Blooms of dark pigmented microalgae accelerate glacier and ice sheet melting by reducing the surface albedo.
Scientists have discovered a thriving microbial ecosystem beneath 14 metres of ice covering Antarctica’s Lake Enigma, a previously thought-to-be entirely frozen lake.
Permafrost is important from an exobiology and climate change perspective. It serves as an analog for extraplanetary exploration, and it threatens to emit globally significant amounts of greenhouse gases as […]
A new study led by a PhD candidate affiliated with the iC3 Polar Research Hub reveals how life can adapt and flourish even in the harshest conditions – and sheds […]
Dusty ice exposed at the surface of Mars could provide the conditions necessary for the presence of photosynthetic life, according to a modelling study. The findings, published in Communications Earth […]
Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a biological molecule with crucial functions in the genetics of organisms and plays a key role in the origin and evolution of life. With a composition […]
Cambridge researchers are set to explore the uncharted depths of life in the extreme cold, with findings that could reshape our understanding of biology and pave the way for future […]
Researchers at The Ohio State University have made a significant discovery in understanding how viruses preserved in glacial ice have adapted to Earth’s climatic changes.
For decades, the Guliya Glacier, located above 20,000 feet in the far northwestern Tibetan Plateau, has been one of the richest archives available to scientists to investigate large-scale paleoclimate shifts. […]
![Rubisco form II structural differences between T. arctica UC1 and H. marinus. A) AlphaFold-generated [51,52] structures for H. marinus (transparent white) and T. arctica UC1 RbcII (dark blue) dimers aligned with ChimeraX [53]. Active sites colored red. Arrows point to the additional exposed active site residues in UC1 compared to H. marinus. The missing residues in UC1 at amino acid positions 78–82 (Fig. 4) are colored yellow on H. marinus structure (close44 up view in B). C) UC1 form II dimer with residue differences to H. marinus that confer a semi45 conservative or non-conservative change highlighted in orange.-- biorxiv.org](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Prevalence-of-the-Calvin.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
The act of fixing inorganic carbon into the biosphere is largely facilitated by one enzyme, Rubisco. Beyond well-studied plants and cyanobacteria, many bacteria use Rubisco for chemolithoautotrophy in extreme environments […]
