Alberto Behar

Alberto Behar

Robotics expert, NASA at the JPL.

Alberto Behar Mr Behar died instantly when his single-engine plane nosedived shortly after takeoff Friday from Van Nuys Airport He worked on two Mars missions and spent years researching how robots work in harsh environments like volcanoes and underwater As part of the NASA team exploring Mars with the Curiosity rover, Behar was responsible for a device that detected hydrogen on the planet’s surface as the rover moved.

47-year old NASA Scientist Alberto Behar helped to prove that there had once been water on Mars according to the sad Daily Mail story published to announce his recent death in a plane crash that happened on Friday in LA, California. While plane crashes do happen and scientists do die, Behar’s name has now been added to a very long list of scientists and astronomers who have met their untimely ends prematurely, leading us to ask, did Behar know something that ‘they’ don’t want the rest of society to find out?

Robotics expert, NASA at the JPL.

Alberto Behar Mr Behar died instantly when his single-engine plane nosedived shortly after takeoff Friday from Van Nuys Airport He worked on two Mars missions and spent years researching how robots work in harsh environments like volcanoes and underwater As part of the NASA team exploring Mars with the Curiosity rover, Behar was responsible for a device that detected hydrogen on the planet’s surface as the rover moved.

47-year old NASA Scientist Alberto Behar helped to prove that there had once been water on Mars according to the sad Daily Mail story published to announce his recent death in a plane crash that happened on Friday in LA, California. While plane crashes do happen and scientists do die, Behar’s name has now been added to a very long list of scientists and astronomers who have met their untimely ends prematurely, leading us to ask, did Behar know something that ‘they’ don’t want the rest of society to find out?

Martin John Rogers

Martin John Rogers

Martin-John-RogersMartin John Rogers was found with his wrecked car down an embankment in western Maryland on Thursday, September 4, 2014, after disappearing on August 21, 2014 when he left home for work at the world-renowned research center near Washington, D.C. No word yet on the cause of death, an autopsy will be performed to determine the manner of death, according to LA Times and The Baxter Bulletin. Here is where the mystery comes in. According to the report, the search for Rogers didn’t start until a few days after he failed to show up for work, but on the day he disappeared he is seen on surveillance footage and used a credit card at a Motel 8 a few hours after he left home. Martin Rogers had worked at the National Institutes of Health for 15 years and specialized in tropical diseases.

Glenn Thomas

Glenn Thomas

Glenn-ThomasGlenn Thomas, AIDS and Ebola expert and spokesperson for the World Health Organization. Ebola expert Glenn Thomas was among the 298 people who were killed when Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down and crashed in Ukraine. It is understood he was one of more than 100 researchers who were aboard the flight on their way to an international Aids conference in Australia. Among the other delegates aboard the plane was Joep Lange, a leading AIDS researcher and former president of the International AIDS Society (IAS).

Carol Ambruster

Carol Ambruster

Carol-AmbrusterProfessor Carol Ambruster, 69, University professor and Astronomy and Astrophysics Officers had found nothing in Ambruster’s life or history that appeared suspicious. Philly.com reported; Carol W. Ambruster, 69 was found by her roommate in the kitchen of her apartment in the 5500 block of Wayne Avenue, Germantown with a knife in her neck about 9 p.m., police said. She also had been stabbed in the chest. Ambruster, a tenured professor in the department of astronomy and astrophysics at Villanova, retired in 2011. Ambruster attended Northeastern University, where she majored in physics, and received her doctorate in astronomy from the University of Pennsylvania in 1984. Her research interests included stars and the history of astronomy

Mark Ferri

Mark Ferri

Mark-FerriA renowned American engineer was found dead in his hotel room in Salford after his heart suddenly stopped working. Mark Ferri, 59, from Tennessee, had completed two degrees in engineering as well as an MBA before becoming a nuclear engineer. At an inquest into Mr. Ferri’s death at Bolton Crown Court, it was heard that the dad-of-one was visiting Manchester on business on September 18, the day of his death. It was said Mr. Ferri had been under stress from his job. His wife, Michaela, told the inquest, “He said a number of times, this job is killing me.”.  Mr. Ferri was originally due to return to the US a week earlier to see his family but was asked to remain in the UK for an extra week. On September 5, Mrs. Ferri spoke to her husband and, “he didn’t sound right”. She said, “He said it was just his work and they were giving him additional assignments and he was feeling overwhelmed and he didn’t think he would be able to complete them”.

Anne Szarewski

Anne Szarewski

Anne-SzarewskiAnne Szarewski, 53, pioneered the cervical cancer vaccine.

