A new study published recently in PNAS explores the relationship between the origin of animals and the oxygen content of the atmosphere. A rise in the oxygen content of the […]
Earth
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology
Rare Mineral Points to Vast Oceans Beneath the Earth
It might be the ugliest diamond you’ll ever see, but within this brown sliver of carbon is a gem of a find for a University of Alberta scientist working to […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Geochemical and planetary dynamical views on the origin of Earth's atmosphere and oceans
Earth’s volatile elements (H, C, and N) are essential to maintaining habitable conditions for metazoans and simpler life forms. However, identifying the sources (comets, meteorites, and trapped nebular gas) that […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life
Climate Puzzle Over The Origin of Life on Earth
The mystery of why life on Earth evolved when it did has deepened with the publication of a new study in the latest edition of the journal Science. Scientists at […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Earth's Habitable Lifetime
Findings published today in the journal Astrobiology reveal the habitable lifetime of planet Earth – based on our distance from the sun and temperatures at which it is possible for […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life, Titan
Insights into Evolution of Life on Earth from Saturn's Moon Titan
Glimpses of the events that nurtured life on Earth more than 3.5 billion years ago are coming from an unlikely venue almost 1 billion miles away, according to the leader […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life
Serpentinization of Ocean Crust and The Origin of Life
In a new study published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, scientists funded by the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) advance a theory about life’s origins based on the […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Ozone Holes Might Slightly Warm Our Planet
A lot of people mix up the ozone hole and global warming, believing the hole is a major cause of the world’s increasing average temperature. Scientists, on the other hand, […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Habitable Zones, Press Release
How Early Earth Kept Warm Enough to Support Life
Solving the “faint young Sun paradox” — explaining how early Earth was warm and habitable for life beginning more than 3 billion years ago even though the Sun was 20 […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Transmission spectrum of Earth as a transiting exoplanet
Transmission spectroscopy of exoplanets is a tool to characterize rocky planets and explore their habitability. Using the Earth itself as a proxy, we model the atmospheric cross section as a […]