[Kyushu University] Life in the deep sea is under immense pressure—literally. Such extreme conditions can disrupt the delicate structures of proteins essential to life. Yet somehow, the proteins in deep-sea […]
Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Posted inMars
Stability Of Uracil In Different Sulphates Under Martian-like UV Irradiation
[Icarus] Mars is one of the most probable and accessible places where life could have evolved beyond Earth.
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Microbial Evolution, Biogeochemical Functions, And Environmental Adaptations In A Desert Saline Lake On The Qinghai–Tibet Plateau
[biorxiv.org] The Eboliang Hu saline lakes in the hyper-arid Qaidam Basin is a high-altitude, weakly acidic hypersaline system with strong environmental gradients and limited nitrogen availability.
Posted inGaia - Planetary Perspectives
Global Carbon Fixation In Earth’s Subsurface Biosphere
[biorxiv.org] The subsurface of our planet hosts 15% of Earth’s biomass and plays a key role in mediating the exchange of volatiles and elements between deep, long-residence-time geological reservoirs and […]
Posted inMoon
Potential Survivable Niches For Microbial Life On The Lunar South Pole
[astro-ph.EP]. Most lunar surface conditions are incredibly harsh for microbial survival. High ultraviolet radiation, temperatures, and energetic particle radiation limit survival over most unprotected lunar surfaces, particularly in equatorial regions […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Antarctica Is Home To Microbes Found Nowhere Else On Earth
[CU Boulder] Scientists have often wondered about species that are unique to Antarctica. But the focus has mainly been on animals, like cute feathery penguins. But CIRES researchers wanted to […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Rethinking The Origin Of Life At Seafloor Hydrothermal Vents
[PNAS] Alkaline vents have dominated a class of hypotheses for the origins of life since their discovery a quarter of century ago, but advances in understanding the nature of these […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Cultivation Of Halophilic Archaea In Shallow Subsurface Martian Conditions Has Implications For Extant Life On Mars
[biorxiv.org] The present-day martian surface is generally considered inhospitable to life because of low atmospheric pressure, intense surface radiation, global desiccation, and oxidizing chemistry which has been increasing since the […]
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
MBARI Ocean World Expedition: Movement In The Deep
Editor’s note: When we start to mount Astrobiology missions to explore ocean worlds we’ll need ways for our robotic submersibles to observe and interact with whatever life forms they may […]
Posted inPlanetary Protection & Biosafety
Human-Related Microbes May Survive At The Moon’s South Pole
[NASA] Some of Earth’s microbes likely to hitch a ride to space with human explorers could survive in the shaded nooks and crannies of the Moon’s South Pole region, NASA […]