The search for life now extends beyond the traditional habitable zone to include the icy moons of Jupiter and Saturn. These moons feature ice-covered surfaces overlying substantial oceans formed primarily […]
Ammonia
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Spatiotemporal Impacts of Enceladus- and Earth-relevant Ammonia Gas On Cultivation of Extremophile Halomonas meridiana
One underexplored aspect of microbial growth is the impact of toxic gases transported through the atmosphere. Ammonia is a gas that can supply essential nitrogen but also exert cellular toxicity.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ammonia Sets Limit To Life And Alters Physiology Independently Of pH In Halomonas Meridiana
The subsurface oceans of icy moons, expected to retain appreciable concentrations of ammonia, are of significant interest to astrobiology. On Earth, ammonia is released in large quantities, primarily through anthropogenic […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report
Ammonia or Methanol Would Enable Subsurface Liquid Water at the Martian South Pole
The notion of liquid water beneath the ice layer at the south polar layered deposits (SPLD) of Mars is an interesting possibility given the implications for astrobiology and possible human […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
First Unambiguous Detection Of Ammonia In The Atmosphere Of A Planetary Mass Companion With JWST/MIRI Coronagraphs
The newly accessible mid-infrared (MIR) window offered by the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) for exoplanet imaging is expected to provide valuable information to characterize their atmospheres.
Posted inAstrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The Role Of Ammonia In The Distribution Of Volatiles In The Primordial Hydrosphere Of Europa
The presence of a hydrosphere on Europa raises questions about its habitability, and studies of its volatile inventory can provide insight into its formation process. Different scenarios suggest that Europa’s […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Interstellar, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
JWST Sheds Light On The Structure Of Interstellar Water Ice
Using the JWST, a team of researchers including Paola Caselli, Barbara Michela Giuliano and Basile Husquinet from MPE, have probed deep into dense cloud cores, revealing details of interstellar ice […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
Reconnaissance Of Potentially Habitable Worlds With Webb Space Telescope
Exoplanets are common in our galaxy, and some even orbit in the so-called habitable zone of their star. NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has been busy observing a few of […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Gamma-Ray-Induced Amino Acid Formation During Aqueous Alteration in Small Bodies: The Effects of Compositions of Starting Solutions
Organic compounds, such as amino acids, are essential for the origin of life, and they may have been delivered to the prebiotic Earth from extra-terrestrial sources, such as carbonaceous chondrites.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Interstellar, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Panspermia, Press Release
Studying Life’s Origins By Simulating a Cosmic Evolution
Amino acids make up millions of proteins that drive the chemical gears of life, including essential bodily functions in animals. Because of amino acids’ relationship to living things scientists are […]