Scientists are tackling “the most profound questions about life itself” with complex computer modeling, billion-year-old bacteria, and old-fashioned fieldwork.
life as we know it
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Arctic Hydrothermal Vents May Resemble Those on Enceladus
By studying hydrogen-rich vent sites on Earth, scientists could learn more about the hidden ocean of Saturn’s icy moon—one of our solar system’s likeliest candidates for harboring life beyond Earth.
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Planetary Perturbations May Strengthen Gaia
Large-scale disruptions to life may ultimately increase ecological complexity over geologic timescales, though the risk of extinction always looms.
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Bacteria Battled for Iron in Earth’s Early Oceans
Billions of years ago, iron-oxidizing microbes may have competed for dissolved iron in the ocean, with some strains producing toxic gases that smothered their rivals.
Posted inENGAGE, News
Clipper Sets Sail for an Ocean Millions of Miles Away
Europa Clipper will assess whether Jupiter’s moon has the right ingredients to host life, and could illuminate the mysteries of icy worlds throughout the solar system.
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Small Stars Produce Mighty UV Flares
Stronger-than-expected ultraviolet flares could either provide exoplanets the sparks of life or prevent them from having life at all.
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Circones de 4,000 millones de años podrían contener nuestras evidencias más antiguas de la existencia de agua dulce
Cristales australianos apuntan a la existencia de agua dulce, así como de continentes que se elevaban sobre el océano Hadeano de la Tierra.
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Curiosity Digs Up Evidence of a Cold, Wet Martian Past
Amorphous materials, which are rarely studied on Earth, yield insights into the history of Gale Crater and the early Martian environment.
Posted inScience Updates
How Great was the “Great Oxidation Event”?
Geochemical sleuthing amid acid mine runoff suggests that scientists should rethink an isotope signal long taken to indicate low levels of atmospheric oxygen in Earth’s deep past.
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Four-Billion-Year-Old Zircons May Contain Our Earliest Evidence of Fresh Water
Australian crystals hint at fresh water, as well as land rising above Earth’s Hadean ocean.