Some icy exoplanets may have habitable oceans and geysers
A NASA study expands the search for life beyond our solar system by indicating that 17 exoplanets (worlds outside our solar system) could have oceans of liquid water, an essential ingredient for life, beneath icy shells. Water from these oceans could.....»»
The heat is on: What we know about why ocean temperatures keep smashing records
Over the last year, our oceans have been hotter than any time ever recorded. Our instrumental record covers the last 150 years. But based on proxy observations, we can say our oceans are now hotter than well before the rise of human civilization, ver.....»»
Panama plans dry alternative to drought-hit canal
Panama on Wednesday unveiled plans for a "dry canal" to move cargo between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans due to low water levels in its century-old maritime channel......»»
Using CO₂ and biomass, researchers find path to more environmentally friendly recyclable plastics
Modern life relies on plastic. This lightweight, adaptable product is a cornerstone of packaging, medical equipment, the aerospace and automotive industries and more. But plastic waste remains a problem as it degrades in landfills and pollutes oceans.....»»
If Europa has geysers, they"re very faint
In 2013, the Hubble Space Telescope spotted water vapor on Jupiter's moon Europa. The vapor was evidence of plumes similar to the ones on Saturn's moon Enceladus. That, and other compelling evidence, showed that the moon has an ocean. That led to spe.....»»
Study finds microbes hitchhike on microplastics to reach the sea
The oceans contain large amounts of microplastics, particles that are less than 5 mm in size. In parts of the Baltic Sea, the concentration of microplastics can be as much as 3,300 particles per cubic meter. The microplastics end up in aquatic enviro.....»»
Heat from El Niño can warm oceans off West Antarctica—and melt floating ice shelves from below
As snow falls on Antarctica, layers build up and turn to ice. Over time, this compressed snow has become a continent-sized glacier, or ice sheet. It's enormous—almost double the size of Australia and far larger than the continental United States......»»
Broken record: March is 10th straight month to be hottest on record, scientists say
For the 10th consecutive month, Earth in March set a new monthly record for global heat—with both air temperatures and the world's oceans hitting an all-time high for the month, the European Union climate agency Copernicus said......»»
Why there may be oceans inside dwarf planets beyond Pluto—and what this means for the likely abundance of life
Earth was long thought to be the only planet in our solar system with an ocean, but it is beginning to look as though there are underground oceans inside even the most surprising icy bodies......»»
Meteorites: Why study them? What can they teach us about finding life beyond Earth?
Universe Today has explored the importance of studying impact craters, planetary surfaces, exoplanets, astrobiology, solar physics, comets, planetary atmospheres, planetary geophysics, and cosmochemistry, and how this myriad of intricately linked sci.....»»
The search for the perfect coronagraph to find Earth 2.0
Studying exoplanets is made more difficult by the light from the host star. Coronagraphs are devices that block out the star light and both JWST and Nancy Grace Roman Telescope are equipped with them. Current coronagraphs are not quite capable of see.....»»
Tropical cyclones may be an unlikely ally in the battle against ocean hypoxia
Tropical cyclones, also known as hurricanes and typhoons, are meteorological phenomena that occur over tropical and subtropical oceans experiencing low atmospheric pressure, where water vapor from the warm oceans condenses to produce spiraling cloud.....»»
As climate change and pollution imperil coral reefs, scientists are deep-freezing corals to repopulate future oceans
Coral reefs are some of the oldest, most diverse ecosystems on Earth, and among the most valuable. They nurture 25% of all ocean life, protect coasts from storms and add billions of dollars yearly to the global economy through their influences on fis.....»»
New electrochemical technology could de-acidify the oceans—and even remove carbon dioxide in the process
In the effort to combat the catastrophic impacts of global warming, we must accelerate carbon emissions reduction efforts and rapidly scale strategies to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere and the oceans. The technologies for reducing ou.....»»
Cosmochemistry: Why study it? What can it teach us about finding life beyond Earth?
Universe Today has had some fantastic discussions with researchers on the importance of studying impact craters, planetary surfaces, exoplanets, astrobiology, solar physics, comets, planetary atmospheres, and planetary geophysics, and how these diver.....»»
In a distant stellar system, the JWST sees the end of planet formation
Every time a star forms, it represents an explosion of possibilities. Not for the star itself; its fate is governed by its mass. The possibilities it signifies are in the planets that form around it. Will some be rocky? Will they be in the habitable.....»»
Life might be difficult to find on a single planet but may be obvious across many worlds
If we could detect a clear, unambiguous biosignature on just one of the thousands of exoplanets we know of, it would be a huge, game-changing moment for humanity. But it's extremely difficult. We simply aren't in a place where we can be certain that.....»»
Additional nutrients intensify dead zones in oceans, researchers find
As more and more nutrients from land and air enter the world's oceans, the dead zones without oxygen in the water will increase in size and intensity. That is the warning that Ph.D. student Zoë van Kemenade, an organic geochemist at NIOZ, draws from.....»»
Machine learning model demonstrates effect of public breeding on rice yields in climate change
Climate change, extreme weather events, unprecedented records in temperatures, and higher, acidic oceans make it difficult to predict the long-term fate of modern crop varieties......»»
Signs of life detectable in single ice grain emitted from extraterrestrial moons, experimental setup shows
The ice-encrusted oceans of some of the moons orbiting Saturn and Jupiter are leading candidates in the search for extraterrestrial life. A new lab-based study led by the University of Washington in Seattle and the Freie Universität Berlin shows tha.....»»
Across oceans and millennia: Decoding the origin and history of the bottle gourd
In a fascinating dive into the past, a team of researchers from the Boyce Thompson Institute (BTI) and USDA has uncovered intriguing details about the origins and spread of the bottle gourd, one of the oldest domesticated crops......»»