[Curtin University] New research led by Curtin University and QUT (Queensland University of Technology) has revealed repeated asteroid impacts may have been the dominant force shaping the early Earth, delivering […]
Hadean
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Abiotic Sources Of Fixed Nitrogen Sustained Early Ecosystems For Several Hundred Million Years After The Origin Of Life
Nitrogen (N) plays a crucial role in controlling biological productivity. However, it remains unknown how Earth’s earliest ecosystems accessed bioavailable forms of nitrogen.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A Clue For The Hen And Egg Question: The Simultaneous Formation Of Uracil And Amino Acids Under Simulated Hadean Conditions
The origin of life is commonly discussed within two competing conceptual frameworks: the metabolism-first and information-first hypotheses. While each emphasizes a different defining property of early life, modern biochemistry reveals […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Uncovering The Rock Record Of Earth’s Earliest Continental Crust
This study was led by Professor Jia Liu and Professor Qunke Xia from the School of Earth Sciences at Zhejiang University; researchers have taken a major step toward uncovering Earth’s […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release
Early Earth’s First Crust Composition Discovery Rewrites Geological Timeline
Researchers have made a new discovery that changes our understanding of Earth’s early geological history, challenging beliefs about how our continents formed and when plate tectonics began.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Impact events, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Origin & Evolution of Life, Panspermia, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Deep Mantle-Atmosphere Coupling And Carbonaceous Bombardment: Options For Biomolecule Formation On Aan Oxidized Early Earth
Understanding what environmental conditions prevailed on early Earth during the Hadean eon, and how this set the stage for the origins of life, remains a challenge.
Posted inAstrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Building and Maintaining a Habitable World and the Early Conditions that Could Favor Life’s Beginnings on Earth and Beyond
The Hadean, once thought to be uninhabitable and tumultuous, has more recently been recontextualized as a clement time in which oceans, land, and life likely appeared on Earth. This non-exhaustive […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Origin & Evolution of Life, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report
Magnesium Silicate Chimneys at the Strytan Hydrothermal Field, Iceland, as Analogues for Prebiotic Chemistry at Alkaline Submarine Hydrothermal Vents on the Early Earth
The Strytan Hydrothermal Field (SHF) in basaltic terrain in Iceland is one of the extant alkaline submarine hydrothermal vent systems favoured as analogues for where life on Earth may have […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Titan
Organic Hazes As A Source Of Life’s Building Blocks To Warm Little Ponds On The Hadean Earth
Over 4 billion years ago, Earth is thought to have been a hazy world akin to Saturn’s moon Titan. The organic hazes in the atmosphere at this time could contain […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Formation of Amino Acids and Carboxylic Acids in Weakly Reducing Planetary Atmospheres by Solar Energetic Particles from the Young Sun
Life most likely started during the Hadean Eon; however, the environmental conditions which contributed to the complexity of its chemistry are poorly known.