Using a specially designed hot-water drill to cleanly bore through a half mile of ice, a National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded team of researchers has become the first ever to reach […]
NSF
Posted inCryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Press Release
Antifreeze Proteins in Antarctic Fish Prevent Both Freezing and Melting
Antarctic fish that manufacture their own “antifreeze” proteins to survive in the icy Southern Ocean also suffer an unfortunate side effect, researchers report: The protein-bound ice crystals that accumulate inside […]
Posted inBiophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Viruses Hijack Deep-sea Bacteria At Hydrothermal Vents
More than a mile beneath the ocean’s surface, as dark clouds of mineral-rich water billow from seafloor hot springs called hydrothermal vents, unseen armies of viruses and bacteria wage war.
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Deep-diving Sub Alvin Cleared to Return to Service
After a three-year overhaul and major upgrade, the United States’ deepest-diving research submersible, Alvin, has been cleared to return to work exploring the ocean’s depths. The sub has been out […]
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A New Dimension to Cyanobacteria
Marine cyanobacteria are the tiny ocean plants that form the base of the ocean’s food chain. Other organisms feed on them and are nourished by the oxygen they provide. Marine […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Microbiology & Virology
Blood Falls Becomes First Subglacial Antarctic Specially Protected Area to Protect Scientific Values
Blood Falls, one of the more bizarre features found anywhere in Antarctica, has fascinated scientists since it was first discovered a century ago by Griffith Taylor, the senior geologist on […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Hearing: Exoplanet Discoveries: Have We Found Other Earths?
The purpose of the hearing is to review the recent discovery of three super-Earth sized planets by the NASA’s Kepler space telescope. The hearing will also assess the state of […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release
New Techniques Allow Discovery of Smallest Super-Earth Exoplanets
A University of Washington astronomer, funded by a National Science Foundation (NSF) Faculty Early Career Development (CAREER) award, has discovered perhaps the smallest super-Earth planet in its host star habitable […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, People Of Astrobiology
Astrobiologist And Explorer Robert Wharton Has Died
Editor’s note: I am profoundly saddened to hear of Bob’s passing. I got to know Bob very well when he and I worked at the old Life Sciences Division at […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Press Release
Global Extinction: Gradual Doom as Bad as Abrupt
The deadliest mass extinction of all took a long time to kill 90 percent of Earth’s marine life–and it killed in stages–according to a newly published report. It shows that […]