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Apps - Games, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ice Planet Update: State of the Cryosphere Report 2024 – Lost Ice, Global Damage

by Keith CowingMay 15, 2025May 15, 2025

In the State of the Cryosphere 2024 – Lost Ice, Global Damage report, over 50 leading cryosphere scientists warn of vastly higher impacts and costs to the global economy given […]

Mt. St. Helens glacier caves with recordings performed at ambient air temperature. -- PLoS One via PubMed

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Tricorder Tech: Extant Life Detection Using Label-Free Video Microscopy In Analog Aquatic Environments

by Keith CowingApril 4, 2025April 4, 2025

The ability of microbial active motion, morphology, and optical properties to serve as biosignatures was investigated by in situ video microscopy in a wide range of extreme field sites where […]

Circular genomic map of Med1 obtained from PHASTEST. -- Scientific Reports Agência FAPESP

Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Commercial & Private Sector, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Sample Return

Extremophile Spinoffs: Bioactive Compounds Identified In Bacteria From The Andes

by Keith CowingJanuary 21, 2025January 21, 2025

An article published in the journal Scientific Reports describes how researchers analyzed biofilm produced by bacteria found in the El Medano hot springs, located in Chile in the central Andes, […]

Microscopy image of microalgae growing in red snow. Credit:: Adam Barno

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

Cryobiology: How Viruses Affect Algal Blooms In Snow

by Keith CowingJuly 2, 2024July 1, 2024

NASA-supported scientists have reported how interactions between viruses and bacteria during algal blooms could affect snowmelt in polar and subpolar regions on Earth.

(a) Surface temperature Ts (filled contours) for surface pressure ps = 5 bar and global mean surface optical depth τ = 5. The topography is plotted in blue dashed lines with a contour interval of 1000 m from 1000 m to 5000 m. The horizontal red dashed lines indicate the zone for tropical averaging (see Section 2.2). (b) Same as (a), but for the case with ps = 0.01 bar and τ = 0.01. The horizontal white dashed lines indicate the tropical averaging zone. (c) Relative surface lapse rate, γ (defined in Eq. 5), as a function of greenhouse effect, τ , and atmospheric thickness, ps. The data is sampled on a log-scale grid with τ = 0.003, 0.01, 0.1, 0.3, 1, 3, 5 and ps = 0.01, 0.1, 1, 5 bar. (d) The dependence of γ on τ when ps = 1 bar. Red solid (def): default simulation, obliquity equals zero, no atmospheric condensation, idealized topography, sensible heat flux enabled. Blue solid (obl20): as def, but with obliquity set to 20◦ . Blue dotted (atmo cond): as def, but with obliquity set to 20◦ , and a CO2-like atmospheric condensation is enabled. Magenta (MOLA): as def, but with Mars Orbiter Laser Altimeter topography. Cyan solid (w/o SH): as def, but with sensible heat flux disabled. Red dotted (2-column model): calculations from the simple two-column model (see Section 3.4). (e) As (d), but with varying ps and fixed τ = 0.1. Cyan dotted (fixed ρ in SH): as def, but the value of air density, ρ, is held fixed at the reference value for a 1-bar atmosphere in Eq. (3). -- astro-ph.EP

Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Status Report

Why Are Mountaintops Cold? The Transition Of Surface Lapse Rate on Dry Planets

by Keith CowingNovember 20, 2023November 20, 2023

Understanding surface temperature is important for habitability. Recent work on Mars has found that the dependence of surface temperature on elevation (surface lapse rate) converges to zero in the limit […]

This photograph shows a member of a species of leaf-eared mouse called Phyllotis vaccarum. CREDIT Marcial Quiroga-Carmona

Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Press Release

Mouse Mummies Point To Mammalian Life In “Mars-like” Andes

by Keith CowingNovember 6, 2023November 5, 2023

The dry, wind-swept summits of volcanoes in the Puna de Atacama of Chile and Argentina are the closest thing on Earth to the surface of Mars due to their thin […]

Tracie Seimon processes samples for genetic analysis. Credit: Anton Seimon/National Geographic.

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Citizen Science / Open Science, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors

Tricorder In The Field: Solving Everest’s Wildlife Mysteries with eDNA

by Keith CowingAugust 25, 2022December 17, 2023

Scientists discover evidence of 187 taxonomic orders from just 20 liters of water collected in one of the Earth’s harshest environments A team of scientists led by the Wildlife Conservation […]

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Ice Planet Update: State of the Cryosphere Report 2024 – Lost Ice, Global Damage

Tricorder Tech: Extant Life Detection Using Label-Free Video Microscopy In Analog Aquatic Environments

Extremophile Spinoffs: Bioactive Compounds Identified In Bacteria From The Andes

Cryobiology: How Viruses Affect Algal Blooms In Snow

Why Are Mountaintops Cold? The Transition Of Surface Lapse Rate on Dry Planets

Mouse Mummies Point To Mammalian Life In “Mars-like” Andes

Tricorder In The Field: Solving Everest’s Wildlife Mysteries with eDNA

Planetesimal Formation Across the Stellar Mass Spectrum and its Influence on Exoplanet-Inherited Volatile Budgets

Achieving Efficient Broadband Spatial Filtering For LIFE: Status And Plan

A Comprehensive Study Of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko In The 2021/2022 Apparition. II. Colorimetry, Polarimetry, Modeling

Mars Express And Psyche Same Day Imagery of Mars

Atmospheric Retrieval Evidence For Water Isotopologue HDO On Exoplanet WASP-39b