cryobiology Archives

Well-equipped for icy temperatures – us in polar clothing Credit: DLR/RWTH Aachen/Dirk Heinen

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Cryobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Away Team Update: DLR TRIPLE-IceCraft Expedition To Antarctica Part 1

by Keith CowingMarch 3, 2023March 3, 2023

Some regions on Earth are as mysterious as distant celestial bodies – but equally explored. These include subglacial lakes in Antarctica. These lakes lie under a permanent layer of ice, […]

Cryobiology, Europa, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Icy Worlds, Press Release

Growth At A Wide Range Of Pressures On Other Worlds

by Keith CowingFebruary 27, 2023February 27, 2023

NASA-supported researchers have studied a bacteria on Earth to gain insight into the mechanisms that organisms could use to survive on cold solar system bodies like Mars and Europa.

Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release

Biolocomotion And Premelting In Ice

by Keith CowingJuly 10, 2022February 4, 2023

Biota are found in glaciers, ice sheets and permafrost. Ice bound micro-organisms evolve in a complex mobile environment facilitated or hindered by a range of bulk and surface interactions.

Ellsworth Mountains, in transit to Subglacial Lake Ellsworth, December 2012. Credit: Peter Bucktrout, British Antarctic Survey

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return

Potential For Life In Lakes Isolated Beneath Antarctic Ice

by Keith CowingFebruary 18, 2021June 13, 2026

In a study published in Science Advances, researchers from Imperial College London, the University of Lyon and the British Antarctic Survey have shown Antarctic subglacial lakes may be more hospitable […]

Snowball Earth - Artist's concept - NASA.gov

Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Icy Worlds, Status Report

Fossils Explain How Life Coped During Snowball Earth

by Keith CowingJune 26, 2015June 26, 2024

Researchers have discovered what they think are fossils of a unique red algae species that lived about 650 million years ago during a brief respite between some of the most […]

Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Europa

First 3-D Images of Underside of Antarctic Sea Ice

by Keith CowingNovember 24, 2014

A National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded research team has successfully tested an autonomous underwater vehicle, AUV, that can produce high-resolution, three-dimensional maps of Antarctic sea ice. SeaBED, as the vehicle is […]

Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Press Release

Antifreeze Proteins in Antarctic Fish Prevent Both Freezing and Melting

by Keith CowingSeptember 24, 2014

Antarctic fish that manufacture their own “antifreeze” proteins to survive in the icy Southern Ocean also suffer an unfortunate side effect, researchers report: The protein-bound ice crystals that accumulate inside […]

Astronomy & Telescopes

Elemental Abundances of Solar Sibling Candidates

by Keith CowingMay 9, 2014

Dynamical information along with survey data on metallicity and in some cases age have been used recently by some authors to search for candidates of stars that were born in […]

Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments

Life's Adaptations To Freezing and Thawing

by Keith CowingMarch 25, 2014

Imagine you’re a leech, happily making a living on a turtle in some quiet, freshwater pond. What do you do when winter comes and temperatures in your warm little habitat […]

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Plant Biology, Press Release, Sample Return, Space Agriculture

Moss Brought Back to Life After 1,500 Years Frozen in Ice

by Keith CowingMarch 17, 2014December 1, 2024

Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey and Reading University have demonstrated that, after over 1,500 years frozen in Antarctic ice, moss can come back to life and continue to grow.