Betsy Smeed » Geology

Some trees ‘farm’ bacteria

Betsy — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 03:46:42 +0000

From science centric, oak and beech seem to encourage root microbes to facilitate mineral weathering. Root microbes break down minerals to create usable nutrients, like iron, to the trees.

Prussian Blue Salt Linked to Origin of Life

Betsy — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:34:07 +0000

From Science Daily, iron (III) hexacyanoferrate (II) or Prussian blue salt when added to ammonia makes hydrogen cyanide. Which is an important building block when it comes to creating life. Leading to stuff like urea, lactic acid and dimethylhydantoin. Interesting bit about it concentrating carbon and creating hematite.

Post 100!

The Methane of Mars

Betsy — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:08:33 +0000

From Physorg.com, findings from the red planet shows that the amount of methane (CH4) in the Martian atmosphere is not caused by meteorites. So now the thinking is that it is caused by the reaction of rock with water and CO2 or it is biological.
Given the amount of CO2 in Mars’ atmosphere, I’m leaning toward the geologic origin. But one can dream of Martian Microbes.

Origin of Life

Betsy — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:44:34 +0000

From New Scientist, a list of how life could have started. I haven’t seen a detailed list like this on abiogeneses. Most of the research looks at replication or metabolism. This ties both together for the first time.

Also a longer article

The salt of life

Betsy — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 12:48:29 +0000

From Science Daily, German scientists have discovered that using salts (NaCl, CaCl2, MgCl2 and KCl) amino acids will form pyrroles. Pyrroles are important for photosynthesis.

Fundamental Ingredient for Life Discovered in Comet

Betsy — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 13:43:12 +0000

From Fox News, Glycine has been found on comet Wild 2. Carbon 13 was used as an indicator of extraterrestrial origin.

Cool Stars Have Different Mix of Chemicals

Betsy — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 17:33:31 +0000

From the NASA Spitzer news page, A look at the chemicals around smaller and cooler stars than the sun show that they do not have hydrogen cyanide, but acetylene. The speculation is that ultraviolet light is involved in the creation of HCN. Also small stars have extreme magnetic bursts that can be disruptive for life. So the implications for life on planets around these stars seems to be less likely than sun-like stars.

Less Nickle means more life

Betsy — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 21:40:10 +0000

From Universe today, a look at banded iron formations, show the decrease of nickel in seawater over time. It is speculated that methanogens, which are known to need nickle, became less abundant and lead to the rise of oxygen producers and more complex life.

Mineral Kingdom Has Co-Evolved with Life

Betsy — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 20:41:27 +0000

From Carnegie Institute for Science, about 2/3 of all known minerals have a biological origin. A major example of this are banded iron formations. The knowledge will aid in the search for life on other planets if certain minerals are found. The video interview of the lead author of the paper is good.

Found: The hottest water on Earth

Betsy — Mon, 04 Aug 2008 15:32:56 +0000

From New Scientist, while investigating the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, researchers have discovered supercritical fluid. And interestingly this fluid can leach important minerals(such as iron and manganese)from rock.