SPACE/COSMOS
A step towards life on Mars? Lichens survive Martian simulation in new study
Pensoft Publishers
image:
Cetraria aculeata superimposed on Mars.
view moreCredit: Lichen: Skubała et al. Design: Pensoft Publishers.
For the first time, researchers have demonstrated that certain lichen species can survive Mars-like conditions, including exposure to ionising radiation, while maintaining a metabolically active state.
Published in the open-access journal IMA Fungus, a new study highlights the potential for lichens to survive and function on the Martian surface, challenging previous assumptions about the uninhabitable nature of Mars, and offering insights for astrobiology and space exploration.
Lichens are not a single organism, but a symbiotic association between a fungus and algae and/or cyanobacteria known for their extreme tolerance to harsh environments such as Earth's deserts and polar regions. In this study, the fungal partner in lichen symbiosis remained metabolically active when exposed to Mars-like atmospheric conditions in darkness, including X-ray radiation levels expected on Mars over one year of strong solar activity.
The research focuses on two lichen species, Diploschistes muscorum and Cetraria aculeata, selected for their differing traits, exposing them to Mars-like conditions for five hours in a simulation of the planet’s atmospheric composition, pressure, temperature fluctuations, and X-ray radiation.
The findings suggest that lichens, particularly D. muscorum, could potentially survive on Mars despite the high doses of X-ray radiation associated with solar flares and energetic particles reaching the planet’s surface. These results challenge the assumption that ionising radiation is an insurmountable barrier to life on Mars and set the stage for further research on the potential for extraterrestrial microbial and symbiotic survival.
Lead author of the paper, Kaja Skubała, said: “Our study is the first to demonstrate that the metabolism of the fungal partner in lichen symbiosis remained active while being in an environment resembling the surface of Mars. We found that Diploschistes muscorum was able to carry out metabolic processes and activate defense mechanisms effectively.
“These findings expand our understanding of biological processes under simulated Martian conditions and reveal how hydrated organisms respond to ionizing radiation – one of the most critical challenges for survival and habitability on Mars. Ultimately, this research deepens our knowledge of lichen adaptation and their potential for colonizing extraterrestrial environments.”
Further long-term studies investigating the impact of chronic radiation exposure on lichens have been recommended, as well as experiments assessing their survival in real Martian environments.
The study was conducted by researchers from Jagiellonian University and the Space Research Centre of the Polish Academy of Sciences, and supported by the National Science Centre, Poland, and the “Excellence Initiative – Research University” at the Faculty of Biology, Jagiellonian University.
Cetraria aculeata.
Experiment arrangement of vacuum chamber with the additional facility, including metal grate with lichens, cooling table, temperature, pressure and humidity sensors, X-ray lamp with the controller, CO2 valve with cylinder, controllers of vacuum chamber, pressure, cooling table, and computer.
Credit
Skubała et al.
Original study
Skubała K, Chowaniec K, Kowaliński M, Mrozek T, Bąkała J, Latkowska E, Myśliwa-Kurdziel B (2025) Ionizing radiation resilience: how metabolically active lichens endure exposure to the simulated Mars atmosphere. IMA Fungus 16: e145477. https://doi.org/10.3897/imafungus.16.145477
Journal
IMA Fungus
Article Title
Ionizing radiation resilience: how metabolically active lichens endure exposure to the simulated Mars atmosphere
Article Publication Date
31-Mar-2025
James Webb discovers earliest sign of the Universe becoming transparent
University of Copenhagen - Faculty of Science
image:
The galaxy JADES-GS-z13-1 observed through seven different filters that transmit only part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The farther to the left, the more ultraviolet the light is. While the galaxy is clearly seen in the four longer-wavelength images on the right, it is completely invisible in the shortest wavelengths images on the left. Note that the colors are “false”; the images merely shows where the light is seen.
view moreCredit: Credit: Witstok et al. (2025).
Born in fire, cooled by expansion, collapsed by clumpiness.
That is the Universe in a nutshell.
A few hundred million years after the Big Bang, the first stars and galaxies condensed out of immense clouds of gas. Exactly when is a subject of intense research, but so far, astronomers have discovered galaxies all the way back to less than 300 million years after the Big Bang.
Now one of these very first galaxies turns out to reveal an interesting fact about the Universe:
Risk of dense fog with low visibility
One of the reasons that detecting the first galaxies is complicated is exactly because of the gas from which they form.
Newborn galaxies shine most brightly in energetic, ultraviolet light, or UV. But during the first some half a billion years, the gas enshrouding the galaxies, and lying between them, was neutral. Because neutral gas is very efficient at absorbing UV light, this means that only the fainter, less-energetic light can make it through the fog, making observations of the first galaxies extremely challenging.
Galaxies detected in these early epochs are simply invisible at the short UV wavelengths.
Lifting the fog
As UV radiation is emitted from the first sources of light, it slowly begins to transform the Universe. The neutral atoms that hide the galaxies are split apart by the UV light, eventually rendering the Universe transparent.
This process is known as the Epoch of Reionization, and its detailed circumstances are a subject of intense research in astronomy: When did it start, how long did it take, how did it proceed, and which sources were responsible?
Until recently, the consensus was that reionization did not begin until the Universe was around half a billion years old, completing another half billion years later.
But this notion is now challenged by a new study, led by astronomers at the Cosmic Dawn Center (DAWN) at the Niels Bohr Institute and DTU Space. Investigating one of the most distant galaxies, the researchers have discovered a clear sign of reionization beginning significantly earlier than hitherto thought.
