Roughly 90 million years ago, climatic conditions in Antarctica were suitable for resin-producing trees. A team of researchers led by the Alfred Wegener Institute and the TU Bergakademie Freiberg have […]
Fossil
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Status Report
Mars Perseverance Rover Observes Red Rocks With Green Spots at Serpentine Rapids – Possible Biosignatures?
Editor’s note: I will make this simple: did NASA find evidence of life on Mars? No. Did NASA find an interesting rock feature that might signal or indicate that there […]
Posted inBiophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Press Release
Biosignatures: Fungus Gnat Entombed In A 40-million-year-old Piece Of Amber
A Danish amber collector’s find upon a wild North Sea shore in the 1960’s has proved to be of great and surprising significance. After having thoroughly examining the roughly 40-million-year-old […]
Posted inBiophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Biosignature Update: Why Dinosaur Collagen May Have Survived For Over A Hundred Million Years
Collagen, a protein found in bones and connective tissue, has been found in dinosaur fossils as old as 195 million years. That far exceeds the normal half-life of the peptide […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Press Release
What Microscopic Fossilized Shells Tell Us About Ancient Climate Change
At the end of the Paleocene and beginning of the Eocene epochs, between 59 to 51 million years ago, Earth experienced dramatic warming periods, both gradual periods stretching millions of […]
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 inAway Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Press Release, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors
Tricorder Tech: Digitizing Earth’s Fossil Record With Low-cost 3D Scanning
Editor’s note: As we begin to expand our search for life to other worlds we are going to need to be economical interms of the equipment we send and how […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Sea Level Changes Shaped Early Life On Earth, Fossil Study Reveals
A newly developed timeline of early animal fossils reveals a link between sea levels, changes in marine oxygen, and the appearance of the earliest ancestors of present-day animals.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return
Mars Perseverance Rover Imagery Of A Rock With Possible Biosignatures
Editor’s note: I will make this simple: did NASA find evidence of life on Mars? No. Did NASA find an interesting rock feature that might signal or indicate that there […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Fossils & Paleontology, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Orbital View Of Pilbara, Australia Where Some Of Earth’s Oldest Fossils Can Be Found
The Pilbara in northwestern Australia exposes some of the oldest rocks on Earth, over 3.6 billion years old. The iron-rich rocks formed before the presence of atmospheric oxygen, and life […]