[Life Sciences in Space Research] Astrobiological analog environments comprise Earth-based environments that share similarities with a target setting (another planetary body or Precambrian Earth conditions) and whose defining features influence […]
Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports
Microorganisms Actively Shape Earth’s Ocean Floor
[MARUM]. In August 2023, the German research vessel METEOR set sail on Expedition M192 to the Greek island of Milos with Dr. Solveig Bühring as the chief scientist. The mission […]
Posted inFossils & Paleontology
Where Was This Fossil 200 Million Years Ago?
[University of Barcelona] Calculating a fossil’s position throughout geological history is a complex process. In palaeontology and other disciplines, determining a location in the past is quite a challenge that […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
From Mars to Minas: Research Reclassifies Organisms That Thrive In Highly Saline Environments
[JORNAL DA USP – Universidade de São Paulo] Organisms that defy life by thriving in environments where most other living beings could not survive. To date, there is no scientific […]
![Hypergraph percolation accelerates the emergence of large-scale biological organization. The growth of integrated organizational complexity is compared in systems governed by pairwise interactions and higher-order hypergraph interactions. Complexity is quantified as the percentage of elementary units incorporated into the largest connected organizational assembly as interaction density increases. The pairwise model exhibits a gradual increase in connectivity, whereas the hypergraph model displays a sharp transition associated with the formation of extensive higherorder connectivity. Inset A enlarges the transition region and shows the growth of the largest connected component as a function of interaction density. Therefore, higher-order interactions can generate abrupt increases in large-scale organization through hypergraph percolation dynamics. -- [q-bio.OT]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/From-simple-interactions.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
From Simple Interactions To Complex Biology: A Hypergraph Percolation Perspective
[q-bio.OT] The emergence of biological complexity can be viewed as a transition from fragmented local interactions to extensive integrated organization, raising the question of how large-scale connectivity emerges from simple […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports
Ocean Planet Research: 31 New Species Discovered in Two Weeks of Deep Sea Exploration
[Schmidt Ocean Institute] An international team of midwater experts on board Schmidt Ocean Institute’s research vessel Falkor (too) discovered over two dozen new marine species on a recent expedition off […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
Responsible Use of Large Language Models in Microbial Genomics and Bioinformatics: A Life-Science Framework for Reliability, Reproducibility, and Risk-Aware Interpretation
Editor’s note: As we expand outward from Earth to other worlds we are almost certainly going to encounter things we did not expect to find – things that are unlikely […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
The Earthling Ovary Blueprint Is Ancient According To Sea Stars
Editor’s note: the genetic innovations that appear over the course of life’s evolution on Earth are often preserved as evolution advances. If it works – then it works. By studying […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Rethinking The Origin Of Our Cells As A Story Of Microbial Alliances
All cells in animals, plants, fungi, and protists share a fundamental characteristic: they are eukaryotic cells—complex cells with specialized internal compartments. The cells that make up our bodies are no […]
Posted inFossils & Paleontology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
A Lack Of Sex Held Back Life’s Diversity For Millions Of Years
The way that Earth’s first animals reproduced held back life’s diversity for millions of years, until stress and competition led to the development of sexual reproduction, which in turn accelerated […]