Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Sample Return, Status Report

Analytical Characterization Approaches to Measure Prebiotically Relevant Compounds in High Salinity Impact-Induced Hydrothermal Systems

by Keith Cowing

Experiments exploring potential emergence-of-life chemistry in a laboratory setting critically depend on simulating realistic early-Earth environments. Such experimental conditions include the implementation of controlled high temperatures and pressures, anoxic gas […]

Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Gravitational Biology, Microgravity, Panspermia, Radiation, Sample Return, Space Life Science, Status Report

Antarctic Microbe Survival Tests Aboard The International Space Station

by Keith Cowing

An international team is sending microbes from Antarctica and Chile to the International Space Station (ISS) to study how they withstand radiation and other spaceflight stressors.

Posted inAnalog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return, Status Report

Active Responses Of Cyanobacterial Crusts Directly Exposed To The Extreme Stratospheric Environment

by Keith Cowing

The stratosphere’s highly hostile environment offers a unique and relatively accessible setting to evaluate extremophilic adaptation for extraterrestrial colonization. The accelerating pace of the Martian project has underscored the need […]

Posted inAnalog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

New Sulfur-dependent Ecosystem In A Gas Vent In The Depths Of The Chilean Pacific

by Keith Cowing

Unlike most similar emanations described to date, this one shows no evidence of methane emission or consumption. The absence of this molecule and its abundance of sulfur make it a […]

Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Early Life On Earth Relied On A Surprisingly Scarce Metal: Molybdenum

by Keith Cowing

A new study from researchers at the University of Wisconsin–Madison shows that 3.4 billion years ago, life on Earth relied on a metal called molybdenum, despite its limited availability at […]

Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Dew And Frost Do Not Serve As Water Sources For Rock-dwelling Organisms In The Dry Valleys Of Antarctica

by Keith Cowing

Rock-dwelling chlorolichens and cyanobacteria provide most of the total biomass of the ice-free zone of Antarctica, i.e., the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), and yet, the water sources of MDV are […]

Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Sample Return, Status Report

Phenylobacterium ferrooxidans sp. nov., Isolated From A Sub-surface Geothermal Aquifer In Iceland

by Keith Cowing

A novel bacterial strain, HK31-GT, was isolated from a subsurface geothermal aquifer (Hellisheidi, SW-Iceland) and was characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene along with […]

Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return, Status Report

Evidence For Cable Bacteria Inhabiting Deep In Anoxic Sediment Reveals A Novel Ecological Niche

by Keith Cowing

Background Cable bacteria are filamentous sulphide-oxidisers capable of cm-scale electron transport. They are generally considered restricted to the upper few oxic–suboxic cm of marine sediments, where they couple sulphide oxidation […]

Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Identifying Amino Acid Isomers With Mass Spectrometry On Icy Ocean

by Keith Cowing

Enceladus and Europa are compelling targets for astrobiology investigations due to their potentially habitable subsurface oceans connected to the icy surface by geological processes.

Posted inAnalog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

The Lipidome of a Mars Analog Poly-Extreme Community in Atacama Halite Endolith: Chemotaxonomy, Lipid Adaptation, and Implications for the Search for Extraplanetary Biosignatures

by Keith Cowing

We analyzed the lipidome of the endolithic community in halite nodules from Salar Grande in the hyperarid Atacama Desert, which is considered an analog for martian subsurface environments.

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