|
|
Hot Topic
Origins
Extreme Life
|
|
| |
|
|
Adding Up the Odds for Life
|
| Topic: Extreme Life |
09/20/09 |
| Researchers are laying the groundwork for a new equation that could mathematically quantify whether or not a particular environment is habitable for life as we know it. The concept is based on the Drake equation, which was developed for estimating the number of extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy. |
|
|
|
|
Roving the Ocean Floor
|
| Topic: Extreme Life |
09/12/09 |
| A rover that has been driving across the ocean floor off the California coast is providing researchers with an entirely new view of life in the deep ocean. The Benthic Rover is exploring the unique habitats deep below the Pacific waters and is also helping document the effects of climate change on these fragile environments. |
|
|
|
|
Subtracting Sulfur
|
| Topic: Extreme Life |
07/14/09 |
| Microbes from the ocean have been shown to process methane in ways that were previously unknown. The discovery could help astrobiologists understand how the early biosphere of Earth interacted with our planet's atmosphere. |
|
|
|
|
Wanted: Easy-Going Martian Roommates
|
| Topic: Extreme Life |
07/13/09 |
| Mars is not for the finicky. If something does live there, it's likely going to be similar to the more adaptive life forms on our planet. A group of researchers is studying a particular microbe that they think could be a model for Mars life. |
|
|
|
|
Coaxing Cold Colonies Back to Life
|
| Topic: Extreme Life |
06/26/09 |
| A bacterium recovered from beneath three kilometers of glacial ice in Greenland may hold clues as to how life could exist on other planets. Astrobiologists are now studying the unique organism, which has been isolated under ice for over 120,000 years. |
|
|
|
|
Sphere
|
| Topic: Extreme Life |
06/15/09 |
| A team of researchers at the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute conducted the first field test earlier this year of a new configuration of Deep-ESP. The device is designed to perform long-term studies of how deep-sea ecosystems respond to environmental changes. |
|
|
|
|
Erupting with Life
|
| Topic: Extreme Life |
05/08/09 |
| Scientists have been studying a unique undersea volcano that appears to be continuously active and supports unique biological communities. The site, dubbed NW Rota-1, is located near the Island of Guam and is helping astrobiologist understand how life can thrive under extreme conditions in the depths of the oceans. |
|
|
|
|
Outer Space Oreos
|
| Topic: Extreme Life |
05/07/09 |
| Scientists have previously exposed organisms and biomolecules to the many rigors of space, but those experiments only managed to take "before" and "after" pictures of their samples. A planned small satellite will monitor on a continuous basis the negative effects of space on biology. |
|
|
|
|
Life at Blood Falls
|
| Topic: Extreme Life |
04/21/09 |
| Researchers have discovered unusual microorganisms living in ancient water buried beneath an Antarctic glacier. The microbes could help us understand how life adapts to survive in extreme conditions. They may also provide clues about how life could survive on other locations in our solar system, such as Europa. |
|
|
|
|
Better Living Through Chemistry
|
| Topic: Extreme Life |
04/08/09 |
| A new study on the harsh environment of deep-sea mud volcanoes is shedding light on how life might have survived on the early Earth, or could survive on other planets. The study was performed in the Gulf of Mexico where seafloor vents spew mud, oil, brine and gases that support life independent from the energy of the sun. |
|
|
|
|
|
