Gravity feels reliable — stable and consistent enough to count on. But reality is far stranger than our intuition.
glaciers
Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Mars Crater Deposits Reveal A History Of Shrinking Ice Volumes Through Ages
For decades, scientists have been curious about how much water Mars once had and what led to its gradual transformation into the dry planet we see today.
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Cryobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release
Ice Planet Assay: Machine Learning Model Calculates The Volume Of All Earth’s Glaciers
A team of researchers led by Niccolò Maffezzoli, “Marie Curie” fellow at Ca’ Foscari University of Venice and the University of California, Irvine, and an associate member of the Institute […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Press Release
Mars Is A World Shaped By Ice
ESA’s Mars Express has captured an astonishing array of landforms emerging from a thick winter blanket of frost as spring arrives in the south polar region of Mars. Some of […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Cryobiology, Extinction events, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Why The Harsh Snowball Earth Kick-started Our Earliest Multicellular Ancestors
For a billion years, single-celled eukaryotes ruled the planet. Then around 700 million years ago during Snowball Earth — a geologic era when glaciers may have stretched as far as […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Cryobiology, Extinction events, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Press Release
Global Deep Freeze Periods During Snowball Earth Events
A Yale-led research team has picked a side in the “Snowball Earth” debate over the possible cause of planet-wide deep freeze events that occurred in the distant past.
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Underwater Droid AUV “Ran” Has Gone Missing Under An Antarctic Glacier
The unmanned underwater vehicle Ran has gone missing under a glacier in Antarctica. The vehicle, owned by the University of Gothenburg, is one of three similar in the whole world […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biophysics, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report
Acellular Players In The High Cryosphere: Diversity, Function And Activity Of The Global Supraglacial DNA Viruses
Supraglacial environments mainly consist of four main types of habitats for microbes and viruses, including snow, ice, meltwater, and cryoconites (the granular sediment on glacier surfaces).
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Icy Worlds, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, Terraforming & Geoengineering
Short Term Impact of Human Activity During the Anthropocene: The Corona Pandemic Reduced The Melting Of Himalayan Glaciers
Editor’s note: Astrobiologists are often focused on how a planet’s life history shapes the life on it and how that life can, in turn, alter a planet’s life history. Life […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Status Report
Vast Water Ice Flows On Mars Viewed From Orbit
On Aug. 18, 2023, the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) captured ridged lines carved onto Mars’ landscape by the gradual movement of ice. While surface ice deposits are mostly limited to […]