water world
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Polar / Alpine Expeditions, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ice World Expedition: Drilling Through Thwaites Glacier In West Antarctica

by Keith Cowing

A team of researchers from the UK and Korea has reached the most inaccessible and least-understood part of Thwaites Glacier in West Antarctica where they will drill through the glacier […]

Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Terraforming & Geoengineering, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Subglacial Weathering May Have Slowed Earth’s Escape From Snowball Earth

by Keith Cowing

A new study led by researchers at the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Institute of Science Tokyo challenges a long-standing assumption about Earth’s most extreme ice ages. Using numerical geochemical […]

Posted inAstrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A Direct View of the Chemical Properties of Water from Another Planetary System: Water D/H in 3I/ATLAS

by Keith Cowing

All detected water reservoirs in the solar system exhibit a deuterium enrichment that links back to the physical environment at the time of stellar birth.

Posted inAstrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Ocean Worlds Working Group (OWWG) Draft Traceability Available For Community Comment

by Keith Cowing

The Ocean Worlds Working Group (OWWG) has released a draft traceability matrix that defines the OWWG’s driving science questions for future Ocean Worlds exploration, and the science investigations, measurements, instruments, […]

Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Elevated Eccentricities In The Radius Valley Hint At Water-Rich Mini-Neptunes

by Keith Cowing

While recent planet-formation models broadly reproduce the observed population of super-Earths and mini-Neptunes, as well as the bimodal radius distribution (the “radius valley”), it remains unclear whether all these planets […]

Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Aurora Vent Field Is A Hotspot For Microbial Hydrogen Oxidation In The Arctic Ocean

by Keith Cowing

Molecular hydrogen (H2) is a widespread, energetically efficient reductant supporting microbial metabolism across most known ecosystems. Although seafloor hydrothermal vents are major energy providers for H2-oxidizing microorganisms, the diversity of […]

Posted inAstrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Ice Giant, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The Radius Cliff is a Waterfall: Explaining Sub-Neptune Exoplanets With Steam Worlds

by Keith Cowing

The demographics of Kepler planets provide a key testbed for models of planet formation and evolution, particularly for explaining the radius valley separating super-Earths and sub-Neptunes.

Posted inAnalog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

A Whole-planet Model Of The Earth Without Life For Terrestrial Exoplanet Studies

by Keith Cowing

As the only known habitable (and inhabited) planet in the universe, Earth informs our search for life elsewhere. Future telescopes like the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) will soon look for […]

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