All Microbes and Space articles
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NewsAnswers to existence of alien life might be found in Earth’s deep-sea volcanoes
NASA has awarded microbiologist James Holden $621,000 to spend the next three years using his expertise to help predict what life on Jupiter’s moon Europa might look like. For that, Holden turned to an unexpected place: the volcanoes a mile beneath our own oceans.
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NewsLife on Venus? UK probe could reveal the answer
The answer to whether tiny bacterial lifeforms really do exist in the clouds of Venus could be revealed once-and-for-all by a UK-backed mission. Scientists plan to search and map phosphine, ammonia, and other gases rich in hydrogen that shouldn’t be on the planet.
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NewsSpace Park Leicester developing technology for ultra-clean mini-lab to potentially contain extra-terrestrial samples returned to Earth
Work has begun to design and build a Double-Walled Isolator (DWI), akin to an ultra-clean miniature laboratory, to safely store and analyse extra-terrestrial materials, such as the first material from Mars.
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NewsHKU astrobiologist joins national effort to map out China’s Tianwen-3 Mars sample return mission
Professor Yiliang Li, a core member of the Tianwen-3 scientific team, is a co-author of a recently published perspective article outlining the mission’s objectives.
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NewsDiatoms could be key to creating farming systems on the Moon
Diatoms hold immense potential to revolutionize space agriculture, offering a transformative solution for sustainable extraterrestrial ecosystems and a key role in enabling humanity to establish sustainable living environments on the Moon and other planets, a new study argues.
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NewsTough microbes found in NASA cleanrooms hold clues to space survival and biotech
A new study involving AMI member Professor Alexandre Rosado has reported 26 novel bacterial species growing inside cleanrooms associated with NASA space missions. They carry genetic traits associated with resilience to extreme environments.
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NewsStrongest hints yet of biological activity outside the solar system
Astronomers have detected the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b. On Earth, these are only produced by life, primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton.
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NewsMicrobial landscape in the early operation phase of China space station
Metagenomics, comparative genomics, and microbial culture techniques were employed to conduct an in-depth analysis of the structure, function, dynamic changes, and adaptation mechanisms of microbial communities within the China Space Station.
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NewsA step towards life on Mars? Lichens survive Martian simulation in new study
For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that certain lichen species can survive Mars-like conditions, including exposure to ionising radiation, while maintaining a metabolically active state.
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NewsBacteria deployed to fix cracks in space bricks
Researchers have developed a bacteria-based technique to repair bricks that can be used to build lunar habitats, if they get damaged in the moon’s harsh environment.
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NewsMiso made in space tastes nuttier, researchers on the ISS find
A new study reveals how researchers successfully made miso on the International Space Station (ISS). They found that the miso smelled and tasted similar to miso fermented on Earth—just with a slightly nuttier, more roasted flavor. The team hopes this research will help broaden the culinary options available to astronauts.
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NewsSwRI receives $3 million NASA astrobiology grant to study microbial life in Alaska’s arctic sand dunes
Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) has received a three-year, $2,999,998 million grant from NASA to identify and characterize life and its biosignatures in frozen sand dunes in Alaska, under conditions similar to dune fields on early Mars and Saturn’s moon Titan. Source: Southwest Research Institute The Great Kobuk Sand ...
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NewsMethod detects signs of life in ancient rocks - such as Mars samples
A new instrument was successfully developed to detect microbial lifeforms in ancient Earth rocks analogous to those found on Mars rocks, as a biohazard precaution measure when Mars rock samples are brought to Earth.
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FeaturesFrom Earth to space: the journey of microbes and their survival mechanisms
What purpose could microbes have beyond the planet’s atmosphere? Discover their applications and the survival mechanisms that make microbes so powerful, even beyond Earth.
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NewsThe International Space Station is overly sterile - so making it ‘dirtier’ could improve astronaut health
The International Space Station (ISS) has a much lower diversity of microbes compared to human-built environments on Earth, and the microbes that are present are mostly species carried by humans onto the ISS, suggesting that the presence of more microbes from nature could help improve human health in the space station.
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NewsLaser-powered device tested on Earth could help us detect microbial fossils on Mars
Scientists hoping to identify fossil evidence of ancient Martian microbial life have now found a way to test their hypothesis, proving they can detect the fossils of microbes in gypsum samples that are a close analogy to sulfate rocks on Mars.
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FeaturesFrom Earth to space - exploring fungi in extraterrestrial environments
Fungi are incredible organisms in terms of plasticity, resilience, and adaptation. However, they have the potential to both help and hinder us.
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NewsA Sustainable Development Goal for space?
Scientists have called for the designation of a new United Nations Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) with the aim to conserve and sustainably use Earth’s orbit, and prevent the accumulation of space junk.
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FeaturesMars analogues and where to find them
“Are we alone in the universe?” is one of humanity’s oldest questions, with tremendous scientific and social ramifications. In search of answers, a great deal of attention has been focused on our closest neighbour, the red planet, Mars.
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CareersTowards space plastics - and solving a few Earth problems en route
Dr Nils Averesch, Assistant Professor of Space Biology at the Space Life Science Laboratory, Cape Canaveral, reveals how his research on microbial plastic production could pave the way for thriving human settlements in space.