Terraforming & Geoengineering
Posted inAstrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Origin & Evolution of Life, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Venus

Simple Lipids Form Stable Higher-order Structures In Concentrated Sulfuric Acid

by Keith Cowing

Venus has become a target of astrobiological interest because it is physically accessible to direct exploration, unlike exoplanets. So far this interest has been motivated not by the explicit expectation […]

Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Life Support Systems, Plant Biology, Space Agriculture, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering

Exploring The Potential Of Plant Astrobiology: Adapting Flora For Extraterrestrial Habitats: A Review

by Keith Cowing

In recent years, the realm of astrobiology has expanded beyond the search for microbial life to encompass the intriguing possibility of plant life beyond our planet. Plant astrobiology delves into […]

Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Gravity Study Gives Insights into Hidden Features Beneath Lost Ocean of Mars and Rising Olympus Mons

by Keith Cowing

Studies of gravity variations at Mars have revealed dense, large-scale structures hidden beneath the sediment layers of a lost ocean. The analysis, which combines models and data from multiple missions, […]

Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Impact of Vegetation Albedo on the Habitability of Earth-like Exoplanets

by Keith Cowing

Vegetation can modify the planetary surface albedo via the Charney mechanism, as plants are usually darker than the bare surface of the continents.

Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Video, Audio, Webcasts, Podcasts

Watch Carbon Dioxide Move Through An Inhabited World’s Atmosphere

by Keith Cowing

Editor’s note: As we begin to mount Astrobiology expeditions to other worlds with potential habitable zones, understanding a world’s global climate will be important. Short term trends (“weather”) as well […]

Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A Novel Metric For Assessing Climatological Surface Habitability

by Keith Cowing

Planetary surface habitability has so far been, in the main, considered in its entirety. The increasing popularity of 3D modelling studies of (exo)planetary climate has highlighted the need for a […]

Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Panspermia, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering

Dust storm-driven Dispersal of Potential Pathogens and Antimicrobial Resistance Genes In The Eastern Mediterranean

by Keith Cowing

The atmosphere hosts a microbiome that connects remote ecosystems but remains underexplored. In this study, we employed metagenomics to examine the ecological roles of the atmospheric microbiome, including the dispersal […]

Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Gravitational Biology, Life Support Systems, Mars, Plant Biology, Radiation, Space Agriculture, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering

The Extremotolerant Desert Moss Syntrichia caninervis Is A Promising Pioneer Plant For Colonizing Extraterrestrial Environments

by Keith Cowing

Many plans to establish human settlements on other planets focus on adapting crops to growth in controlled environments. However, these settlements will also require pioneer plants that can grow in […]

Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, SETI & Technosignatures, Terraforming & Geoengineering, TRAPPIST-1

Telltale Greenhouse Gases Could Signal Alien Terraforming Activity

by Keith Cowing

If aliens modified a planet in their solar system to make it warmer, we’d be able to tell. A new UC Riverside study identifies the artificial greenhouse gases that would […]

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