Using data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft, scientists at Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) modeled chemical processes in the subsurface ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus. The studies indicate the possibility that a varied ...
Space Exploration
Dec 16, 2020
2
516
The Earth's biosphere contains all the known ingredients necessary for life as we know it. Broadly speaking these are: liquid water, at least one source of energy, and an inventory of biologically useful elements and molecules.
Space Exploration
Sep 18, 2020
10
379
New research led by the American Museum of Natural History and funded by NASA identifies a process that might have been key in producing the first organic molecules on Earth about 4 billion years ago, before the origin of ...
Biochemistry
Sep 9, 2020
1
75
Despite an extreme environment characterized by high pressure, high temperature, strong acidity and low oxygen levels resembling living conditions in prehistoric times, hydrothermal vents harbor a diverse population of creatures, ...
Biotechnology
Apr 29, 2020
1
433
Where did life first form on Earth? Some scientists think it could have been around hydrothermal vents that may have existed at the bottom of the ocean 4.5 billion years ago. In a new paper in the journal Astrobiology, scientists ...
Astrobiology
Apr 16, 2020
2
94
For years, researchers looking at seafloor sediments would find bits of black carbon along with organic carbon strewn across the ocean floor, but they couldn't say exactly where it originated. The challenge with studying ...
Earth Sciences
Dec 4, 2019
0
119
Research which suggests that structures previously thought to be fossils may, in fact, be mineral deposits could save future Mars missions valuable time and resources.
Biochemistry
Nov 27, 2019
0
36
In the deep sea, far away from the light of the sun, organisms use chemical energy to fix carbon. At hydrothermal vents—where hot, mineral-rich water gushes out of towering chimneys called black smokers—vibrant ecosystems ...
Ecology
Nov 19, 2019
0
25
By creating protocells in hot, alkaline seawater, a UCL-led research team has added to evidence that the origin of life could have been in deep-sea hydrothermal vents rather than shallow pools.
Evolution
Nov 4, 2019
3
406
Deep-sea mussels, which rely on cooperative symbiotic bacteria for their food, harbor a surprisingly high diversity of these bacterial "cooks": Up to 16 different bacterial strains live in the mussel's gills, each with its ...
Ecology
Oct 15, 2019
0
105
