The hypothesis that one or more biodiversity drops in the Phanerozoic eon, evident in the geological record, might have been caused by the most powerful kind of stellar explosion so […]
Oceanography
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ocean Worlds Exploration and the Search for Life
This is a community draft white paper for submission to the Decadal Survey in Planetary Science and Astrobiology, reflecting the views of the NASA Astrobiology Program’s Research Coordination Network for […]
Posted inPress Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ancient Ocean Oxygen Levels Associated With Changing Atmospheric Carbon Dioxide
Why do carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere wax and wane in conjunction with the warm and cold periods of Earth’s past? Scientists have been trying to answer this question […]
Posted inPress Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Life Is Bubbling Up To Seafloor With Petroleum From Deep Below
The COVID-19 pandemic is a stark reminder that we move through a world shaped by unseen life. Bacteria, viruses, and other microscopic organisms regulate the Earth’s vital functions and resources, […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Hunting for Alien Life at the Bottom of the Arctic Ocean
A team of oceanographers are heading out on a voyage of discovery this month, exploring in detail for the first time a hydrothermal vent field in the Arctic Ocean. They […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Press Release
Rethinking Sulfide in the Ancient Oceans
Researchers supported in part by the Exobiology Program have provided new information about the oxygenation history of the Earth’s oceans during the mid-Proterozoic using uranium (U) isotope data. The team […]
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Illuminating The Smallest Inhabitants of the Largest Ocean Desert
The middle of the South Pacific is as far away from land as you can possibly get. Solar irradiance is dangerously high, reaching a UV-index that is labelled ‘extreme’. There […]
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ocean and Space Exploration Blend at URI's Graduate School of Oceanography
Scientists with a NASA-led expedition are operating from the Inner Space Center at the University of Rhode Island’s Graduate School of Oceanography as colleagues explore the deep Pacific Ocean to […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
New Undersea Maps Lead To Hydrothermal Vent And Species Discoveries
A spectacular new hydrothermal vent field, named JaichMatt, has been discovered during an expedition aboard Schmidt Ocean Institute’s R/V Falkor.
Posted inPress Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Origami-Inspired Device Helps Marine Biologists Study Aliens
Scientists have tried to find the safest and most effective ways to explore marine life in the oceanic water, the largest and least explored environment on Earth, for years. Each […]