Joris Witstok, postdoc at DAWN who led the study, explains:
“Young galaxies shine brightest at a very specific wavelength of light, originating from hydrogen. To astronomers, this light goes under the name “Lyman alpha”. Because of its short UV wavelength, it is easily absorbed by the surrounding medium, and therefore no galaxy from when the Universe was less than half a billion years old has showed us this particular kind of light.”
Galactic bubbles
That is, until now.
What Witstok and his team found was that one of the very most distant galaxies, known as JADES-GS-z13-1, is gleaming brilliantly with Lyman alpha light.
But how can Lyman alpha escape a galaxy cloaked in dense, neutral gas?
“We know from our theories and computer simulations, as well as from observations at later epochs, that the most energetic UV light from the galaxies »fries« the surrounding neutral gas, creating bubbles of ionized, transparent gas around them,” Witstok elaborates. “These bubbles percolate the Universe, and after around a billion years, they eventually overlap, completing the epoch of reionization. We believe that we have discovered one of the first such bubbles.”
In other words, the detection of the Lyman alpha light is a telltale signature of an ionized bubble, because it would not be able to escape otherwise.
Only with Webb
The observations would not have been possible without the sensitivity of James Webb and its ability to explore the light of galaxies wavelength by wavelength.
“We knew that we would find some of the most distant galaxies when we built Webb,” says Peter Jakobsen, affiliated professor at DAWN, project scientist behind James Webb’s spectrograph NIRSpec, and second-author of the study. “But we could only dream of one day being able to probe them in such detail that we can now see directly how they affect the whole Universe.”
The question remains what exactly is the cause of the ionized bubble. Although the first stars are thought to be very hot and extremely UV bright, there is another possibility:
“Most galaxies are known to host a central, supermassive black hole. As these monsters engulf surrounding gas, the gas is heated to millions of degrees, making it shine brightly in X-rays and UV before disappearing forever. This is another viable cause of the bubbles, which we will now investigate,” Witstok concludes.
Journal
Nature
Method of Research
Observational study
Subject of Research
Not applicable
Article Title
Witnessing the onset of reionization through Lyman-α emission at redshift 13
Article Publication Date
31-Mar-2025
A close view on one of the most distant galaxies known: On the left are some 10,000 galaxies at all distances, observed with the James Webb Space Telescope. The zoom-in on the right shows, in the center as a red dot, the galaxy JADES-GS-z13-1. Its light was emitted 330 million years after the Big Bang and traveled for almost 13.5 billion years before reaching Webb’s golden mirror. Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, JADES Collaboration, J. Witstok, P. Jakobsen, A. Pagan (STScI), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb).
Credit
Credit: ESA/Webb, NASA & CSA, JADES Collaboration, J. Witstok, P. Jakobsen, A. Pagan (STScI), M. Zamani (ESA/Webb).
Flatiron Institute becomes new hub for stellar evolution software suite MESA
Simons Foundation
image:
Thousands upon thousands of stars illuminate this breathtaking image of star cluster Liller 1, imaged with Hubble’s Wide Field Camera 3. This stellar system, located 30,000 light-years from Earth, formed stars over 11 billion years.
view moreCredit: ESA/Hubble & NASA, F. Ferraro
As part of its commitment to unraveling the universe’s mysteries through sustained support of the astrophysics community, the Flatiron Institute is securing the future of MESA (Modules for Experiments in Stellar Astrophysics), an open-source software suite that has transformed how researchers model the evolution of stars.
As MESA’s creator, Bill Paxton, steps down, the Flatiron Institute’s Center for Computational Astrophysics (CCA) is stepping up to support MESA’s need for ongoing maintenance and continued development. CCA has hired Philip Mocz as a full-time software engineer to help ensure MESA’s bright future for the collective benefit of the astrophysics community.
“MESA has revolutionized astronomy and keeps on growing, meaning it needs maintenance and expansion,” says Mocz. “Open source means open science, and it is exciting to be a part of this effort.”
Matteo Cantiello, a research scientist at CCA, says, “There is an intention and attention to supporting open-source software at CCA and the Flatiron Institute. As Bill was reducing his involvement with MESA, the project was also facing challenges in maintaining its funding, so CCA jumped in to provide stability and support for this key software.”
With Mocz’s appointment, the center of gravity for the MESA project moves to CCA, marking a new chapter for the software suite. Since its beginnings in 2011, the code has been adopted globally by more than 1,000 astrophysicists, the publications describing its capabilities have been cited more than 12,000 times and it has been employed and adapted for stellar investigations that have resulted in thousands of scientific publications.
This success is in large part due to researchers from around the world who have contributed code to the project since its early days. The MESA developers team, a core group of volunteers who build and maintain the code, has been instrumental in sustaining the project throughout its history — from conception to Paxton’s retirement and beyond — and fostering a community of users and developers through workshops, events and training.
“I never imagined MESA would have so many users and such a large scientific impact,” says Paxton. “The CCA’s collaborative work with the MESA developers and the community will ensure it continues to make significant contributions to stellar physics.”
Tools such as MESA are critical for analyzing the deluge of observational data collected by telescopes and satellites, says Cantiello. “New space telescopes and gravitational wave observations have revealed properties of stars that hadn’t been predicted,” he says. “Most of the big discoveries in the last decade have had a theoretical component that involved MESA.”
Paxton, a retired computer scientist, introduced MESA to the world as a tool for modeling how stars evolve over their lifespans. Light from stars provides a wealth of information that astronomers and astrophysicists use to study the universe. From their initial formation out of clouds of cosmic gas and dust to maturation when they can sustain nuclear fusion until their death, stars are dynamic and fundamental entities for understanding astrophysical environments.
Advances in observations have generated new data about the lives — and deaths — of stars, but computational modeling is needed to turn those observations into astronomical insights about the underlying physics. MESA provides a state-of-the-art, one-dimensional method for understanding the complex physics involved in a star’s evolution.
