[UCSD] A new review paper led by scientists at UC San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography warns that the rapid loss of oxygen from the ocean and other aquatic ecosystems […]
water world
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Water Planet Ecosystems: How An Underwater Volcano Is Fertilizing The South Pacific
[Paige Wise USC] There is a volcano beneath the surface of the South Pacific that most people will never see, never hear about, and never think about. But it is […]
Posted inHabitable Zones
Water Planet Habitability: Sea Level Is Linked To Earth’s Carbon Thermostat
[Syracuse University] Earth has a natural thermostat that has kept the planet habitable for more than a hundred million years. Scientists have struggled to fully explain how it works, but […]
Posted inAstrogeology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Parameterizing Slantwise Convection In Icy Moon Oceans
Convection in icy moon oceans is strongly influenced by rotation, organizing into slantwise columnar structures aligned with the planetary rotation axis. They generate significant meridional heat transport, which can affect […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return
Lipid Biomarkers In Microbialites From A Maar Lake: An Astrobiological Study Of Biomarker Preservation under Mars Analog Conditions
Lipids constitute resistant biomarkers that have been proposed as pacemakers in the search for possible microbial life-forms in Mars’ past.
Posted inIcy Worlds
Dynamic Controls On Subsurface Water Chemistry And Habitability On Icy Moons
Icy moons are natural satellites whose surfaces contain a substantial fraction of frozen materials, most notably water ice.
Posted inAstrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
First Detection Of HDO Ice In A Protoplanetary Disk
Protoplanetary disks are the birthplace of planets and planetary systems. Investigating the molecular inventory of disks is key to linking the chemical evolution of the interstellar medium and the makeup […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ocean Planet Recon: MBARI and Monterey Bay Aquarium Complete Expedition to Guide Seamount
Editor’s note: When we start to mount Astrobiology missions to explore ocean worlds we’ll need ways for our robotic submersibles to observe and interact with whatever life forms they may […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Synergistic Effects of Ocean Salinity and Planetary Obliquity Enhance Habitability of Cold Exo-Earths
Past work has shown that ocean salinity and planetary obliquity both influence the climates of Earth-like exoplanets throughout the habitable zone of Sun-like stars. The effects of salinity and obliquity […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report
The Hydrogen, Methane And Ammonia Biosphere On Early Earth
Current paradigms for the origin and evolutions of life and the environment on early Earth have been based on the premises that carbon dioxide (CO2) and nitrogen gas (N2) were […]