NASA, Goddard Space Flight Center 4 articles published in JoVE Environment A Strain Gauge Monitor (SGM) for Continuous Valve Gape Measurements in Bivalve Molluscs in Response to Laboratory Induced Diel-cycling Hypoxia and pH Elka T Porter1, Frederick S Porter2 1Yale Gordon College of Arts & Sciences, University of Baltimore, 2Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA Understanding the behavioral responses of bivalve suspension-feeders to environmental variables, such as dissolved oxygen, can explain some ecosystem processes. We have developed an inexpensive, laboratory-based, strain gauge monitor (SGM) to measure valve gape responses of oysters, Crassostrea virginica, to diel-cycling hypoxia and cyclical pH. Engineering Fabrication and Characterization of Superconducting Resonators Giuseppe Cataldo1, Emily M. Barrentine2, Ari D. Brown2, Samuel H. Moseley1, Kongpop U-Yen2, Edward J. Wollack1 1Astrophysics Science Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 2Instrument Systems and Technology Division, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center Superconducting microwave resonators are of interest for detection of light, quantum computing applications and materials characterization. This work presents a detailed procedure for fabrication and characterization of superconducting microwave resonator scattering parameters. Chemistry Conducting Miller-Urey Experiments Eric T. Parker1, James H. Cleaves2,3, Aaron S. Burton4, Daniel P. Glavin5, Jason P. Dworkin5, Manshui Zhou1, Jeffrey L. Bada6, Facundo M. Fernández1 1School of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2Earth-Life Science Institute, Tokyo Institute of Technology, 3Institute for Advanced Study, 4Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Directorate, NASA Johnson Space Center, 5Goddard Center for Astrobiology, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 6Geosciences Research Division, Scripps Institution of Oceanography, University of California at San Diego The Miller-Urey experiment was a pioneering study regarding the abiotic synthesis of organic compounds with possible relevance to the origins of life. Simple gases were introduced into a glass apparatus and subjected to an electric discharge, simulating the effects of lightning in the primordial Earth’s atmosphere-ocean system. The experiment was conducted for one week, after which, the samples collected from it were analyzed for the chemical building blocks of life. Engineering Fabrication of Uniform Nanoscale Cavities via Silicon Direct Wafer Bonding Stephen R. D. Thomson1, Justin K. Perron2,3, Mark O. Kimball4, Sarabjit Mehta5, Francis M. Gasparini1 1Department of Physics, The State University of New York at Buffalo, 2Joint Quantum Institute, University of Maryland, 3The National Institute of Standards and Technology, 4Cryogenics and Fluids Branch, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, 5HRL Laboratories A method for permanently bonding two silicon wafers so as to realize a uniform enclosure is described. This includes wafer preparation, cleaning, RT bonding, and annealing processes. The resulting bonded wafers (cells) have uniformity of enclosure ~1%1,2. The resulting geometry allows for measurements of confined liquids and gasses.