“Modern stellar physics requires both precise 1D evolutionary calculations and high-resolution 3D dynamical simulations,” says Cantiello. “With Mocz on board, the CCA is uniquely suited to exploit this zoom-in, zoom-out approach to seamlessly bridge dimensions by integrating MESA with multidimensional tools.”
Martian dust could pose health risks to future astronauts
University of Colorado at Boulder
image:
Justin Wang, left, and Brian Hynek, right, at Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica. (Credit: Justin Wang)
view moreCredit: Justin Wang
Don’t breathe in the dust on Mars.
That’s the takeaway from new research from a team of scientists, including researchers from the University of Colorado Boulder. The findings suggests that long-term exposure to Martian dust could create a host of health problems for future astronauts—leading to chronic respiratory problems, thyroid disease and more.
The study, published in the journal GeoHealth, is the first to take a comprehensive look at the chemical ingredients that make up Martian dust, and their possible impacts on human health. It was undertaken by a team from the worlds of medicine, geology and aerospace engineering.
“This isn't the most dangerous part about going to Mars,” said Justin Wang, lead author of the study and a student in the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. “But dust is a solvable problem, and it’s worth putting in the effort to develop Mars-focused technologies for preventing these health problems in the first place.”
Wang, a CU Boulder alumnus, noted that Apollo era astronauts experienced runny eyes and irritated throats after inhaling dust from the moon. Apollo 17’s Harrison Schmitt likened the symptoms to hay fever.
But scientists know a lot less about the potential harms of Martian dust. To begin to answer that question, Wang and his colleagues drew on data from rovers on Mars and even Martian meteorites to better understand what makes up the planet’s dust. The group discovered a “laundry list” of chemical compounds that could be dangerous for people—at least when inhaled in large quantities and over long periods of time.
They include minerals rich in silicates and iron oxides, metals like beryllium and arsenic and a particularly nasty class of compounds called perchlorates.
In many cases, those ingredients are present in only trace amounts in Mars dust. But the first human explorers on Mars may spend around a year and a half on the surface, increasing their exposure, said study co-author Brian Hynek.
“You’re going to get dust on your spacesuits, and you’re going to have to deal with regular dust storms,” said Hynek, a geologist at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) at CU Boulder. “We really need to characterize this dust so that we know what the hazards are.”
Into the bloodstream
One thing is clear, he added: Mars is a dusty place.
Much of the planet is covered in a thick layer of dust rich in tiny particles of iron, which gives the planet its famous red color. Swirling dust storms are common and, in some cases, can engulf the entire globe.
“We think there could be 10 meters of dust sitting on top of the bigger volcanoes,” said Hynek, a professor in the Department of Geological Sciences. “If you tried to land a spacecraft there, you’re going to just sink into the dust.”
Wang found his own way to Martian dust through a unique academic path. He started medical school after earning bachelor’s degrees from CU Boulder in astronomy and molecular, cellular and developmental biology, followed by a master’s degree in aerospace engineering sciences. He currently serves in the Navy through its Health Professions Scholarship Program.
He noted that the biggest problem with Martian dust comes down to its size. Estimates suggest that the average size of dust grains on Mars may be as little as 3 micrometers across, or roughly one-ten-thousandth of an inch.
“That’s smaller than what the mucus in our lungs can expel,” Wang said. “So after we inhale Martian dust, a lot of it could remain in our lungs and be absorbed into our blood stream.”
An ounce of prevention
In the current study, Wang and several of his fellow medical students at USC scoured research papers to unearth the potential toxicological effects of the ingredients in Martian dust.
Some of what they found resembled common health problems on Earth. Dust on Mars, for example, contains large amounts of the compound silica, which is abundant in minerals on our own planet. People who inhale a lot of silica, such as glass blowers, can develop a condition known as silicosis. Their lung tissue becomes scarred, making it hard to breath—symptoms similar to the “black lung” disease that coal miners often contract. Currently, there is no cure for silicosis.
In other cases, the potential health consequences are much less well-known.
Martian dust carries large quantities of highly oxidizing compounds called perchlorates, which are made up of one chlorine and multiple oxygen atoms. Perchlorates are rare on Earth, but some evidence suggests that they can interfere with human thyroid function, leading to severe anemia. Even inhaling a few milligrams of perchlorates in Martian dust could be dangerous for astronauts.
Wang noted that the best time to prepare for the health risks of Martian dust is before humans ever make it to the planet. Iodine supplements, for example, would boost astronauts’ thyroid function, potentially counteracting the toll of perchlorates—although taking too much iodine can also, paradoxically, lead to thyroid disease. Filters specifically designed to screen out Martian dust could also help to keep the air in living spaces clean.
“Prevention is key. We tell everyone to go see their primary care provider to check your cholesterol before it gives you a heart attack,” Wang said. “The best thing we can do on Mars is make sure the astronauts aren’t exposed to dust in the first place.”
Co-authors of the current study include USC medical students Jeremy Rosenbaum, Ajay Prasad and Robert Raad; Esther Putnam, former graduate student in aerospace engineering sciences at CU Boulder now at SpaceX; Andrea Harrington at the NASA Johnson Space Center; and Haig Aintablian, director of the Space Medicine Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, also affiliated with SpaceX.
Journal
GeoHealth
Article Title
Potential Health Impacts, Treatments, and Countermeasures of Martian Dust on Future Human Space Exploration
Justin Wang at Turrialba Volcano in Costa Rica as part of research to search for analogs for the Martian environment on Earth.