Mystery: Doctors are still at a loss to explain Dr Anne Szarewski’s death in her Hampstead home in August. Doctors are still at a loss to explain what exactly caused the brilliant researchers death. She was found with high levels of an anti-malarial drug in her bloodstream, but doctors said this was not thought to have caused her death. The scientist who pioneered the cervical cancer vaccine was found dead by her husband at their $2 million home after he warned she was “heading for a crisis” by working too hard. Dr Anne Szarewski, 53, a university lecturer whose discovery has saved thousands of lives, was begged to slow down by her husband, who was becoming increasingly concerned about the pressure she was putting on herself. In August he found her dead in their four-bedroom home in West Hampstead, north London, after he spent two hours drilling through a door she had locked from the inside. Dr. Szarewski is credited with discovering the link between the human papillomavirus and cervical cancer, leading to a vaccine for HPV, the first-ever vaccine against any form of cancer, which is now routinely given to girls across the country.

Melissa Ketunuti

Melissa Ketunuti

Melissa-KetunutiMelissa Ketunuti died January 2013. Firefighters find charred body of murdered pediatrician who was hog-tied, strangled and set on fire in her basement Dr. Kentunuti worked at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and dedicated her whole life to being a doctor and helping kids with cancer. According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, she earned a doctorate in medicine from Stanford University and had initially considered working as a surgeon internationally. She worked on an AIDS research fellowship in Botswana through the National Institutes of Health. She also completed internships at Johns Hopkins Hospital and New York University.

Shane Todd

Shane Todd

Shane-ToddShane Todd, 31, Ph.D. in electrical engineering with expertise with GaN (Gallium Nitride). Mystery: Dr. Todd felt increasingly uncomfortable with the work he was doing with the Chinese company Huawei, to the point Shane told his family that he was being asked to compromise US security and he feared for his life. Shane was working on a “one of a kind” machine, with a dual use in commercial and in military application, requiring expertise in the area of GaN (Gallium Nitride). Shane refused to do what he was being asked to do and turned in his sixty day notice at IME. Shane found a good job with a company in Virginia, and bought a ticket to fly back to the US on July 1, 2012. Shane was killed late June 22nd, or 23rd, right after his last day of work. Shane’s death was so unusual that CBS 48 Hours did a show on it.

48 Hours: Did a son die protecting American secrets? A family’s quest for the truth

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/48-hours-did-a-son-die-protecting-american-secrets-a-familys-quest-for-the-truth/http://www.justice4shanetodd.com/

Dr. Richard Crowe

Dr. Richard Crowe

Richard-CroweProfessor Dr. Richard Crowe, 60, died May 27 in an off-road accident in Arizona. Dr. Crowe came to UH Hilo 25 years ago and helped launch the University’s undergraduate astronomy program with his numerous publications and co-authored works which added significantly to the body of astronomical literature. He regularly trained UHH student observers with the UH 24-inch telescope on Mauna Kea, and conducted many research programs on that telescope. In 2005, he won the AstroDay Excellence in Teaching Award for his efforts. In 1991, Dr. Crowe was selected as a Fujio Matsuda Research Fellow for his scholarly work on pulsating variable stars. Crowe was also active in the community. He was a longtime member of the Rotary Club of Hilo Bay.

Dr. Richard Holmes

Dr. Richard Holmes

Richard-HolmesDr. Richard Holmes , age 48. Weapons expert. Dr. Holmes is believed to have worked on the production of chemical protection suits for troops. In 1991, he was the joint author of a scientific paper about an RAF chemical and biological protection system. Suicide riddle of weapons expert who worked with David Kelly: Scientist tells wife he is going for a walk, then takes his life in a field, just like his friend.

  • Body of Dr Richard Holmes discovered in a field four miles from the Porton Down defence establishment
  • Police said there were no suspicious circumstances in latest case but revealed scientist was ‘under a great deal of stress’
  • He resigned from Porton Down last month, but it is unclear why

A weapons expert who worked with Dr. David Kelly at the Government’s secret chemical warfare laboratory has been found dead in an apparent suicide. In circumstances strongly reminiscent of Dr. Kelly’s own mysterious death nine years ago, the body of Dr. Richard Holmes was discovered in a field four miles from the Porton Down defence establishment in Wiltshire. It is not yet known how he died.

Gelareh Bagherzadeh

Gelareh Bagherzadeh

Gelareh-BagherzadehGelareh Bagherzadeh, died Jan. 17, when she was shot outside her home. Detectives investigating the murder of an Iranian molecular scientist gunned down in her car as she drove home believe she was followed or that someone was waiting for her. Bagherzadeh was struck by a single bullet that entered the passenger door window as she talked on her cell phone with her ex-boyfriend. Bagherzadeh was a molecular genetic technology student at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston and also active in promoting Iranian women’s rights.

