NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  1. Content with the tag: “cambrian explosion

  2. The Day the Algae Died


    The P-T mass extinction that almost cleared the planet of life 250 million years ago may have been instigated by populations of algae dying. According to one group of scientists, this die-off of large numbers of relatively simple life forms caused a crash in the ocean’s entire food web. As part of the Astrobiology: Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology program at NASA, the team of scientists will now be exploring signs of an early algae die-off about 1.5 million years before the main P-T extinction event.

    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  3. Greening the Earth


    carbonatesLate Precambrian carbonate outcropping is visable at the south end of Death Valley, California. Carbon isotopes in these layers bear evidence of the first extensive greening of the Earth
    One of the most dramatic and seemingly inexplicable events in the history of Earth’s biosphere occurred roughly 540 million years ago when multi-cellular life exploded all over the planet. This large-scale diversification of life is known as the ‘Cambrian explosion’ and lead to the variety of organisms we see on Earth today. Scientists have often attributed the Cambrian explosion to significant geologic or climatic changes on our planet, but new NASA-sponsored research may have a better explanation.

    Rather than catastrophic disruptions in Earth’s climate, a new study indicates that the Cambrian explosion may have been caused by more...


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    Source: [Nature]

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