Credit
Justin Wang
Fixing cracks in space bricks with bacteria
image:
Bricks with artificially created flaws, alongside bricks repaired using the bacteria-filled slurry.
view moreCredit: Amogh Jadhav
Researchers at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) have developed a bacteria-based technique to repair bricks that can be used to build lunar habitats, if they get damaged in the moon’s harsh environment.
Future lunar expeditions are no longer planned as just flyby missions. NASA’s Artemis programme, for example, seeks to set up a permanent habitat on the moon. To cut costs, instead of carrying material from Earth, astronauts would need to use the abundantly available lunar soil or “regolith” – a complex mixture of broken minerals and rocks – to build structures on site.
A few years ago, researchers at the Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME), IISc developed a technique that uses a soil bacterium called Sporosarcina pasteurii to build bricks out of lunar and Martian soil simulants. The bacterium converts urea and calcium into calcium carbonate crystals that, along with guar gum, glue the soil particles together to create brick-like materials. This process is an eco-friendly and low-cost alternative to using cement.
Subsequently, the team also explored sintering – heating a compacted mixture of soil simulant and a polymer called polyvinyl alcohol to very high temperatures – to create much stronger bricks. “It’s one of the classical ways of making bricks,” explains Aloke Kumar, Associate Professor at ME and corresponding author of the study. “It makes bricks of very high strength, more than adequate even for regular housing.” Sintering is an easily scalable process – multiple bricks can be made at once in a furnace.
But the lunar surface is extremely harsh – temperatures can swing from 121°C to -133°C in a single day and it is constantly bombarded by solar winds and meteorites. This can cause cracks in these bricks, weakening structures built using them. “Temperature changes can be much more dramatic on the lunar surface, which can, over a period of time, have a significant effect,” explains co-author Koushik Viswanathan, Associate Professor at ME. “Sintered bricks are brittle. If you have a crack and it grows, the entire structure can quickly fall apart.”
To solve this problem, the team once again turned to bacteria. In a new study, they created different types of artificial defects in sintered bricks and poured a slurry made from S. pasteurii, guar gum, and lunar soil simulant into them. Over a few days, the slurry penetrated into the defects and the bacterium produced calcium carbonate, which filled them up. The bacterium also produced biopolymers which acted as adhesives that strongly bound the soil particles together with the residual brick structure, thereby recovering much of the brick’s lost strength. This process can stave off the need to replace damaged bricks with new ones, extending the lifespan of built structures.
“We were initially not sure if the bacteria would bind to the sintered brick,” says Kumar. “But we found that the bacteria can not only solidify the slurry but also adhere well to this other mass.” The reinforced bricks were also able to withstand temperatures ranging from 100°C to 175°C.
“One of the big questions is about the behaviour of these bacteria in extraterrestrial conditions,” says Kumar. “Will their nature change? Will they stop doing [the carbonate production]? Those things are still unknown.”
The team is currently working on a proposal to dispatch a sample of S. pasteurii into space as part of the Gaganyaan mission, to test their growth and behaviour under microgravity. Viswanathan says: “If that happens, to our knowledge, it will be the first experiment of its kind with this type of bacteria.”
Journal
Frontiers in Space Technologies
Article Title
Bacterial bio-cementation can repair space bricks
In the pinball world of asteroids, a mudball meteorite avoided collisions
The research team now believes that Aguas Zarcas is strong because it avoided collisions in space and did not have the cracks that weaken many meteorites.
SETI Institute
image:
Aguas Zarcas meteorite with irregular surface features.
This 146g stone is on loan to the Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies from Michael Farmer.
view moreCredit: Arizona State University / SETI Institute.
In the Pinball World of Asteroids, a Mudball Meteorite Avoided Collisions
March 31, 2025, Mountain View, CA -- In April 2019, rare primitive meteorites fell near the town of Aguas Zarcas in northern Costa Rica. In an article published online in the journal Meteoritics & Planetary Science, an international team of researchers describe the circumstances of the fall and show that mudball meteorites are not necessarily weak.
"27 kilos of rocks were recovered, making this the largest fall of its kind since similar meteorites fell near Murchison in Australia in 1969," said meteor astronomer Peter Jenniskens of the SETI Institute and NASA Ames Research Center.
The Murchison meteorite fell only two months after the first manned landing on the Moon in 1969 when researchers were ready to study moon rocks and eagerly trained their instruments on this other rock from space.
"The recovery of Aguas Zarcas, too, was a small step for man, but a giant leap for meteoritics," said geologist Gerardo Soto of the University of Costa Rica in San José, paraphrasing Neil Armstrong’s words. "76 papers have since been written about this meteorite."
Jenniskens teamed up with Soto to investigate the new fall.
“The fall of Aguas Zarcas was huge news in the country. No other fireball was as widely reported and then recovered as stones on the ground in Costa Rica in the last 150 years”, Soto added.
Analysis of video camera footage by the team showed that the rock entered at a near-vertical angle into Earth's atmosphere from a WNW direction at a speed of 14.6 kilometers per second. The intense heat of collisions with the atmosphere melted (ablated) much of the rock, but there was surprisingly little sign of fragmentation.
"It penetrated deep into Earth's atmosphere, until the surviving mass shattered at 25 km above the Earth's surface," said Jenniskens, "where it produced a bright flash that was detected by satellites in orbit."
Nature was kind to this meteorite in that the fall occurred at the end of an unusually long dry season in Costa Rica.
"The Aguas Zarcas fall produced an amazing selection of fusion-crusted stones with a wide range of shapes," said co-author and meteoriticist Laurence Garvie at the Buseck Center for Meteorite Studies at Arizona State University. "Some stones have a beautiful blue iridescence to the fusion crust."
