The chemical reactions behind the formation of common metabolites in modern organisms could have formed spontaneously in the earth’s early oceans, questioning the events thought to have led to the […]
Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Reconstructed Ancient Ocean Reveals Secrets About the Origin of Life
Researchers from the University of Cambridge have published details about how the first organisms on Earth could have become metabolically active. The results, which are reported in the journal Molecular […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
Bacteria Get New Badge as Planet's Detoxifier
A study published this week in PLOS ONE authored by Dr. Henry Sun and his postdoctoral student Dr. Gaosen Zhang of Nevada based research institute DRI provides new evidence that […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology
Rare Mineral Points to Vast Oceans Beneath the Earth
It might be the ugliest diamond you’ll ever see, but within this brown sliver of carbon is a gem of a find for a University of Alberta scientist working to […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology
Understanding How Mountains and Rivers Make Life Possible
Favorable conditions for life on Earth are enabled in part by the natural shuttling of carbon dioxide from the planet’s atmosphere to its rocky interior and back again. Now Stanford […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments
How Deep Inside Our Planet Can Life Exist?
The Sun was once thought to provide energy for all life on Earth – meaning that life could not survive without it. In the 20th century, as astrobiologists began to […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life
Oldest Piece Of Earth's Crust Suggests A Cool Early History
With the help of a tiny fragment of zircon extracted from a remote rock outcrop in Australia, the picture of how our planet became habitable to life about 4.4 billion […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life
Ancient Minerals on Earth and the Origin of Life
Astrobiologists supported by the NASA Astrobiology Institute have shown that mineral species on the early Earth may have been different than the ones found on our planet today. The researchers […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Plant Biology
Symbiotic Fungi Inhabiting Plant Roots Have Major Impact on Atmospheric Carbon
Microscopic fungi that live in plants’ roots play a major role in the storage and release of carbon from the soil into the atmosphere. According to a University of Texas […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Geochemical and planetary dynamical views on the origin of Earth's atmosphere and oceans
Earth’s volatile elements (H, C, and N) are essential to maintaining habitable conditions for metazoans and simpler life forms. However, identifying the sources (comets, meteorites, and trapped nebular gas) that […]