Laboratory for Space Sciences @ Wash U Physics

Lionel’s GCA paper on S isotopes in cosmic symplectite is out, and the Wash U press release is too!

I’m super excited about this paper. It addresses one of the main questions in cosmochemistry: What was the astronomical context of the Solar System’s formation?

Very happy to see that there is finally an asteroid named after one of my favorite athletes: the great Kenyan middle distance runner Kip Keino. He ripped the Mexico City 1500m in such a way that officials brought out stretchers at the finish line.

I’ve uploaded Erg Chech 002 BSE+optical+EDS maps (a and b) to our collection of gigapixel meteorite maps. It is a fascinating meteorite! I’m trying to understand it better, with a little help from my friends.

We’re using this autohotkey script to change secondary ion beam settings for different B fields on our NanoSIMS. Though it appears to be a bit of a hack, it gives us tremendous power to use the instrument exactly how we want. We will use this power responsibly!

An incredibly exciting meteorite fall (carbonaceous chondrite, likely CM) in England, near the village of Winchcombe in the Cotswolds. This particular part of the world holds special significance for me and my family as I’ve walked the Cotswold Way with my mother, father, and brother, through Winchcombe, twice: in 2019 and 2011. It’s hard for me to fathom that this fall happened in the Cotswolds — amazing!

The McDonnell Center for Space Sciences recently hosted these fantastic panel discussion on current problems in astrochemistry, cosmochemsitry, and the formation of planetary systems. The recording is available on youtube here.

Congratulations Sachiko! This is awesome for many reasons, but maybe the top 3 are:

1. Recognition for Sachiko’s lifetime of seminal work in cosmochemistry.
2. Both Sachiko and Urey worked at U Chicago, a powerhouse in this field almost on par with Wash U.
3. An award named after Urey is very prestigious, as his scientific career was truly exceptional. Lots of amazing stuff here, including a high level of productivity 40+ years after winning the Nobel Prize for discovering deuterium, and asking for a one-way trip to the Moon ( “I will go, and I don’t care if I don’t come back.”). The man lived and breathed science. His life story is inspiring.

The LPSC deadline was yesterday, with the traditional flurry of activity and lots of science. Our abstracts are here. So much good science here! Excited for the virtual conference, but sad we all can’t gather in The Woodlands again this year.

I’ve started adding X-ray element maps to our deep zoom meteorite mosaics. Acfer 182 is quite stunning. One can spend hours diving into the complexity of this meteorite.