Many of the stones are unbroken as they landed on the relatively soft jungle and grassy surfaces. Researchers were surprised by the unusual shape of many of the rocks caused by ablation, without the relatively flat surfaces that result from secondary fragmentation.
"Other meteorites of this type are often described as mudballs, as they contain water-rich minerals," said Jenniskens, "Apparently, that does not mean they are weak."
The research team now believes that Aguas Zarcas is strong because it avoided collisions in space and did not have the cracks that weaken many meteorites.
"The last collision experienced by this rock was 2 million years ago," said cosmochemist Kees Welten of UC Berkeley.
He and his team measured how long the rock was exposed to cosmic rays after it had broken off from a larger asteroid.
"We know of other Murchison-like meteorites that broke off at approximately the same time, and likely in the same event," said Welten, "but most broke much more recently."
The team determined the rock was about 60 centimeters in diameter when it hit the Earth's atmosphere. From the path it traveled through the atmosphere, the team traced the meteorite back to the asteroid belt.
"We can tell that this object came from a larger asteroid low in the asteroid belt, likely from its outer regions," said Jenniskens. "After getting loose, it took two million years to hit the tiny target of Earth, all the time avoiding getting cracked."
Because the rock was strong and entered at a steep angle, a relatively large fraction of its mass survived to the ground.
Link to the paper:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/maps.14337
About the SETI Institute
Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary research and education organization whose mission is to lead humanity’s quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the Universe and to share that knowledge with the world. Our research encompasses the physical and biological sciences and leverages expertise in data analytics, machine learning and advanced signal detection technologies. The SETI Institute is a distinguished research partner for industry, academia and government agencies, including NASA and NSF.
Contact information
Rebecca McDonald
Director of Communications
SETI Institute
rmcdonald@seti.org
Journal
Meteoritics and Planetary Science
Article Title
Orbit, meteoroid size, and cosmic ray exposure history of the Aguas Zarcas CM2 breccia
Article Publication Date
29-Mar-2025
Could convection in the crust explain Venus’ many volcanoes?
Venus — a hot planet pocked with tens of thousands of volcanoes — may be even more geologically active near its surface than previously thought. New calculations by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis suggest that the planet’s outer crust may be constantly churning, an unexpected phenomenon called convection that could help explain many of the volcanoes and other features of the Venusian landscape.
“Nobody had really considered the possibility of convection in the crust of Venus before,” said Slava Solomatov, a professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences. “Our calculations suggest that convection is possible and perhaps likely. If true, it gives us new insight into the evolution of the planet.”
The paper was published in Physics of Earth and Planetary Interiors. Chhavi Jain, a postdoctoral fellow at WashU, is a co-author.
Convection, a well-known process in geology, occurs when heated material rises toward a planet’s surface and cooler materials sink, creating a constant conveyor belt of sorts. On Earth, convection deep in the mantle provides the energy that drives plate tectonics.
Earth’s crust, about 40 kilometers thick in continents and 6 km in ocean basins, is too thin and cool to support convection, Solomatov explained. But he suspected the crust of Venus might have the right thickness (perhaps 30-90 km, depending on location), temperature and rock composition to keep that conveyor belt running.
To check that possibility, Solomatov and Jain applied new fluid dynamic theories developed in their lab. Their calculations suggested that Venus’ crust could, in fact, support convection — a whole new way to think about the geology of the planet’s surface.
In 2024, the two researchers used a similar approach to determine that convection likely does not happen in the mantle of Mercury because that planet is too small and has cooled significantly since its formation 4.5 billion years ago.
Venus, on the other hand, is a hot planet both inside and out. Surface temperatures reach 870 degrees Fahrenheit, and its volcanoes and other surface features show clear signs of melting. Scientists have long wondered how heat from the planet’s interior could be transferred to the surface. “Convection in the crust could be a key missing mechanism,” Solomatov said.
Convection near the surface also could influence the type and placement of volcanoes on the Venusian surface, Solomatov said. In 2023, Paul Byrne, an associate professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, published an atlas of 85,000 Venus volcanoes based on radar images from NASA’s Magellan mission from the early 1990s. Solomatov said he and Byrne have discussed possible future collaborations that would combine mathematical modeling with observations of Venus’ surface for a better understanding of the planet’s geology.
Solomatov hopes future missions to Venus could provide even more detailed data on the density and temperature in the crust. If convection is occurring as expected, some areas of the crust should be warmer and less dense than others, differences that would be detectable using high-resolution gravity measurements.
But perhaps an even more intriguing target is Pluto, the frozen dwarf planet at the outer reaches of the solar system. Images from the New Horizons mission revealed remarkable polygonal patterns on Pluto’s Sputnik Planitia region that resemble plate boundaries on Earth. These polygons are formed by slow convection currents in a 4 km-thick layer of solid nitrogen ice. “Pluto is probably only the second planetary body in the solar system, other than Earth, where convection that drives tectonics is clearly visible on the surface,” Solomatov said. “It’s a fascinating system that we still need to figure out.”
Originally published on the Ampersand website
Venus — a hot planet pocked with tens of thousands of volcanoes — may be even more geologically active near its surface than previously thought. New calculations by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis suggest that the planet’s outer crust may be constantly churning, an unexpected phenomenon called convection that could help explain many of the volcanoes and other features of the Venusian landscape.
“Nobody had really considered the possibility of convection in the crust of Venus before,” said Slava Solomatov, a professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences. “Our calculations suggest that convection is possible and perhaps likely. If true, it gives us new insight into the evolution of the planet.”
The paper was published in Physics of Earth and Planetary Interiors. Chhavi Jain, a postdoctoral fellow at WashU, is a co-author.
