We have recently embarked on a three-year project, funded by the NASA ASTEP program, to develop robotic astrobiology in the process of learning the limits of life in the Atacama desert of Chile. We see this as an opportunity to develop a more science-aware rover: one that, on encountering a new area, can select interesting features, perform initial experiments, and selectively return relevant d...

DING WANG,∗†† XIANFENG ZHANG,∗ KEXIONG WANG,∗ ZHUO WEI,∗ BERND WÜRSIG,† GILLIAN T. BRAULIK,‡ AND SUSIE ELLIS§ ∗Institute of Hydrobiology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan 430072, China †Texas A&M University, 4700 Avenue U, Building 303, Galveston, TX 77551, U.S.A. ‡Downstream Research Group, 3950 S. Fletcher Avenue, Amelia Island, FL 32034, U.S.A. §Conservation International, 1919 M Street, S...

In Australia, Ross River virus (RRV) is predominantly identified and managed through passive health surveillance. Here, the proactive use of environmental datasets to improve community-scale public health interventions in southeastern Tasmania is explored. Known environmental drivers (temperature, rainfall, tide) of the RRV vector Aedes camptorhynchus are analysed against cumulative case record...

The flows of surface water and groundwater from the Andes to Atacama Desert are a vital source freshwater, supporting ecosystems human activities, but few substantive studies have addressed hydrological hydrogeological functioning these systems. A dispute between Chile Bolivia concerning transboundary Silala River, recently heard before International Court Justice, Hague, provided unique opport...

I. INTRODUCTION We humans tend to worry first about our own happiness, then about our families, then about our communities. In times of great stress, such as war or natural disaster, we may focus temporarily on our country but we rarely think about Earth as a whole or the human species as a whole. This narrow perspective, perhaps best exemplified by the American consumer, has led to the environ...

The female and male of Dasybasis (Agelanius) cortesi, new species, is described and illustrated from specimens collected in the National Reserve of Río Clarillo, Cordillera Province, Central Chile. Its relationships to other Dasybasis species are discussed.

The flora, vegetation and the effect on first from March 2015 flood two coastal wetlands (Las Salinas Copiapo river mouth) located in Atacama Region of Chile desert, were studied, working with traditional systematic phytosociological methodology Southern Europe. flora consisted 21 species a table 88 samples, 11 collected outside samples that appeared after flood, giving total 44 species, 34 nat...

With plans to build a large optical/IR telescope in the Atacama Desert, a site survey campaign has been under way since 1998 to characterize the optical seeing and the IR transparency in the Chajnantor Plateau region in Chile. Results of that campaign are herein presented.

Atacama Submillimeter Telescope Experiment Polarimeter is an integrated module that enables magnetic field imaging on the 10m dish telescope. APol works in combination with a transition edge sensor bolometer camera covering 245 to 370 GHz. Herein we introduce the design concept and latest progress.