We know little about Earth's surface temperatures for the first 4 billion years or so of its history. This presents a limitation into research of life's origins on Earth and also how it might arise on distant worlds as well.
Earth Sciences
Jun 1, 2017
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174
In the icy bodies around our solar system, radiation emitted from rocky cores could break up water molecules and support hydrogen-eating microbes. To address this cosmic possibility, a University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) ...
Space Exploration
May 22, 2017
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681
Scientists from Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) have discovered hydrogen gas in the plume of material erupting from Saturn's moon Enceladus. Analysis of data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft indicates that the hydrogen ...
Space Exploration
Apr 13, 2017
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7084
(Phys.org)—An international team of researchers has found possible evidence of life ten kilometers below the sea floor in the Mariana Trench. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ...
Two University of Wyoming researchers led a voyage to the bottom of the Pacific Ocean and discovered five previously unknown active hydrothermal vents and a completely new vent site.
Earth Sciences
Mar 14, 2017
0
49
Scientists at the University of Southampton have discovered six new animal species in undersea hot springs 2.8 kilometres deep in the southwest Indian Ocean.
Ecology
Dec 15, 2016
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28
Cold seeps are places where hydrocarbons, mostly methane, emanate from the sea floor. Unlike the hydrothermal vents, the fluids and bubbles are no hotter than the surrounding seawater, thus the name.
Earth Sciences
Aug 10, 2016
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13
Kinetic and thermodynamic considerations reported by researchers at the Tokyo Institute of Technology suggest that thioesters at the heart of many theories on the origin of life are unlikely primordial contributors. The research ...
Biochemistry
Jul 28, 2016
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200
The hydrothermal vents and methane seeps on the ocean floor that were once thought to be geologic and biological oddities are now emerging as a major force in ocean ecosystems, marine life and global climate.
Earth Sciences
May 31, 2016
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54
Deep below the ocean's surface are hydrothermal vent fields, or submarine hot springs that can reach temperatures of up to 400 °C. These fields are surrounded by a unique set of animals, including vent crabs and eyeless ...
Earth Sciences
Mar 21, 2016
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61
