Editor’s note: This blog entry is adapted from NASA social media content originally published September 12-15, 2023.
Mono Lake
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, Press Release
Otherworldly Worms With Three Sexes Discovered In Mono Lake
Caltech scientists have discovered a new species of worm thriving in the extreme environment of Mono Lake. This new species, temporarily dubbed Auanema sp., has three different sexes, can survive […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
A New Test for Life on Other Planets
A simple chemistry method could vastly enhance how scientists search for signs of life on other planets. The test uses a liquid-based technique known as capillary electrophoresis to separate a […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology
Poison-breathing Bacteria
Buried deep in the mud along the banks of a remote salt lake near Yosemite National Park are colonies of bacteria with an unusual property: they breathe a toxic metal […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Arsenic-Based Life Update
‘Arsenic-life’ bacterium prefers phosphorous after all, Nature “Tawfik says that he was shocked by how good the proteins were at discriminating between the essential phosphate and the deadly arsenate. This […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life
NASA, Arsenic-based Life, Jumping the Gun, and Open Science
Study challenges existence of arsenic-based life, Nature “A group of scientists, led by microbiologist Rosie Redfield at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, have posted data on Redfield’s […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Response to Comments on "A Bacterium That Can Grow Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus"
“Concerns have been raised about our recent study suggesting that arsenic (As) substitutes for phosphorus (P) in major biomolecules of a bacterium that tolerates extreme As concentrations. We welcome the […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Conferences and Meetings, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Arsenic, Astrobiology, NASA, and the Media
Exclusive Interview: Discoverer of Arsenic Bacteria, in the Eye of the Storm, Science Now “Q: So, NASA approached you about doing a press conference, and you thought that was a […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Weird Arsenic-Eating Microbes Discovered? Yes. Finding E.T.? No.
NASA-Funded Astrobiology Research Discovers Earth Life Built With Arsenic, NASA “NASA-funded astrobiology research has changed the fundamental knowledge about what comprises all known life on Earth. Researchers conducting tests in […]