The James Webb Space Telescope and the future Habitable Worlds Observatory aim to discover exoplanet atmospheric spectra that detect life. Currently, most existing spectral “retrieval” algorithms focus on inferring the […]
climate
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Mineral-facilitated Aqueous Synthesis Of Hydrogen Cyanide From Prebiotically Abundant Amino Acids For Chemical Evolution
Recent advances in prebiotic chemistry suggest that hydrogen cyanide (HCN) serves as a fundamental precursor for nearly all essential biomolecules and protometabolic processes for life’s emergence.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Climate And Ocean Circulation Changes Toward A Modern Snowball Earth
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 […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Interaction Between Vegetation And Snowball Phases In The Late Proterozoic Earth
Between 2.4 and 0.6 Gy ago, our planet underwent several episodes of global glaciations, including the Snowball Earth case that ended 635 My ago.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Status Report
Not Earth-like Yet Temperate? More Generic Climate Feedback Configurations Still Allow Temperate Climates in Habitable Zone Exo-Earth Candidates
Earth’s climate is influenced by over a dozen types of feedback, but only three dominate its long-term climate behavior. Models of the exoplanet habitable zone (HZ) assume that this is […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Status Report
Atmospheric Collapse And Habitability On Tidally-Locked Exoplanets
The habitability of terrestrial exoplanets orbiting M dwarfs is a key topic in the search for extraterrestrial life.
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 inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Microgravity, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Erosion Of Iceberg A-23A Sparks A Surge Of Microscopic Life
Iceberg A-23A has had a more eventful run than most of the large Antarctic icebergs that have calved from the continent’s ice shelves in recent decades. Over its winding, forty-plus-year […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A Global High-Resolution Hydrological Model to Simulate the Dynamics of Surface Liquid Reservoirs: Application on Mars
Surface runoff shapes planetary landscapes, but global hydrological models often lack the resolution and flexibility to simulate dynamic surface water bodies beyond Earth. Recent studies of Mars have revealed abundant […]
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 […]