James S. Miller

James S. Miller

James-S-MIllerJames S. Miller, 58, died as a result of being attacked during a home invasion. Professor James Steven Miller came to Goshen College to teach in 1980, the same year he completed his doctorate degree in medical biochemistry at Ohio State University. He received his undergraduate degree in chemistry in 1975 from Bluffton (Ohio) University. The Goshen College Board of Directors granted Professor Miller tenure in June 1985. He primarily taught upper-level courses taken by students in nursing, pre-medical and other health-related tracks.

Jonathan Widom

Jonathan Widom

Jonathan-WidomJonathan Widom, 55, died July 18 of an apparent heart attack. He was a professor of Molecular Biosciences in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern University. Widom focused on how DNA is packaged into chromosomes — and the location of nucleosomes specifically. Colleagues said the work has had profound implications for how genes are able to be read in the cell and how mutations outside of the regions that encode proteins can lead to errors and disease.

Zachary Greene Warfield

Zachary Greene Warfield

Zachary-Greene-WarfieldZachary Greene Warfield, 35, died July 4 in a boating accident on the Potomac River. Zack was a co-founder and a member of the Board of Directors for Omnis, Inc., a McLean, VA-based strategic consulting firm for the intelligence, defense and national security communities. He spearheaded major research initiatives and, in addition to helping steer the company, was directly involved in numerous projects, including analytic training and technology consulting. Prior to founding Omnis, Zack was an engineer and analyst for the U.S. Government and private industry. As a science and technology analyst, he assessed missile and space systems, managed technical contracts, and investigated Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) program as a member of the Iraq Survey Group, serving in Baghdad on two separate occasions. As an engineer, he worked on aerospace projects for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and private industry. Most notably, Zack designed critical guidance systems that ensured a successful landing for the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity; his name is inscribed on one of the rovers, and remains on Mars today.

Fanjun Meng & Chunyang Zhang

Fanjun Meng & Chunyang Zhang

MizzouFanjun Meng, 29, and Chunyang Zhang, 26, drowned in a Branson hotel swimming pool. Both were from China and working in the anatomic pathology lab at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Meng was a visiting scholar and his wife, Zhang, was a research specialist, according to information at the university’s website. Meng was working on research looking at a possible link between pesticides and Parkinson’s disease. Police said the investigation is ongoing as to the cause of the drowning but had said earlier there was no sign of foul play.

Andrei Tropinov, Sergei Rizhov, Gennadi Benyok, Nicolai Tronov and Valery Lyalin

Andrei Tropinov, Sergei Rizhov, Gennadi Benyok, Nicolai Tronov and Valery Lyalin

Bushehr-Nuclear-Power-PlantAndrei Tropinov, Sergei Rizhov, Gennadi Benyok, Nicolai Tronov and Valery Lyalin died in a Russian plane crash. The five scientists were employed at the Hydropress factory, a member of Russia’s state nuclear corporation and had assisted in the development of Iran’s nuclear plant. They worked at the Bushehr nuclear power plant and helped to complete construction. Officially Russian investigators say that human error and technical malfunction caused the deadly crash, which killed 45 and left 8 passengers surviving.

Rodger Lynn Dickey

Rodger Lynn Dickey

Sandia-National-LaboratoryRodger Lynn Dickey, 56, died from an apparent suicide Mar. 18 after he jumped from the Gorge Bridge. Dickey was a senior nuclear engineer with over 30 years of experience in support of the design, construction, start-up, and operation of commercial and government nuclear facilities. His expertise was in nuclear safety programmatic assessment, regulatory compliance, hazard assessment, safety analysis, and safety basis documentation. He completed project tasks in nuclear engineering design and application, nuclear waste management, project management, and risk management. His technical support experience included nuclear facility licensing, radiation protection, health and safety program assessments, operational readiness assessments, and systems engineering.

Gregory Stone

Gregory Stone

Gregory-StoneGregory Stone, 54, died from an unknown illness Feb. 17. Stone, who was quoted extensively in many publications internationally after the BP oil leak, was the director of the renowned Wave-Current Information System. Stone quickly established himself as an internationally respected coastal scientist who produced cutting-edge research and attracted millions of dollars of research support to LSU. As part of his research, he and the CSI Field Support Group developed a series of offshore instrumented stations to monitor wind, waves and currents that impact the Louisiana coast. The system is used by many fishermen and scientists to monitor wind, waves and currents off the Louisiana coast. Stone was a great researcher, teacher, mentor and family man.

