From the Universe today, So how would a scientist know if a newly discovered planet has life? Two scientists will create an equation that will answer the question. Figuring in variables such as the presence of water, habitability, radiation, etc. the equation will determine the likelihood of life arising.
NASA released new images from the revamped Hubble.
From Fox News, Glycine has been found on comet Wild 2. Carbon 13 was used as an indicator of extraterrestrial origin.
From Science daily, a new strain of Geobactor, the darling of electricity producers, has been discovered. Using selective pressure, a team from University of Massachusetts Amherst has evolved a strain that forms a thinner biofilm.
From the New York Times, a cool finding about a microlayer of microbes at the oceans’ surface. These microbes form an oily biofilm which maybe involved with gas exchange in the ocean.
From BBC News, A look at the embryonic development of turtles, mice and chickens show that the ribs of the turtle migrate upward to form the turtle’s shell.
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.
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.
From Fallbrook Village News, At the International Conference on the Status of Plant and Animal Genome Research, a researcher from Mars Inc. proposed sequencing cacao’s genome. And listed threats that endanger the plant. Fungi have severely limited cacao production in South America and could threaten African production if steps are not taken to breed in disease resistance.
From Science Daily, in my backyard sinkhole in Lake Huron they have found cyanobacteria that uses sulfur in photosynthesis. Like the lakes of Antarctica the sinkhole house unique organisms that NASA has been looking at for clue to life on Mars. Which also could produce novel compounds useful in biotechnology, medicine, etc.