Modern proteins are remarkable polymers built from a 20-amino-acid alphabet, shaped by billions of years of evolution. Yet in Earth’s prebiotic era, several amino acids – particularly the canonical basic […]
Origin & Evolution of Life
Posted inAnalog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Icy Worlds, Life Support Systems, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Sample Return, Status Report
Desert Cyanobacteria Under Non-Earth Conditions: Implications For Astrobiology And Sustainable Life Support
The astonishing capability of life to adapt to extreme conditions provides a new perspective on what habitable means.
Posted inBiophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Jumping Genes Help Resolve The Tree Of Life
Genomes are key to unlocking life’s evolutionary history. The presence and absence of certain genetic sequences and mutations can give us clues to the order in which species diverge.
Posted inAstrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Life In The Dark: Potential Urability Of Moons Of Rogue Planets
Free-floating (rogue) planets are thought to be numerous in the Galaxy and may retain their moons after ejection from their natal systems. If those satellites acquire or preserve orbital eccentricity, […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Ancient Amino Acid Sets Enable Stable Protein Folds
Early proteins likely arose from a chemically limited set of amino acids available through prebiotic chemistry, raising a central question in molecular evolution: could such primitive compositions yield stable, functional […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Orbitally-Driven Nutrient Pulses Linked to Early Cambrian Periodic Oxygenation and Animal Radiation
During the Cambrian Explosion, episodic radiations of major animal phyla occurred in concert with repeated coupled carbon-sulfur isotope excursions.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
A Recipe to Evolve Complex Life Chemically on Earth
Sequences of tRNAs are highly patterned in easily identifiable RNA repeats and RNA inverted repeats (stem-loop-stems). Because of patterning, the multi-step evolution of tRNA can be described in remarkable detail.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Habitable Zones, Intelligence & Language, Origin & Evolution of Life, SETI & Technosignatures, Status Report
A Reassessment Of The “hard-steps” Model For The Evolution Of Intelligent Life
According to the “hard-steps” model, the origin of humanity required “successful passage through a number of intermediate steps” (so-called “hard steps”) that were intrinsically improbable in the time available for […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Earth’s ‘Boring Billion’ Years Created The Conditions For Complex Life
A study led by researchers from the University of Sydney and the University of Adelaide has revealed how the breakup of an ancient supercontinent 1.5 billion years ago transformed Earth’s […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics
Coronal Mass Ejections At The Dawn Of The Solar System
Down here on Earth we don’t usually notice, but the Sun is frequently ejecting huge masses of plasma into space. These are called coronal mass ejections (CMEs).