Hi everyone! ๐Ÿ‘‹ I'm Julie (@Julianne_SF) and I'll be hosting People of Space this week. I'm an educator, biologist (astrobiology, evolutionary bio) & sci-fi writer/editor. PhD candidate at @science_charles, outreach co-leader at @EAIastrobiology, and the first Czech to host PoS!
For much of my teenage life, I was uncertain whether to go for biology or astronomy. Math being the only less than stellar class of mine and everything living so utterly fascinating, I went for biology, but kept writing nonfiction+fiction about space. I've also got astrobiology!
I studied evolutionary biology at @science_charles. My thesis topic was evolution of altruism (put simply, unconditional helping), which seems pretty far out from space subjects!

At the same time, I helped start the first astrobiology class & seminar at my faculty, still active.
I attended classes at @matfyz, especially @GeoPraha, being fascinated by ocean-bearing moons such as Europa or Enceladus! I also had the honor of being one of the students selected by @esa the for student sponsorship opportunity for IAC 2016 (more on that soon - do apply too!).
I was at the founding of @EAIastrobiology and became a co-leader of its outreach group together with @INAF astronomer Caterina Boccato. We produced an outreach e-book of SF stories & science essays, and a bigger print book is on the way. ๐Ÿ“š Preparing games, exhibitions and more!
Finally, I've been told I'm the first Czech to host PoS, so I'll talk a bit about space and the Czech Republic as well. Expect lots of weird life, education & outreach resources, some mind-boggling geophysics, Czech space trivia, a bit of science fiction, and we'll see what else!
(And I also have a fantastic two-year-old potential future astrobiologist at home, so I might sometimes not react right away even if it's daytime in CEST, but I'll get there! Also, even such small children sometimes have the best questions for scientists & educators to answer.)

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More from @People_Of_Space

11 May
I promised an #Enceladus thread yesterday; it starts here! Let's take a look at this tiny, but all the more interesting icy moon of Saturn! ๐Ÿช Image
Though discovered already in the late 18th century by William Herschel, we had long known extremely little about it. ๐Ÿ”ญ

That changed with the Voyager flybys! ๐Ÿ›ฐ๏ธ Image
This image was taken by Voyager 2 on August 25, 1981, from about 110,000 km away. It shows cratering, but also bright ice, grooves, some crater-poor areas. That suggested parts of the surface were very young - the tiny moon was active! Image
Read 49 tweets
10 May
If you were to search for extra-terrestrial life in the Solar System and had a budget for let's say a medium-class/New Frontiers mission, where would you go? ๐Ÿ›ฐ๏ธ

Not doing a poll; too many possible good answers!

For me, though, ๐Ÿช moon Enceladus is (narrowly) the top choice.
There are other great options, of course!

Venus.
Mars.
Europa.
Titan.

Less likely other subsurface ocean-bearing moons or dwarf planets; we still know so little about them all!
Venus is great from the overall planetary science perspective. It's so frustrating that we still have little clue whether it had once possessed oceans, for how long, and when and how fast it changed into the current greenhouse hell! Image
Read 7 tweets
10 May
While the deadline for this year's opportunity to apply for #ESA student sponsorship for the #IAC passed a week ago, I'd like to share my overwhelmingly positive experience of the program from 2016, so that you can decide to apply next year if possible! โฌ‡๏ธ
I was finishing my MSc. in early 2016 and I was active in space outreach - organizing seminars, writing popular science articles for mags such as @Vesmir1871 (CZ) or @clarkesworld (EN) and trying out space workshops for kids, and I had ideas to put in an abstract for #IAC2016.
I learned about the ESA sponsorship opportunity covering the conference fee, accommodation & travel cost and was excited! I submitted my abstract to the outreach session of IAC and applied for the program, outlining my reasons for wishing to attend + shooting a short video.
Read 10 tweets
9 May
For as long as I remember, I've loved science and also science fiction. ๐Ÿš€ Science came first for me, but for many, it's been the other way around.

SF is great for inspiring future scientists and igniting interest in science. Luckily, #scicomm & #outreach has begun to notice! โฌ‡๏ธ Image
I'm currently leading the 'Science Fiction as An Astrobiology Outreach & Education Tool' at @EAIastrobiology. We used reprint SF stories accompanied by original science essays in 'Strangest of All', released last spring to aid outreach amidst lockdowns.

julienovakova.com/strangest-of-aโ€ฆ Image
The positive response prompted us to edit a bigger, more ambitious print book of original astrobiological SF and essays. Titled Life Beyond Us, it's just funded on kickstarter and will be published next fall around the launch of @esa's Rosalind Franklin!

bit.ly/LifeBeyondUs Image
Read 11 tweets
9 May
We've had several astrobiologist hosting @People_Of_Space already, for instance the wonderful @cosmobiologist, but unless I'm mistaken, most were US-based. Can you pursue an #astrobiology career elsewhere?

Well of course :)! I have a few Europe-based suggestions. Image
First of all, like elsewhere, specialized programs are few and the most usual career path is to study biology, chemistry, astronomy or another related field and pursue interdisciplinary, astrobiological subjects - factors of habitability, life detection... Image
However, it's always nice to know astrobiological programs, labs and networks! For students and early career professionals, @abgradeurope offers wonderful opportunities in networking, forums (now online) and info on astrobiology in Europe. Including this online spring school! โฌ‡๏ธ Image
Read 14 tweets
2 May
๐Ÿงต I'm sure you've heard of the "space debris crisis". We knew about it in the late '70s + by the early '00s we had a robust set of laws that established the 25yr rule, required operators to design craft to withstand minor collision + to minimise the odds of in-orbit explosion...
It's fascinating that even in the time I have read about it we have learned so much about the problem, though often we only find it turns out more difficult than previously thought ๐Ÿ˜•

Pre-Kessler it was thought "natural removal" (i.e. orbit decay) would take care of most...
By 2005, when I first heard about the problem from an @esa article, we were speaking mostly about RB explosions from leftover fuel in orbit, and from objects breakups that occurred over time due to expected degradation of materials.

esa.int/Enabling_Suppoโ€ฆ
Read 14 tweets

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