Decades of space exploration have shown that surface environments on Mars were habitable billions of years ago. Ancient, buried surface environments, or paleosols, may have been preserved in the geological […]
December 2021
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Towards a Classification Scheme for the Rocky Planets based on Equilibrium Thermodynamic Considerations
A classification scheme for rocky planets is proposed, based on a description of the Earth System in terms of the Landau-Ginzburg Theory of phase transitions. Three major equilibrium states can […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Neptune
Atmospheric Dynamics Of Temperate Sub-Neptunes. Part I: Dry Dynamics
Sub-Neptunes (planets with radii between 2 and 4 R⊕) are abundant around M-dwarf stars, yet the atmospheric dynamics of these planets is relatively unexplored. In this paper, we aim to […]
Posted inVenus
Could Life Be Making Its Own Habitable Environment In The Clouds Of Venus?
Scientists have proposed a new theory which suggests that possible lifeforms in the clouds of Venus could be setting off a cascade of chemical reactions that is making the environment […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather
Deadliest Period In Earth's History Was Also The Stinkiest
Tiny microbes belching toxic gas helped cause — and prolong — the biggest mass extinction in Earth’s history, a new study suggests. Generally, scientists believe Siberian volcanos spitting greenhouse gases […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
Future Radioisotope Measurements To Clarify The Origin Of Deep-ocean 244Pu
244Pu has been discovered in deep-ocean deposits spanning the past 10 Myr, a period that includes two 60Fe pulses from nearby supernovae. 244Pu is among the heaviest r-process products, and […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
Meteorites and the RNA world II: Synthesis of Nucleobases in Carbonaceous Planetesimals and the Role of Initial Volatile Content
Prebiotic molecules, fundamental building blocks for the origin of life, have been found in carbonaceous chondrites. The exogenous delivery of these organic molecules onto the Hadean Earth could have sparked […]
Posted inMars
ExoMars Discovers Hidden Water In Mars' Valles Marineris
The ESA-Roscosmos ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter has spotted significant amounts of water at the heart of Mars’ dramatic canyon system, Valles Marineris. The water, which is hidden beneath Mars’ surface, […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Press Release
Directed-Evolution Of Translation System For Efficient Unnatural Amino Acids Incorporation And Generalizable Synthetic Auxotroph Construction
The genetic code of all three kingdoms of life is universal and encodes the same 20 natural amino acids for a variety of complex physiological functions. The expansion of the […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release
Assessing TESS's Yield of Rocky Planets Around Nearby M Dwarfs
Terrestrial planets are easier to detect around M dwarfs than other types of stars, making them promising for next-generation atmospheric characterization studies. The TESS mission has greatly increased the number […]