Convection, a well-known process in geology, occurs when heated material rises toward a planet’s surface and cooler materials sink, creating a constant conveyor belt of sorts. On Earth, convection deep in the mantle provides the energy that drives plate tectonics.
Earth’s crust, about 40 kilometers thick in continents and 6 km in ocean basins, is too thin and cool to support convection, Solomatov explained. But he suspected the crust of Venus might have the right thickness (perhaps 30-90 km, depending on location), temperature and rock composition to keep that conveyor belt running.
To check that possibility, Solomatov and Jain applied new fluid dynamic theories developed in their lab. Their calculations suggested that Venus’ crust could, in fact, support convection — a whole new way to think about the geology of the planet’s surface.
In 2024, the two researchers used a similar approach to determine that convection likely does not happen in the mantle of Mercury because that planet is too small and has cooled significantly since its formation 4.5 billion years ago.
Venus, on the other hand, is a hot planet both inside and out. Surface temperatures reach 870 degrees Fahrenheit, and its volcanoes and other surface features show clear signs of melting. Scientists have long wondered how heat from the planet’s interior could be transferred to the surface. “Convection in the crust could be a key missing mechanism,” Solomatov said.
Convection near the surface also could influence the type and placement of volcanoes on the Venusian surface, Solomatov said. In 2023, Paul Byrne, an associate professor of earth, environmental and planetary sciences in Arts & Sciences, published an atlas of 85,000 Venus volcanoes based on radar images from NASA’s Magellan mission from the early 1990s. Solomatov said he and Byrne have discussed possible future collaborations that would combine mathematical modeling with observations of Venus’ surface for a better understanding of the planet’s geology.
Solomatov hopes future missions to Venus could provide even more detailed data on the density and temperature in the crust. If convection is occurring as expected, some areas of the crust should be warmer and less dense than others, differences that would be detectable using high-resolution gravity measurements.
But perhaps an even more intriguing target is Pluto, the frozen dwarf planet at the outer reaches of the solar system. Images from the New Horizons mission revealed remarkable polygonal patterns on Pluto’s Sputnik Planitia region that resemble plate boundaries on Earth. These polygons are formed by slow convection currents in a 4 km-thick layer of solid nitrogen ice. “Pluto is probably only the second planetary body in the solar system, other than Earth, where convection that drives tectonics is clearly visible on the surface,” Solomatov said. “It’s a fascinating system that we still need to figure out.”
Originally published on the Ampersand website
Journal
Physics of The Earth and Planetary Interiors
Physics of The Earth and Planetary Interiors
DOI
Article Title
On the possibility of convection in the Venusian crust
On the possibility of convection in the Venusian crust
New high-powered telescope reaches Chilean peak
Cornell University
ITHACA, N.Y. – After a six-week ocean voyage, a week spent waiting to offload, and another week trekking through the mountains, the first major component of the Fred Young Submillimeter Telescope (FYST) has arrived at its final home in Chile.
The disassembled telescope trucked nearly 300 miles to the base of Cerro Chajnantor, in Chile’s Parque Astronómico Atacama. From there, the parts are making a careful ascent 18,400 feet to the summit, where the telescope will be reassembled to eventually begin its work studying the universe, with first light projected for April 2026.
FYST will be the most powerful telescope in the world for its mapping speed and sensitivity at its wavelength. It will detail star and galaxy formation from the earliest days of “cosmic dawn,” through “cosmic noon,” when most of today’s stars were formed, providing insight on cosmic inflation and gravitational waves from the very first moments of the Big Bang. It will also track the flows of gas, dust and magnetic fields across the interstellar ecosystem within galaxies.
“Physicists have known how to measure in the submillimeter frequency ranges that the FYST is targeting for a long time, but before now nobody’s been able to build a telescope to do it – at least not at an affordable price,” project manager Jim Blair said. “The mirrors, and the carbon fiber structures that support them, along with the telescope instruments – CHAI and PrimeCam – are absolutely state of the art. They’re the ‘secret sauce’ that make FYST such a cutting-edge observatory.”
Reassembling the telescope at 18,400 feet will not be an easy task. Workers have to be trained to work at that altitude, and they can work a maximum of 12 or 13 days at a time. For each day they work at extreme altitude, they must spend a day below 9,000 feet. Casual visitors must use supplemental oxygen.
FYST is a project of CCAT Observatory, Inc., a Cornell University-led collaboration that includes a German consortium consisting of the University of Cologne, the University of Bonn and the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, and a Canadian consortium of universities led by the University of Waterloo.
For additional information, see this Cornell Chronicle story.
Media note: Pictures and drone video can be viewed and downloaded here.
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NASA awards Astrophysics Postdoctoral Fellowships for 2025
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center
image:
The class of 2025 NHFP Fellows are shown in this photo montage (left to right, top to bottom): The Einstein Fellows (seen in the blue hexagons) are: Shi-Fan Chen, Nicolas Garavito Camargo, Jason Hinkle, Itai Linial, Kenzie Nimmo, Massimo Pascale, Elia Pizzati, Jillian Rastinejad and Aaron Tohuvavohu. The Hubble Fellows (seen in the red hexagons) are: Aliza Beverage, Anna de Graaff, Karia Dilbert, Emily Griffith, Viraj Karambelkar, Lindsey Kwok, Abigail Lee, Aaron Pearlman, Dominick Rowan, Nicholas Rui, Nadine Soliman, Bingjie Wang. The Sagan Fellows (seen in green hexagons) are: Kyle Franson, Caprice Phillips, and Keming Zhang.
