Soil is the key to Earth's history (and future)

The English language is full of phrases—from "bogged down" to "feet of clay" and "dirt cheap"—that reflect how we appreciate the diversity of soil, but value it little.

Building more sustainable aircraft

Life cycle assessments of components can help make aircraft production more sustainable. The decisive factor is making the data available at an early stage. Thanks to a new eco-design software, these data are now available ...

Microbiologists discover enigmatic comammox microbes

Nitrification plays a key role in Earth's natural nitrogen cycle and in agriculture. Now an international team of scientists led by Holger Daims and Michael Wagner, microbiologists at the University of Vienna, has discovered ...

Earth's life support systems discussed

In the search for life on Mars or any planet, there is much more than the presence of carbon and oxygen to consider. Using Earth's biogeochemical cycles as a reference point, elements like nitrogen, iron and sulfur are just ...

Forest fires help power the nitrogen cycle

When fire burns down a forest, nitrate levels go up, and the effects are persistent, according to recent research from University of Montana scientists. They found that charcoal deposited during fire events has the potential ...

Microbes can grow on nitric oxide

Nitric oxide is a fascinating and versatile molecule, important for all living things as well as our environment. It is highly reactive and toxic; it is used as a signaling molecule; it depletes the ozone layer in our planet's ...

Early Titan was a cold, hostile place for life

Titan is a mysterious orange-socked moon of Saturn that is exciting to astrobiologists because it has some of the same kinds of chemicals that were precursors to life on Earth. It also has a hydrological cycle that allows ...

page 4 from 14