Bradley C. Livezey

Bradley C. Livezey

Bradley-LivezeyBradley C. Livezey, 56, died in a car crash Feb. 8 2011. Livezey knew nearly everything about the songs of birds and was considered the top anatomist. Livezey, curator of The Carnegie Museum of Natural History, never gave up researching unsolved mysteries of the world’s 20,000 or so avian species. Carnegie curator since 1993, Livezey oversaw a collection of nearly 195,000 specimens of birds, the country’s ninth largest. Livezey died in a two-car crash on Route 910, authorities said. An autopsy revealed he died from injuries to the head and trunk, the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office said. Northern Regional Police are investigating.

Dr. Massoud Ali Mohammadi

Dr. Massoud Ali Mohammadi

Massoud-Ali-MohammadiDr. Massoud Ali Mohammadi, 50, was assassinated Jan. 11, 2011 when a remote-control bomb inside a motorcycle near his car was detonated. This professor of nuclear physics at Tehran University was politically active and his name was on a list of Tehran University staff who supported Mir Hossein Mousavi according to Newsweek. The London Times reports that Dr. Ali-Mohammadi told his students to speak out against the unjust elections. He stated, “We have to stand up to this lot. Don’t be afraid of a bullet. It only hurts at the beginning.” Iran seems to be systematically assassinating high level professors and doctors who speak out against the regime of President Ahmadinejad. However, Iran proclaims that Israel and America used the “killing as a means of thwarting the country’s nuclear program” per Newsweek.

John (Jack) P. Wheeler III

John (Jack) P. Wheeler III

John-Wheeler-IIIJohn (Jack) P. Wheeler III, 66. last seen Dec. 30, 2010 was found dead in a Delaware landfill. He fought to get the Vietnam Memorial built and served in two Bush administrations. His death has been ruled a homicide by Newark, Del. police. Wheeler graduated from West Point in 1966, and had a law degree from Yale and a business degree from Harvard. His military career included serving in the office of the Secretary of Defense and writing a manual on the effectiveness of biological and chemical weapons, which recommended that the United States not use biological weapons.

Chitra Chauhan

Chitra Chauhan

Chitra-ChauhanChitra Chauhan, 33. Died Nov. 15 2010, was found dead in an apparent suicide by cyanide at a Temple Terrace hotel, police said. Chauhan left a suicide note saying she used cyanide. Hazmat team officials said the cyanide was found only in granular form, meaning it was not considered dangerous outside of the room it was found in. The chemical is considered more dangerous in a liquid or gas form. Potassium Cyanide, the apparent cause of death, is a chemical commonly used by universities in teaching chemistry and conducting research, but it was not used in the research projects she was working on. Chauhan, a molecular biologist, was a post-doctoral researcher in the Global Health department in the College of Public Health. She earned her doctorate from the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in New Delhi, India, in 2005, then studied mosquitoes and disease transmission at the University of Notre Dame.

Mark A. Smith

Mark A. Smith

Mark-A-SmithMark A. Smith, 45, died Nov. 15. A renowned Alzheimer’s disease researcher has died after being hit by a car in Ohio. Smith was a pathology professor at Case Western Reserve University and director of basic science research at the university’s memory and cognition center. He also was executive director of the American Aging Association and co-editor-in-chief of the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease. He is listed as the No. 3 “most prolific” Alzheimer’s disease researcher, with 405 papers written, by the international medical Journal.

Franco Cerrina

Franco Cerrina

Franco-CerrinaFranco Cerrina, 62. Died July 12 was found dead in a lab at BU’s Photonics Center on Monday morning. The cause of death is not yet known, but have ruled out homicide. Cerrina joined the faculty of BU in 2008 after spending 24 years on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He co-founded five companies, including NimbleGen Systems, Genetic Assemblies (merged with Codon Devices in 2006), Codon Devices, Biolitho, and Gen9, according to Nanowerk News. NimbleGen, a Madison, WI-based provider of DNA microarray technology, was sold to Basel, Switzerland-based Roche in 2007 for $272.5 million. Cerrina, chairman of the electrical and computer engineering department, came to BU two years ago from the University of Wisconsin at Madison as a leading scholar in optics, lithography, and nanotechnology, according to his biography on the university website. The scholar was responsible for establishing a new laboratory in the Photonics Center.

Vajinder Toor

Vajinder Toor

Kingsbrook-Jewish-Medical-CenterVajinder Toor, 34, Died April 26, 2010. He was shot and killed outside his home in Branford, Conn. Toor was a postdoctoral fellow at the Yale School of Medicine who was working with the infectious disease section of Yale-New Haven Hospital.