In a study published today (22 August) in Cell Reports Physical Science, a team led by Dr Yoshikatsu Hayashi demonstrated that a simple hydrogel – a type of soft, flexible […]
evolution
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
An Earthling The Size Of A Dust Grain Found Hiding In California’s Mono Lake
Mono Lake in the Eastern Sierra Nevada is known for its towering tufa formations, abundant brine shrimp and black clouds of alkali flies uniquely adapted to the salty, arsenic- and […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
Modern Immunity And Ancient Microbes
When you get infected with a virus, some of the first weapons your body deploys to fight it were passed down to us from our microbial ancestors billions of years […]
![Rapid coalescence and RNA exchange between unstable protocells. (A) Schematic of preparation of coacervate model protocells. Aqueous solutions of PDDA (positively charged) and ATP (negatively charged) are mixed, along with fluorescently labeled protein or oligonucleotide molecules, to make fluorescently distinct protocell populations. (B and C) Confocal micrographs showing the coalescence of unstable protocells during mixing. Fluorescently distinct PDDA-ATP droplet populations containing fluorophore-labeled BSA or RNA were mixed, and the images were collected after 5 min. Coalescence is evident from the overlapping of red [CF488-BSA in (B) or Cy2-RNA-6nt in (C)] and blue (CF640-BSA) fluorescence in a majority of the droplets. Scale bars, 25 μm. (D and E) Confocal micrographs and the accompanying FRAP plot showing a fast (timescale of a few minutes) recovery of fluorescence from Cy2-labeled RNA of (D) 6 nt in length and (E) 49 nt in length in the photobleached droplets, suggesting a rapid exchange of RNA molecules between protocells. The fluorescence microscopy images are false colored for clarity. Scale bars, 25 μm. -- Science / UChicago](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/New-Research-Suggests-Rainwater.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
New Research Suggests Rainwater Helped Form The First Protocell Walls
One of the major unanswered questions about the origin of life is how droplets of RNA floating around the primordial soup turned into the membrane-protected packets of life we call […]
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Constructing the Molecular Tree of Life using Assembly Theory and Mass Spectrometry
The connected nature of all life on earth, dating back to the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), has been explored using knowledge of taxonomy and biochemistry, with significant insights enabled […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Moon, Status Report
The Length Of A Day On Earth And Its Impact On The Evolution Of Life
The Earth’s rotation has been decelerating throughout its history due to tidal dissipation, but the variation of the rate of this deceleration through time has not been established. We present […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report
Cretaceous Amber Inclusions Illuminate The Evolutionary Origin Of Tardigrades
Tardigrades are a diverse phylum of microscopic invertebrates widely known for their extreme survival capabilities. Molecular clocks suggest that tardigrades diverged from other panarthropods before the Cambrian, but their fossil […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Scottish And Irish Rocks Confirmed As Being A Rare Record Of Snowball Earth
The study, published in the Journal of the Geological Society of London, found that the Port Askaig Formation, composed of layers of rock up to 1.1km thick, was likely laid […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Experimental Snowball Earth Viscosity Drives the Evolution of Motile Multicellularity
During the 70-million-year span of the Cryogenian Snowball Earth glaciations, low ocean temperatures beneath global sea ice increased water viscosity up to fourfold.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Status Report
A Novel Quinone Biosynthetic Pathway Illuminates The Evolution Of Aerobic Metabolism
The dominant organisms in modern oxic ecosystems rely on respiratory quinones with high redox potential (HPQs) for electron transport in aerobic respiration and photosynthesis.