NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  1. Content with the tag: “complex life

  2. Triangulating Photosynthesis


    A team of researchers are uncovering new information about ancient microorganisms on Earth using fossils that are billions of years old. The team has identified similar patterns of growth in modern microbial mats and fossils that are 2.8 billion years old. Ultimately, the patterns are linked to photosynthesis and could help scientists better understand when microorganisms first started using photosynthesis to derive energy from sunlight. The origin of photosynthesis had profound effects on the global climate and biosphere of Earth by dramatically increasing the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere. This work was supported in part by the...

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    Source: [astrobio.net]

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  3. Molybdenum and the Rise of Complex Life


    Researchers from NASA’s Exobiology and Evolutionary Biology Program have found a potential link between the presence of the element molybdenum in the ancient oceans on Earth and the expansion of complex life. Using molybdenum in ancient rocks as a proxy for the oxidation state of the early oceans, Clint Scott and Tim Lyons of the University of California-Riverside, Andrey Bekker of the University of Manitoba, and Ariel Anbar of Arizona State University found a period in time when the oceans were relatively oxygen- and molybdenum-deprived, which they argue was a retardant to the development of complex life. ...

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