It has been hypothesized that the Earth may have experienced snowball events in the past, during which its surface became completely covered with ice. Previous studies used general circulation models […]
Terraforming & Geoengineering
Posted inHabitable Zones, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering
Limits of Terrestrial Life and the Probability of Growth on Mars: Call for Speakers and Topics
The National Academies’ Committee on Planetary Protection is hosting a virtual meeting that will inform NASA’s efforts to develop a prioritized list of factors that contribute to the potential release […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Subglacial Weathering May Have Slowed Earth’s Escape From Snowball Earth
A new study led by researchers at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Institute of Science Tokyo challenges a long-standing assumption about Earth’s most extreme ice ages. Using numerical geochemical […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Desert Worlds, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering
Modelling The Long-term Impacts Of Artificial Warming On The Martian Water Cycle And Surface Ice Distribution
Recent papers by Ansari et al. (2024, Science Advances 10, eadn4650) and Richardson et al. (2025, arXiv eprint 2504.01455) have suggested that global warming of the Martian surface (‘terraforming’) by […]
Posted inStatus Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering
Terraforming Mars: Mass, Forcing, And Industrial Throughput Constraints
Terraforming Mars can be evaluated with a small set of system-level feasibility constraints linking (i) target pressures and compositions to required atmospheric inventories, (ii) target surface temperatures to required radiative […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Life Support Systems, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Space Agriculture, Space Life Science, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering
Short-term Survival Of Tardigrades In Martian Regolith Simulants
With future intended human missions to Mars, it is crucial to understand the potential habitability of martian regolith both to support plant growth and to mitigate accidental release of organisms […]
Posted inExploration Gear & Tech, Life Support Systems, Mars, Moon, Space Agriculture, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering
Agent Mars: Multi-Agent Simulation for Multi-Planetary Life Exploration and Settlement
Artificial Intelligence (AI) has transformed robotics, healthcare, industry, and scientific discovery, yet a major frontier may lie beyond Earth. Space exploration and settlement offer vast environments and resources, but impose […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microgravity, Plant Biology, Sample Return, Space Agriculture, Space Life Science, Space Stations, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering
Extreme Environmental Tolerance And Space Survivability Of The Moss, Physcomitrium patens
Climate change highlights the importance of understanding life’s survival limits for addressing global challenges and supporting future human habitation beyond Earth. Plants, as photosynthetic organisms, play a vital role in […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering, TRAPPIST-1
Dearth of Photosynthetically Active Radiation Suggests No Complex Life on Late M-Star Exoplanets
The rise of oxygen in the Earth’s atmosphere during the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) occurred about 2.3 billion years ago. There is considerably greater uncertainty for the origin of oxygenic […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering
Microbial Diversity and Metabolic Adaptations in Mars‐Analog Lava Tubes
Lunar and Martian lava tubes will offer stable temperatures and radiation protection, making them potential habitats for extraterrestrial life. The Martian atmosphere, containing gases like H2, CO, and CH4, could […]