Southwest Research Institute is leading two “Precursor Science Investigations for Europa” (PSIE) teams to understand critical topics in advance of NASA’s Europa Clipper mission to the Jupiter moon. Both projects […]
Cryobiology
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrobiology (general), Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Subglacial Microbial Life On Earth And Beyond
The search for life beyond Earth fascinates many and inspires big questions: Are we truly alone in the Universe? Is our Earth unique? Is it possible that life beyond Earth […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Cryobiology, Extinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Press Release
Global Deep Freeze Periods During Snowball Earth Events
A Yale-led research team has picked a side in the “Snowball Earth” debate over the possible cause of planet-wide deep freeze events that occurred in the distant past.
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
DNA Reveals That Unique Microorganisms Evolved At Earth’s Poles
Communities of microorganisms at the bottom of polar lakes evolved independently from other regions, influenced by the particular geological, biological and climate history of their regions. The unique character of […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Extinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release
What Turned Earth Into A Giant Snowball 700 Million Years Ago?
Australian geologists have used plate tectonic modelling to determine what most likely caused an extreme ice-age climate in Earth’s history, more than 700 million years ago.
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving
Ice World Exploration: Pilotless Uncrewed Aerial Vehicle Arrives In Antarctica
A team have arrived at Rothera Research Station, ready to start testing the new Windracers ULTRA autonomous drone in Antarctica. If successful, the new drone platform could represent a major […]
![AlphaFold structures of NLS-containing proteins. AlphaFold2 structures modeled from NLS-predicted proteins that had no SwissProt BLASTP hits (E-value < 1e-15). [AB] Structures for those that had a FoldSeek hit against the AlphaFold2 SwissProt database (E-value < 1E-05). The yellow and blue structures indicate the reference and the predicted H. exemplaris protein structures, respectively. [A] BV898_05254.p01 (5-hydroxytryptamine receptor 1E (AF-Q6VB83-F1-model_v4.pdb E-value = 6.22E-12, RMSD between 163 pruned atom pairs is 1.124 angstroms across all 353 pairs: 10.861) [B] Ecdysone-induced protein 78C (AF-P45447-F1-model_v4 E26 value 4.48E-08, RMSD between 84 pruned atom pairs is 1.044 angstroms; across all 391 pairs: 32.283) [C-F] Transcripts that had an IUPRED3 score of 1.0 [C] BV898_03773.p01, [D] BV898_07132.p01 [E] BV898_12866.p01 [F] BV898_18010.p01. -- biorxiv.org](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Transcriptome-analysis-1.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inBiophysics, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Panspermia, Radiation, Status Report, Tardigrades
Transcriptome Analysis Of The Tardigrade Hypsibius Exemplaris Exposed To The DNA-damaging Agent Bleomycin
Tardigrades are microscopic animals that are renowned for their capabilities of tolerating near-complete desiccation by entering an ametabolic state called anhydrobiosis.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Europa, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Press Release
Instruments Are All Aboard The Europa Clipper Astrobiology Droid
With less than nine months remaining in the countdown to launch, Europa Clipper has passed a major milestone: Its science instruments have been added to the massive spacecraft, which is […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Cryobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Cryo-microscopy Reveals Nano-sized Copy Machine Implicated In The Origin Of Life
How the intricate molecular machinery of life arose from simple beginnings has been a long-standing question. Several lines of evidence point towards a primordial “RNA world”, where an “RNA copy […]
Posted inBiophysics, Cryobiology, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, Tardigrades
Molecular Sensor Enables Water Bear Hardiness By Triggering Dormancy
Tardigrades – hardy, microscopic animals commonly known as “water bears” – use a molecular sensor that detects harmful conditions in their environment, telling them when to go dormant and when […]