Kobe University Archives

In carbon-containing meteorites, impacts create extremely hot carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide gases (yellow). Kurosawa says: “We found that the momentum of the ensuing explosion is enough to eject the highly shocked rock material (red) into space. Such explosions occur on carbon-rich meteorites (left), but not on carbon-poor ones (right).” The team thus concluded that carbon-containing meteorites are no less shocked, but that, in fact, the evidence is simply removed. Credit: KUROSAWA Kosuke

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Sample Return

Evidence Blasted Into Space: Mystery Why Some Meteorites Look Less Shocked Solved

by Keith CowingApril 27, 2025April 26, 2025

Carbon-containing meteorites look like they had less severe impacts than those without carbon because the evidence was blasted into space by gases produced during the impact. The Kobe University discovery […]

In the technique known as “environmental DNA metabarcoding,” probes are designed to target specific DNA fragments, similar to how anglers use specific bait to catch a particular species. The challenge is creating probes that are specific enough to just the group one tries to detect, but also general enough to catch anything within that group. Credit WU Qianqian

Analog Studies, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ocean World Genomic Assays: Searching For Terrestrial Cephalopod DNA

by Keith CowingApril 16, 2025April 16, 2025

New DNA probes allow for efficient surveying of the hidden lives of squids and octopuses in the deep sea. This development by Kobe University provides an effective tool for marine […]

Kobe University HIRATA Naoyuki was the first to realize that the location of an asteroid impact on Jupiter’s moon Ganymede is almost precisely on the meridian farthest away from Jupiter. This implied that Ganymede had undergone a reorientation of its rotational axis and allowed Hirata to calculate what kind of impact could have caused this to happen.CREDIT HIRATA Naoyuki

Astrogeology, Comets and Asteroids, Ganymede, Icy Worlds, Impact events, Jupiter, Pluto, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A Gigantic Asteroid Impact Shifted The Axis Of Ganymede

by Keith CowingSeptember 4, 2024September 4, 2024

Around 4 billion years ago, an asteroid hit the Jupiter moon Ganymede. Now, a Kobe University researcher realized that the Solar System’s biggest moon’s axis has shifted as a result […]

Astrochemistry

Did Heat From Impacts On Asteroids Provide The Ingredients For Life On Earth?

by Keith CowingJune 8, 2021

A research group from Kobe University has demonstrated that the heat generated by the impact of a small astronomical body could enable aqueous alteration (*1) and organic solid formation to […]

Astrochemistry, Press Release

Space telescope Detects Water in a Number of Asteroids

by Keith CowingDecember 20, 2018

Using the infrared satellite AKARI, a Japanese research team has detected the existence of water in the form of hydrated minerals in a number of asteroids for the first time. […]

Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Plant Biology, Press Release

Mechanism for Photosynthesis Already Existed in Primeval Microbe

by Keith CowingFebruary 1, 2017

Photosynthesis, creating oxygen and carbohydrates such as glucose from solar energy, water, and CO2, is indispensable for many species on this planet. However, it is unclear exactly how or when […]