Update: note from Dale at 6:00 pm EDT / 22:00 UTC: “It has been pretty breezy all day with blowing snow. Nevertheless it’s been a productive day, as we continue […]
Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Posted inAstrogeology
Research Suggests Earth May Have Formed Much Of Its Water As The Planet Grew
[University of New Mexico] Earth may have produced much of its water during the planet’s formation, as rocky pebbles reacted with the hydrogen-rich atmosphere surrounding the young planet, according to […]
Posted inDale Andersen's Field Reports
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 28 October 2026: Shoveling Snow In Antarctica
[Dale Andersen] : Hi Keith, A quick note while the base WiFi is up and running. We spent the last two days digging out the entrance to our hut, removing […]
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A New Database To Track Origins Of Water From Space
[Rice University]. International collaboration makes decades of satellite data more accessible to scientists studying global water cycle.
Posted inDale Andersen's Field Reports
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 26 October 2026: Flying South
Keith’s note: This report may be updated over the course of the day. Dale’s departure from Cape Town was scheduled for 10:00 am Local time but ended up at 10:28 […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Novel Antarctic Chemolithotroph Drives Iron Biomineralization
[Microbiome] Background: Iron, the most abundant redox-active metal in the Earth’s crust, is coupled to numerous biogeochemi- cal cycles. However, the mechanisms of iron oxidation and the organisms involved remain […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
VentVirGenomes: A Global Ocean Hydrothermal Vent Virus Genome Dataset for Exploring Diversity, Function, and Host Interactions
[Nature] Ocean hydrothermal vents constitute chemically driven oases of life that fundamentally differ from photosynthesis-based ecosystems.
Posted inDale Andersen's Field Reports
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 25 October 2026: Hurry Up And Wait
Dale Andersen: “Hurry up and wait.” Anyone who works in the polar regions knows the phrase, and knows the experience: storms, blowing snow, and low visibility set the schedule.
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
The Biogeography Of Hydrothermal Vent Giant Viruses Across Earth’s Global Ocean
[biorxiv.org] Viruses are the most abundant known biological entities in the ocean and play central role in microbial ecology. However, the patterns and drivers of their biogeographic distribution across global […]
![Meridional overturning streamfunction (Ψ). Meridional sections of zonally–integrated streamfunction (Sverdrups, 1 Sv ≡ 10 6 m 3 s−1 ) in the (a) IG_Ctrl, (b) Glac_Ref, (c) IG_N50, and (d) IG_N100 simulations. Positive (red) values denote clockwise overturning, while negative (blue) values denote counterclockwise overturning. The apparent diapycnal transport at ~60°S in (a) IG_Ctrl and (c) IG_N50 may be related to the effect of standing meanders [see Jansen (2017)] but does not impinge upon our results. -- Journal of Climate](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/New-discovery.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inIcy Worlds
New Discovery Links Hemispheres In The Mystery Of Earth’s Past Ice Ages
[University of St. Andrews] New research from the University of St Andrews has uncovered a thus unknown process which may have helped drive the Earth in to past ice ages.