New and exciting activities in the
McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences
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Recent News from McDonnell Center Fellows
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MCSS Fellows Gather at Tyson
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Earlier this month, MCSS fellows gathered at the Tyson Living Learning Center to discuss the current state of MCSS and its future direction. Following the meeting, fellows had the opportunity to visit Tyson Observatory.
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Get by with a little help from (old) friends
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At the bottom of the deepest parts of the ocean, tube worms are living their best life thanks to help from their neighboring microbes, which oxidize the sulfide in the surrounding waters and detoxify the environment. The question is, how far back do these “old friends” go?
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“There are a whole host of organisms that have these partnerships in the environment today,” said David Fike, the Glassberg/Greensfelder Distinguished University Professor of Earth, Environmental, and Planetary Sciences. He was speaking of chemosymbiosis, the process wherein microbes adjust the surrounding chemical environment to benefit the host animal.
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2026 Robert M. Walker Distinguished Lecture
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Thorsten Kleine is Director and Scientific Member of the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, where he studies the origin and evolution of the Solar System. A cosmochemist and meteorite researcher, he uses isotope analyses to investigate how planets, asteroids, and moons formed more than 4.5 billion years ago. Previously, he was a professor at the University of Münster and a researcher at ETH Zürich. His honors include the F. W. Clarke Medal, the Nier Prize, and the Victor Moritz Goldschmidt Award.
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MCSS Postdoctoral Fellowship Opening
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MCSS is hiring a postdoctoral fellow in the broad field of space sciences. We welcome applicants with interests in Astromaterials, Cosmochemistry, or Meteoritics; Experimental, Theoretical, or Observational Astrophysics; Planetary Science; Particle and Nuclear Physics, Cosmology and Gravitation; and Earth as a Planet. In their application materials, the candidate should describe their research interests and list potential collaborators from among the faculty fellows of the MCSS.
Please share this opportunity with your research contacts and encourage qualified candidates to apply by December 5, 2026.
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Recent Publications by MCSS Fellows
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| Pulsars, the Lighthouses of the Cosmos
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Saturday Science Lecture
Alex Chen
WashU
Saturday, October 24
10:00am, Crow 201
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| Unveiling the Hidden: A Search for
Light Dark Matter with DAMIC-M
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Physics Colloquium
Paolo Privitera
University of Chicago
Wednesday, October 28
3:00pm, Compton 340
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EEPS Colloquium
Demian Saffer
Jackson School of Geosciences
Thursday, October 29
11:30am, Rudolph 301
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How Do Unreliable Cells Build a Reliable Embryo?
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Saturday Science Lecture
Tony Tsai
WashU
Saturday, October 31
10:00am, Crow 201
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| McDonnell Center Contacts |
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Compiled and edited by Alison Verbeck. Have news to share? Please send it along!
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© 2026 All rights reserved
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