[PerkinElmer], a global leader in analytical solutions that drive human and environmental health, today announced a partnership with eXXpedition, the all-women global sailing research organization dedicated to investigating the causes […]
Oceanography
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Underwater Oxygen Loss Threatens Earth’s Stability, Researchers Warn
[UCSD] A new review paper led by scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography warns that the rapid loss of oxygen from the ocean and other aquatic ecosystems […]
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Deep-sea Creatures’ Epic Migrations Between Hydrothermal Vents
[University of Tokyo] Hydrothermal vents on the bottom of the ocean host a broad range of rare and unusual ecosystems. They can be spread very far apart, and yet there […]
Posted inMicrobiology & Virology
Bacteria Form Herds To Survive Predators, Offering Fresh Insight Into Earth’s Carbon Cycle
[Queen Mary University of London] Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have discovered that tiny photosynthetic bacteria band together into protective “herds” when attacked by predators – a survival […]
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Water Planet Ecosystems: How An Underwater Volcano Is Fertilizing The South Pacific
[Paige Wise USC] There is a volcano beneath the surface of the South Pacific that most people will never see, never hear about, and never think about. But it is […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Water Planet Habitability: Sea Level Is Linked To Earth’s Carbon Thermostat
[Syracuse University] Earth has a natural thermostat that has kept the planet habitable for more than a hundred million years. Scientists have struggled to fully explain how it works, but […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
Ocean World Genomics: Earth’s Deep Sea Is An Untapped Evolutionary Engine
[University of East Anglia Norwich] The deep-sea is a unique ‘evolutionary engine’ with one of the richest and most unexplored sources of genetic diversity on Earth, according to a major […]
![Deep-sea microbial sample processing. Detailed sample processing steps for HPG assimilating cells and total cell counts are denoted in grey and black arrows/squares, respectively. Processing steps and samples used for metagenomic sequencing are denoted in light-blue arrows and squares. “Whole sample” correspond to triplicate 50 ml aliquots, each filtered onto a 0.22 μm filter directly from the cryopreserved material, and then released with 200 μl of 0.025% (v/v) Tween 20 in PBS to be processed through MDA and DNA sequencing; “all cells” correspond to samples of cryopreserved material that were stained with a DNA dye, collected on a 0.22 μm filter, processed through the BONCAT labelling assay, and then sorted by flow cytometry, aiming to select events that presented the DNA dye; “BONCAT+” cell samples originated from the same material as ‘all cells’, but their sorting aimed for events that presented both the DNA dye and the fluorescent dye Alexa-Fluor 488 (attached to the HPG incorporated by the active cells). The selection of BONCAT+ cells was established for each sample based on the level of BONCAT background labelling to the microbial community when not exposed to HPG, or when fixed before being exposed to HPG (i.e. reflecting the adhesion of the fluorescent label to cells that did not incorporate HPG). -- [ISME Journal via PubMed]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/Sample-Return.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inSample Return
Sample Return: Minimizing Decompression And Warming During Deep Seawater Collection Increases Abundance And Activity Of Autochthonous Bacteria And Archaea
[ISME Journal via PubMed] The deep ocean hosts autochthonous pressure-adapted microorganisms that are unique to this environment, as well as allochthonous pressure-sensitive members transported from shallow depths by vertical advection […]
Posted inExtinction events
Researchers Confirm The Cause Of Earth’s Biggest Mass Extinction
[Stanford University] A new Stanford-led study offers the clearest picture yet of how some ocean life survived our planet’s biggest mass extinction while most animals did not.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Orbital Biosignature Assay: Phytoplankton Blooms In The Black Sea
[NASA] The turquoise color is likely caused by coccolithophores, a type of phytoplankton covered with calcium carbonate plates that can give surface waters a milky-blue appearance. These types of phytoplankton […]