundation. Dr. Bernard Harris a medical doctor and veteran of two space shuttle missions was the first African American astronaut to walk in space.
The summer science camp provided middle school students the chance to get immersed in STEM - science, technology, engineering and math disciplines. This STEM education experience strives to help students develop skills and strategies that will make them better learners, better problem solvers, and better citizens.
This week, we focus mainly on the student's research project, "Is There Life on Europa?" Next week, TBOOK speaks with participants about the important field trips and how they related to their research. We also find out about the detailed judging process for their projects, and hear an interesting variety of long-term career goals.
Glenn Busby reports. (16:57)
PARTICIPANTS IN THE ABOVE STORY INCLUDE:
Dr. Cynthia Smith, Asst. Dean of Students, RPI, and Camp Director
Seamus Hodgkinson, Science Teacher
Eli Miller, 5th grade, Parker School
Rayman Alli, 6th grade, Yates Magnet School
Elaine Santos, 6th grade, Farnsworth Middle School
Devannie Simpson, 7th grade, Doyle Middle School
Kevin Palmateer, 7th grade, Knickerbacker Middle School
The preceding is made possible by the NASA Astrobiology Institute, through support of the New York Center for Astrobiology, located at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute - in partnership with the University at Albany, the University of Arizona, and Syracuse University.
**(For listeners seeking more information about the Harris Foundation mentioned in the story above, please visit their website at: www.theharrisfoundation.org
For additional information about this story, or any of the other more than 160 stories featured in this current exclusive Astrobiology series and our past Origins of Life radio series, or if you would like to hear them again via your computer, the website given at the conclusion of the above segment is: www.origins.rpi.edu.)**
THE ACADEMIC MINUTE
"CONSTELLATIONS AND FRACTALS" -
Since our program today is investigating space, and the science and math skills needed to do that, this week's "Academic Minute" looks at Constellations and Fractals.
This week's episode features Dr. Mary Crone Odekon, Associate Professor and Chair, Department of Physics, Skidmore College, Saratoga, New York.
The Academic Minute is hosted by Dr. Lynn Pasquerella, a celebrated philosopher and medical ethicist, and President of Mount Holyoke College. (2:30)
SPACE SHORTS AND UPDATES -
We've been talking about Jupiter's moon, Europa. Researchers now say the global ocean on Europa contains about twice the liquid water of all the Earth's oceans combined.
NASA's Cassini Spacecraft has captured the first flash of sunlight reflected off a lake on Saturn's moon, Titan, confirming the presence of liquid on part of that moon.
A new detailed map of Mars show what was likely a vast ocean in the north and valleys around the equator, suggesting again that that planet once had a humid, rainy climate.
And data from NASA's Lunar Crater Observation and Sensing Satellite (LCROSS) indicates water in a permanently shadowed lunar crater.
Glenn Busby reports. (1:00)