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Study Tests Theory that Life Originated at Deep Sea Vents

By Guest PostApril 21, 2014Environment, Scienceamy earley, breast implant safety, cecidomyiidae, cobweb spiders, deep sea vents, east pacific rise, esther avendano, ethan balk, europa, gall midges, gowri raman, guaymas basin, huge biodiversity, hydrothermal fluids, hypothesis, jeff seewald, jeffrey seewald, jupiter, life, matt bertone, mid atlantic ridge, mid-cayman rise, moon, origin, taxonomic training, theory, whoi

One of the greatest mysteries facing humans is how life originated on Earth. Scientists have determined approximately when life began (roughly 3.8 billion years ago), but there is still intense debate about exactly how life began. One possibility has grown in popularity in the last two decades – that simple metabolic reactions emerged near ancient seafloor hot springs, enabling the leap from a non-living to a living world.

Recent research by geochemists Eoghan Reeves, Jeff Seewald, and Jill McDermott at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI) is the first to test a fundamental assumption of this ‘metabolism first’ hypothesis, and finds that it may not have been as easy as previously assumed. Instead, their findings could provide a focus for the search for life on other planets. The work is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science. (more…)

Google, Intel Founders Support Undersea Research by UMass Amherst Microbiologist

By Guest PostAugust 24, 2013Environmentaxial volcano, begum topcuoglu, black smoker, coast of oregon, Environment, environmental conservation, Eric Schmidt, founders, Google, hydrothermal fluids, hydrothermal vents, hyperthermophilic, intel, james holden, lucy stewart, methane producing, methanogenic, microbes, NASA, nsf, oceanographic research, pathogens, quantitative hydrogen requirements, research vessel falkor, schmidt ocean institute, simple organic wastes, soi, super heat loving, umass amherst microbiologist, undersea research, undersea volcanoes, university of massachusetts, university of washington, uw

AMHERST, Mass. – When microbiologist James Holden of the University of Massachusetts Amherst launches new studies next month of the microbes living deep in the cracks and thermal vents around an undersea volcano, for the first time in his 25-year career his deep-sea research will not be funded by a government source.

Instead, Holden will be funded by philanthropists committed to supporting oceanographic research: The Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation started by the co-founder of Intel and his wife, and the Schmidt Ocean Institute (SOI), started by Eric Schmidt of Google and his wife, Wendy. The Moores’ foundation is dedicated to advancing environmental conservation and scientific research, while the SOI supports oceanographic research projects that “help expand the understanding of the world’s oceans through technological advancements, intelligent observation and analysis, and open sharing of information.” (more…)

Martian Crater May Once Have Held Groundwater-Fed Lake

By Guest PostJanuary 22, 2013Sciencearabia terra, carbonate, clay mineral, compact reconnaissance, crism, early evolution, flat rock, groundwater, hydrothermal fluids, imaging spectrometer, joseph michalski, lake environment, layered, mars, mars orbiters, mars reconnaissance orbiter, martian crater, martian history, mclaughlin crater, meteor impact, mro, nasa spacecraft, non acidic conditions, potential habitat, red planet, rich zurek, scott murchie, spectrometer data, subsurface, subsurface habitability, underground water, wet underground environment

PASADENA, Calif. — A NASA spacecraft is providing new evidence of a wet underground environment on Mars that adds to an increasingly complex picture of the Red Planet’s early evolution.

The new information comes from researchers analyzing spectrometer data from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, which looked down on the floor of McLaughlin Crater. The Martian crater is 57 miles (92 kilometers) in diameter and 1.4 miles (2.2 kilometers) deep. McLaughlin’s depth apparently once allowed underground water, which otherwise would have stayed hidden, to flow into the crater’s interior. (more…)

Tag Archives: hydrothermal fluids

Study Tests Theory that Life Originated at Deep Sea Vents

Google, Intel Founders Support Undersea Research by UMass Amherst Microbiologist

Martian Crater May Once Have Held Groundwater-Fed Lake