Underlying the thick sediment layer in ocean basins, the flow of seawater through the cracked and porous upper igneous crust supports a previously hidden and largely unexplored active subsurface microbial […]
Earth’s limb at sunset as photographed by one of the Expedition Two crew members with a digital still camera aimed through the nadir window of the U.S. laboratory Destiny during […]
In this work, we consider the spread of a ‘civilisation’ in an idealised homogeneous isotropic universe where all the planets of interest are habitable.
It has been argued that the historical nature of evolution makes it a highly path-dependent process. Under this view, the outcome of evolutionary dynamics could have resulted in organisms with […]
A new study about Earth’s northernmost seafloor hydrothermal system shows even more variety in vent styles than previously thought. This has important implications for understanding the origin of these vents […]
By studying prehistoric rocks and fossils emerging from the side of Mount Ashibetsu in Japan, researchers have precisely refined the timing and duration of Ocean Anoxic Event 1a (OAE 1a), […]
Life on our planet likely evolved in the ocean, and thus exo-oceans are key habitats to search for extraterrestrial life.
In the next decade, researchers will start probing the atmosphere of planets as small as Earth and Venus orbiting nearby stars. But although these two Solar System planets are similar […]
The white, monochromatic vistas of Antarctica, a continent practically synonymous with ice, are becoming more verdant—at least around some of its edges. According to an analysis of 35 years of […]
Rising sea levels, melting glaciers, heatwaves at sea – 2023 set a number of alarming new records. The global mean temperature also rose to nearly 1.5 degrees above the preindustrial […]
