Lichens may be the most easily overlooked life forms in nature. If you spend much time outside, you probably see some every day, although you might not know it—most people are likely to think they're moss. However, lichens ...
Evolution
Aug 11, 2020
0
582
You've probably seen a lichen, even if you didn't realize it. If you've ever meandered through the forest and wondered what the crusty stuff on trees or rocks was, they're lichens, a combination of algae and fungi living ...
Plants & Animals
Nov 15, 2019
2
365
When a wildfire obliterates a forest, the first life to rise from the ashes is usually a fungus—one of several species that cannot complete its life cycle in the absence of fire. Scientists have long argued about where ...
Ecology
Oct 25, 2019
1
360
When an asteroid smacked into the Earth 66 million years ago, it triggered mass extinctions all over the planet. The most famous victims were the dinosaurs, but early birds, insects, and other life forms took a hit too. The ...
Evolution
Jun 28, 2019
2
3
Individual lichens may contain up to three different fungi, according to new research from an international team of researchers. This evidence provides new insight into another recent discovery that showed lichen are made ...
Plants & Animals
Jan 17, 2019
0
991
University of Colorado Boulder researchers have discovered the first known molecular evidence of obligate symbiosis in lichens, a distinctive co-evolutionary relationship that could shed new light on how and why some multicellular ...
Ecology
Feb 8, 2018
0
225
For nearly 150 years, lichens have been the model organisms of symbiosis. Now researchers have uncovered an unexpected third partner embedded in the lichen cortex or "skin" - yeast.
Biotechnology
Jul 21, 2016
3
1885
European scientists have gathered tiny fungi that take shelter in Antarctic rocks and sent them to the International Space Station. After 18 months on board in conditions similar to those on Mars, more than 60% of their cells ...
Space Exploration
Jan 28, 2016
0
2234
A new study shows that a large percentage of hardy lichens exposed to space conditions for one and a half years remain viable after returning to Earth. The lichen Xanthoria elegans was part of the lichen and fungi experiment ...
Space Exploration
Oct 22, 2014
2
0
Humans cannot hope to survive life on Mars without plenty of protection from the surface radiation, freezing night temperatures and dust storms on the red planet. So they could be excused for marveling at humble Antarctic ...
Space Exploration
Jan 17, 2014
29
2
