Simply making nanoparticles spin coaxes them to arrange themselves into what University of Michigan researchers call ‘living rotating crystals’ that could serve as a nanopump. They may also, incidentally, shed […]
origin of life
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life
Ancient Minerals on Earth and the Origin of Life
Astrobiologists supported by the NASA Astrobiology Institute have shown that mineral species on the early Earth may have been different than the ones found on our planet today. The researchers […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life
Clay May Have Been The Birthplace of Life
Clay, a seemingly infertile blend of minerals, might have been the birthplace of life on Earth. Or at least of the complex biochemicals that make life possible, Cornell University biological […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Origin & Evolution of Life
New Research Supports Theory That Life Started on Mars
Professor Steven Benner will tell geochemists gathering today (Thursday, 29 August) at the annual Goldschmidt conference that an oxidized mineral form of the element molybdenum, which may have been crucial […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life
Serpentinization of Ocean Crust and The Origin of Life
In a new study published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B, scientists funded by the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) advance a theory about life’s origins based on the […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life
Natural Affinities May Have Set Stage for Life to Ignite
The chemical components crucial to the start of life on Earth may have primed and protected each other in never-before-realized ways, according to new research led by University of Washington […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Evidence for Iron-Rich Ancient Ocean Changes View of Earth’s Early History
Over the last half-billion years, the ocean mostly has been full of oxygen and teeming with animal life. But earlier, before animals evolved, oxygen was harder to come by. Now […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
An Oxygen-poor ‘Boring’ Ocean Challenged Evolution of Early Life
A research team led by biogeochemists at the University of California, Riverside has filled in a billion-year gap in our understanding of conditions in the early ocean during a critical […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release
Carnegie: Meteorites – Tool Kits for Creating Life on Earth
Meteorites hold a record of the chemicals that existed in the early solar system and that may have been a crucial source of the organic compounds that gave rise to […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Plants Kick-start Evolutionary Drama Of Earth’s Oxygenation
An international team of scientists, exploiting pioneering techniques at Arizona State University, has taken a significant step toward unlocking the secrets of oxygenation of the Earth’s oceans and atmosphere.