Massive stars have a layered structure, similar to an onion. The outermost layers predominantly comprise the lightest elements; as the layers move inward, the elements become heavier and heavier until […]
silicon
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Commercial & Private Sector, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Plant Biology, Status Report
Silicon Is The Next Frontier In Plant Synthetic Biology
Silicon has striking similarity with carbon and is found in plant cells. However, there is no specific role that has been assigned to silicon in the life cycle of plants.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Interstellar, Status Report
A Cosmic Formation Site of Silicon and Sulphur Revealed by a New Type of Supernova Explosion
The cores of stars are the cosmic furnaces where light elements are fused into heavier nuclei. The fusion of hydrogen to helium initially powers all stars. The ashes of the […]
![LEFT: M dwarf abundance distributions for Mg and Si separated according to the kinematic membership of stars in the thick disc (TD), thick disc-thin disc transition (TD-D), thin disc (D), and young disc (YD), following the criteria of Montes et al. (2018) (see text for details). Mean values for each population are indicated by vertical lines. RIGHT: Top panel: [Si/Fe] vs. firon. The target stars are in orange while the black points correspond to the firon values computed from the Adibekyan et al. (2012) abundances. The fit through the M dwarf values is denoted with a blue line. Bottom panel: Histogram for the firon values of our sample. -- astro-ph.SR](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/The-CARMENES-Search-For-Exoplanets-AroundM.png?resize=1200%2C716&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
The CARMENES Search For Exoplanets Around M Dwarfs: Magnesium And Silicon Abundances Of K7-M5.5 Stars
We present the abundances of magnesium (Mg) and silicon (Si) for 314 dwarf stars with spectral types in the interval K7.0-M5.5 (Teff range ~4200-3050 K) observed with the CARMENES high-resolution […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
Silicification of Cyanobacteria
The ability to use dissolved silicon has been found in various oceanic phytoplankton, including eukaryotic diatoms and prokaryotic cyanobacteria.