Short bios and photos of the 2025 NHFP Fellows can be found at:
https://www.stsci.edu/stsci-research/fellowships/nasa-hubble-fellowship-program/2025-nhfp-fellows
Credit: NASA, ESA, Megan Crane (Caltech/IPAC)
The highly competitive NASA Hubble Fellowship Program (NHFP) recently named 24 new fellows to its 2025 class. The NHFP fosters excellence and leadership in astrophysics by supporting exceptionally promising and innovative early-career astrophysicists. Over 650 applicants vied for the 2025 fellowships. Each fellowship provides the awardee up to three years of support at a U.S. institution.
Once selected, fellows are named to one of three sub-categories corresponding to three broad scientific questions that NASA seeks to answer about the universe:
How does the universe work? – Einstein Fellows
How did we get here? – Hubble Fellows
Are we alone? – Sagan Fellows
"The 2025 class of the NASA Hubble Fellowship Program is comprised of outstanding NASA Astrophysics researchers," said Shawn Domagal-Goldman, acting director of the Astrophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington. "This class of competitively-selected fellows will inspire future generations through the products of their research, and by sharing the results of that work with the public. Their efforts will help NASA continue its worldwide leadership in space-based astrophysics research."
The list below provides the names of the 2025 awardees, their fellowship host institutions, and their proposed research topics.
The 2025 NHFP Einstein Fellows are:
- Shi-Fan Chen, Columbia University, Galaxies, Shapes and Weak Lensing in the Effective Field Theory of Large-Scale Structure
- Nicolas Garavito Camargo, University of Maryland, College Park, Local Group Galaxies in Disequilibrium; Building New Frameworks to Constrain the Nature of Dark Matter
- Jason Hinkle, University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Nuclear Transients in the Golden Era of Time-Domain Astronomy
- Itai Linial, New York University, Repeating Nuclear Transients – Probes of Supermassive Black Holes and Their Environments
- Kenzie Nimmo, Northwestern University, From Glimmering Jewels to Cosmic Ubiquity: Unraveling the Origins of FRBs
- Massimo Pascale, University of California, Los Angeles, The Universe Seen Through Strong Gravitational Lensing
- Elia Pizzati, Harvard University, The Missing Link: Connecting Black Hole Growth and Quasar Light Curves in the Young Universe
- Jillian Rastinejad, University of Maryland, College Park, Illuminating the Explosive Origins of the Heavy Elements
- Aaron Tohuvavohu, California Institute of Technology, Ultraviolet Space Telescopes for the new era of Time Domain and Multi-Messenger Astronomy
The 2025 NHFP Hubble Fellows are:
- Aliza Beverage, Carnegie Observatories, Revealing Massive Galaxies Formation Using Chemical Abundances
- Anna de Graaff, Harvard University, Early giants in context: How could galaxies in the first billion years grow so rapidly?
- Karia Dibert, California Institute of Technology, Superconducting on-chip spectrometers for high-redshift astrophysics and cosmology
- Emily Griffith, University of Colorado, Boulder, Beyond Mg and Fe: Exploring Detailed Nucleosynthetic Patterns
- Viraj Karambelkar, Columbia University, The Anthropology of Merging Stars
- Lindsey Kwok, Northwestern University, Determining the Astrophysical Origins of White-Dwarf Supernovae with JWST Infrared Spectroscopy
- Abigail Lee, University of California, Berkeley, AGB Stars in the Era of NIR Astronomy: New Probes of Cosmology and Galaxy Evolution
- Aaron Pearlman, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Pinpointing the Origins of Fast Radio Bursts and Tracing Baryons in the Cosmic Web
- Dominick Rowan, University of California, Berkeley, Fundamental Stellar Parameters Across the Hertzsprung-Russell Diagram
- Nicholas Rui, Princeton University, A seismic atlas of the stellar merger sky
- Nadine Soliman, Institute for Advanced Study, Micro Foundations, Macro Realities: Modeling the Multi-scale Physics Shaping Planets, Stars and Galaxies
- Bingjie Wang, Princeton University, Inference at the Edge of the Universe
The 2025 NHFP Sagan Fellows are:
- Kyle Franson, University of California, Santa Cruz, Mapping the Formation, Migration, and Thermal Evolution of Giant Planets with Direct Imaging and Astrometry
- Caprice Phillips, University of California, Santa Cruz, Aging in the Cosmos: JWST Insights into the Evolution of Brown Dwarf Atmospheres and Clouds
- Keming Zhang, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Understanding the Origin and Abundance of Free-Floating Planets via Microlensing and Machine Learning
The class of 2025 NHFP Fellows are shown in this photo montage (left to right, top to bottom): The Einstein Fellows (seen in the blue hexagons) are: Shi-Fan Chen, Nicolas Garavito Camargo, Jason Hinkle, Itai Linial, Kenzie Nimmo, Massimo Pascale, Elia Pizzati, Jillian Rastinejad and Aaron Tohuvavohu.
The Hubble Fellows (seen in the red hexagons) are: Aliza Beverage, Anna de Graaff, Karia Dilbert, Emily Griffith, Viraj Karambelkar, Lindsey Kwok, Abigail Lee, Aaron Pearlman, Dominick Rowan, Nicholas Rui, Nadine Soliman, Bingjie Wang.
The Sagan Fellows (seen in green hexagons) are: Kyle Franson, Caprice Phillips, and Keming Zhang.
For short bios and photos, please visit the link at the end of the article.
An important part of the NHFP is the annual Symposium, which allows Fellows the opportunity to present results of their research, and to meet each other and the scientific and administrative staff who manage the program. The 2024 symposium was held at the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute (NExScI) in Pasadena, California. Science topics ranged through exoplanets, gravitational waves, fast radio bursts, cosmology and more. Non-science sessions included discussions about career paths and developing mentorship skills, as well as an open mic highlighting an array of talents other than astrophysics.
