For the past few decades, scientists have been observing natural ocean fertilization events — episodes when plumes of volcanic ash, glacial flour, wildfire soot, and desert dust blow out onto […]
Desert Worlds
Posted inAstrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Mars, Press Release, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return
NASA Presentation: Exploring Mars Together: Draft for Community Feedback (2023)
Editor’s note: this presentation at NASA was assembled in 2023 prior to the cancellation of the Mars Sample Return Mission. While the notion of returning samples from Mars by NASA […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
An Atacama Desert Microbial Community As A Model For Astrobiology
The grit crust is a recently discovered, novel type of biocrust made of prokaryotic cyanobacteria, eukaryotic green algae, fungi, lichens and other microbes that grow around and within granitoid stone […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
Adaptations Of Endolithic Communities To Abrupt Environmental Changes In A Hyper-arid Desert
The adaptation mechanisms of microbial communities to natural perturbations remain relatively unexplored, particularly in extreme environments. The extremophilic communities of halite (NaCl) nodules from the hyper-arid core of the Atacama […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware
Raman Spectroscopy And Planetary Exploration: Testing The ExoMars/RLS System At The Tabernas Desert (Spain)
ExoFit trials are field campaigns financed by ESA to test the Rosalind Franklin rover and to enhance collaboration practices between ExoMars working groups. During the first trial, a replicate of […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry
Two Decades of km-resolution Satellite- And Ground-based Measurements of the Precipitable Water Vapor in the Atacama Desert
The Atacama Desert has long been established as an excellent site for submillimeter observations. Yet identifying potentially optimal locations for a new facility within this region can require long field […]
Posted inBiophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
Desert Mosses Use Quartz Rocks As Sun Shades
Living under a translucent rock can be quite comfortable — if you’re a moss in the Mojave Desert. A graduate student at the University of California, Berkeley, found that some […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Mineralogy of a Sulfate-rich Inverted Channel in the Atacama Desert, Chile: Clues to its Formation and Preservation
We have performed a stratigraphic and mineralogical analysis of a vertical transect across a ridge located at the distal end of a system of eroded alluvial deposits in the northern […]
Posted inDesert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Cellular Life From The Three Domains And Viruses Are Transcriptionally Active In A Hypersaline Desert Community
Microbial communities play essential roles in the biosphere and understanding the mechanisms underlying their functional adaptations to environmental conditions is critical for predicting their behavior. This aspect of microbiome function […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
Atacama Desert Microbes May Hold Clues To Life On Mars
Microbial life on Mars may potentially be transported across the planet on dust particles carried by wind, according to a study conducted in the Atacama Desert in North Chile, a […]