Could there be ice in caves on Mars?
Based on visual and theoretical evidence, astronomers think that Mars has ice in caves that were carved out by volcanic activity. Spacecraft…
Category: Big Questions
Ancient bacteria leave behind fossils, too!
Scientists used genetic technology to identify the different roles of bacteria present in ancient fossil formations called stromatolites.
Invasive trees are changing the soil in the American Southwest
Ecosystems with diverse species and healthy habitats provide services that keep the system stable and are beneficial to humans. Humans…
Bacteria that live on plant roots are important for farming
Scientists used DNA sequencing to identify what microbes live on or near the root systems of farmed and wild wheat. They found that farmed…
Salt pools can guide our search for life on other planets
Pink, green, and square-shaped microbes can help us understand the limits of life on Earth and guide our search for life outside the planet.
Bacteria found with superpowers that let them survive in space
Scientists who study how humans might travel through space found a handful of specific genes that give bacteria some cool superpowers.
14,400-year-old viruses preserved in ice
A group of scientists discovered 14,400-year-old ancient microbes preserved in a Tibetan ice cap that could help us understand how past…
A detailed look at a rare meteorite
A carbonaceous meteorite that fell in Costa Rica holds organic compounds that are preserved from the earliest stages of our solar system,…
Microbes that eat iron cause bedrock erosion
Are microscopic mineral-eating microbes breaking down our mountains? They may be behind bedrock erosion.
Building the molecules of life in the lab
The hyperbranched polymer scaffold could have been the early primitive base for the emergence of life. @t_z_jia @CerberaOdollam…