The search for habitable exoplanets in the Universe is actively ongoing in the field of astronomy. The biggest future milestone is to determine whether life exists on such habitable exoplanets. […]
oxygen
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones
Oxygen Is Not Definitive Evidence of Life on Extrasolar Planets
The Earth’s atmosphere contains oxygen because plants continuously produce it through photosynthesis. This abundant supply of oxygen allows life forms like animals to flourish. Therefore, oxygen had been thought to […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Press Release
Making Oxygen Before Life
About one-fifth of the Earth’s atmosphere is oxygen, pumped out by green plants as a result of photosynthesis and used by most living things on the planet to keep our […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Oxygen-producing Life A ppeared at Least 60 Million Years Earlier Than Previously Thought
Geologists from Trinity College Dublin have rewritten the evolutionary history books by finding that oxygen-producing life forms were present on Earth some 3 billion years ago – a full 60 […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Origin & Evolution of Life
Oxygen Requirements of Earth's Earliest Animals
A new study published recently in PNAS explores the relationship between the origin of animals and the oxygen content of the atmosphere. A rise in the oxygen content of the […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life
A Stepping-Stone for Oxygen on Earth
For most terrestrial life on Earth, oxygen is necessary for survival. But the planet’s atmosphere did not always contain this life-sustaining substance, and one of science’s greatest mysteries is how […]
Posted inMars
Volcanism on Mars controlled by early oxidation of the upper mantle
The compositions of the 3.7-billion-year-old surface rocks on Mars — as observed by the Spirit rover at Gusev crater — are shown to be consistent with early mixing of oxidized […]
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.