The Space Telescope Science Institute in Baltimore, Maryland, administers the NHFP on behalf of NASA, in collaboration with the Chandra X-ray Center at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and the NASA Exoplanet Science Institute and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, in Pasadena, California.
Short bios and photos of the 2025 NHFP Fellows can be found at:
https://www.stsci.edu/stsci-research/fellowships/nasa-hubble-fellowship-program/2025-nhfp-fellows
SETI Institute’s 2025 Drake Award recognizes origins of life research
The SETI Institute announced today two recipients for the 2025 Drake Award: Dr. David Deamer (University of California, Santa Cruz) and Dr. John Baross (University of Washington, Seattle).
image:
Dr. David Deamer (l) and Dr. John Baross (r)
view moreCredit: SETI Institute
SETI Institute’s 2025 Drake Award Recognizes Origins of Life Research
April 1, 2025, Mountain View, CA -- The SETI Institute announced today two recipients for the 2025 Drake Award: Dr. David Deamer (University of California, Santa Cruz) and Dr. John Baross (University of Washington, Seattle). Deamer and Baross are known for their pioneering work in astrobiology, focused on understanding the origins of life. However, each approaches the question from a different perspective. Deamer, a biomolecular engineer who focuses on membranes and RNA formation in shallow water environments, is recognized for advancing new theories on the origins and processes of life in the Universe. Baross, a microbiologist, focuses on hydrothermal vents and deep-sea chemistry as the cradle of life and has pioneered research on extremophiles to decipher life’s origins on Earth and beyond.
“The Science Advisory Board is so excited to honor John Baross and David Deamer’s respective contributions to the search for life in the universe this year,” said Lucian Walkowicz, Chair of the SETI Institute’s Science Advisory Board (SAB). “Our planet Earth is the keystone in our ability to discover life beyond our planet, and our understanding of life on Earth would be sorely incomplete without their work.”
Named after Dr. Frank Drake, the SETI Institute’s inaugural president of its Board of Directors and the architect of the Drake Equation, the Drake Award celebrates remarkable achievements in the realms of SETI and astrobiology. Drake Award recipients are nominated by the SETI Institute’s Science Advisory Board and ratified by its Board of Directors.
“Frank Drake included the origin of life as the fourth of the seven essential components of the Drake equation, abbreviated as fl,” said Deamer. “He knew that without an origin of life, there could be no intelligent life.”
“I am both very honored and surprised to be the recipient of the Frank Drake Award,” said Baross. “It has made me think again about my childhood interests. When I was in grade school, my father bought a telescope and mounted it on a flat portion of our roof. While we always hoped to see an unidentified flying object, we were content and even excited to observe planets and think about the possibility of life elsewhere and how life started. Well, I still have those keen interests, and the years I was on the SETI Advisory Board further piqued these interests, especially getting to interact with Frank Drake and other SETI scientists and board members. I believe it is only a matter of time before SETI’s quest becomes reality.”
Since its inception in 2001, extraordinary individuals, including Frank Drake, Charles Townes, William Borucki, Victoria Meadows, Jason Wright, Paul Horowitz, Dan Werthimer, Shelley Wright, John Rummel and Andrew Siemion, have received the Drake Award for their groundbreaking contributions.
“The beauty of science is its ability to support different perspectives and alternative conclusions based on different observations and analyses of the natural world around us,” said Bill Diamond, SETI Institute CEO. “Both David and John have done pioneering work developing crucial and yet different contributions to our understanding of the origins of life and what constitutes a habitable environment. We are delighted to be able to honor them both with this year’s Drake Award.”
David Deamer
David Deamer is a Research Professor of Biomolecular Engineering at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Deamer hypothesized and later demonstrated that some molecules from meteorites can form microscopic compartments similar to cell membranes. These compartments could have provided a home for the first living cells. He also offered a testable alternative to the idea that life began in oceans, proposing that life may have started in freshwater hot springs. Deamer earned his BS in chemistry from Duke University and his PhD in physiological chemistry from Ohio State University School of Medicine.
John Baross
John Baross is Professor Emeritus at the School of Oceanography and Astrobiology Program at the University of Washington. His research focused on understanding life in extreme environments, particularly deep-sea hydrothermal vents where some of Earth’s earliest life may have originated and formed. Baross’ work extends beyond Earth and has helped shape the search for life beyond Earth on planets and moons with comparable conditions. Baross has led many national and international science committees and earned wide recognition as a leader in astrobiology. Baross served on the SETI Institute’s Science Advisory Board from 2016 to 2022 and received his PhD in marine microbiology from the University of Washington.
The 2025 Drake Awards will take place on May 20, 2025, at a public event at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA. The SETI Institute will also livestream the event via Zoom for those unable to attend in person. SETI Institute CEO Bill Diamond and Dr. Nadia Drake will co-host the event. In addition to the Drake Award, the ceremony will include the presentation of the SETI Forward Award, which encourages future scientists in their pursuit of life in the Universe, and the Carl Sagan Director’s Award, recognizing exceptional contributions to astrobiology, technology, and the exploration of life in the Universe.
Registration and information:
https://www.eventbrite.com/e/drake-awards-2025-tickets-1251126907259?aff=oddtdtcreator
About the SETI Institute
Founded in 1984, the SETI Institute is a non-profit, multi-disciplinary research and education organization whose mission is to lead humanity’s quest to understand the origins and prevalence of life and intelligence in the universe and share that knowledge with the world. Our research encompasses the physical and biological sciences and leverages data analytics, machine learning, and advanced signal detection technologies. The SETI Institute is a distinguished research partner for industry, academia, and government agencies, including NASA and the National Science Foundation.
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