Using data collected by NASA’s Cassini mission, an international team of scientists has discovered phosphorus – an essential chemical element for life – locked inside salt-rich ice grains ejected into […]
Phosphorus
Posted inAstrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Phosphorus – A Key Building Block For life – Found On Enceladus
The search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system just got more exciting. A team of scientists including Southwest Research Institute’s Dr. Christopher Glein has discovered new evidence that the […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Lightning Strike Creates Phosphorus Material For The First Time On Earth
After lightning struck a tree in a New Port Richey neighborhood, a University of South Florida professor discovered the strike led to the formation of a new phosphorus material. It […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Early Earth Life: Oxidative Phosphorus Chemistry Perturbed By Minerals
Life is a complex, open chemical system that must be supported with energy inputs. If one fathoms how simple early life must have been, the complexity of modern-day life is […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release
The Galactic Chemical Evolution Of Phosphorus Observed With IGRINS
Phosphorus (P) is considered to be one of the key elements for life, making it an important element to look for in the abundance analysis of spectra of stellar systems.
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Anoxic Weathering Of Mafic Oceanic Crust Promotes Atmospheric Oxygenation
Phosphorus is an essential element for all known life, and the global phosphorus cycle is widely believed to be a key factor limiting the extent of Earth’s biosphere. The size […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
Limited Phosphorus Recycling Can Suppress a Planet’s Biosphere
The amount of biomass — life — in Earth’s ancient oceans may have been limited due to low recycling of the key nutrient phosphorus, according to new research by the […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Arsenic-Based Life Update
‘Arsenic-life’ bacterium prefers phosphorous after all, Nature “Tawfik says that he was shocked by how good the proteins were at discriminating between the essential phosphate and the deadly arsenate. This […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life
NASA, Arsenic-based Life, Jumping the Gun, and Open Science
Study challenges existence of arsenic-based life, Nature “A group of scientists, led by microbiologist Rosie Redfield at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, have posted data on Redfield’s […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Response to Comments on "A Bacterium That Can Grow Using Arsenic Instead of Phosphorus"
“Concerns have been raised about our recent study suggesting that arsenic (As) substitutes for phosphorus (P) in major biomolecules of a bacterium that tolerates extreme As concentrations. We welcome the […]