Tag: Planetary Sciences & Geobiology
February 12, 2026
Look Again! Those Wrinkly Rocks May Actually Be a Fossilized Microbial Community
In 2016 while hiking on a hillside in Morocco, geologist Rowan Martindale saw something that made her stop in her tracks: a slab of sedimentary…
Read MoreDecember 1, 2025
Scientists Map Mars’ Large River Drainage Systems for First Time
Billions of years ago, it rained on Mars. The water collected in valleys and rivers, filled and spilled over the rims of craters, and was…
Read MoreApril 15, 2025
Molten Martian Core Could Explain Red Planet’s Magnetic Quirks
Like Earth, Mars once had a strong magnetic field that shielded its thick atmosphere from the solar wind. But now only the magnetic imprint remains….
Read MoreApril 8, 2025
Life Recovered Rapidly at Site of Dino-Killing Asteroid. A Hydrothermal System May Have Helped.
About 66 million years ago, an asteroid slammed into the planet, wiping out all non-avian dinosaurs and about 70% of all marine species. But the…
Read MoreFebruary 7, 2025
Rare Bird Skull from the Age of Dinosaurs Helps Illuminate Avian Evolution
A new study in Nature describing a fossil of a nearly complete and intact bird skull from Antarctica is shedding light on the early evolution…
Read MoreNovember 25, 2024
Uranus’s Swaying Moons will Help Spacecraft Seek Out Hidden Oceans
When NASA’s Voyager 2 flew by Uranus in 1986, it captured grainy photographs of large ice-covered moons. Now nearly 40 years later, NASA plans…
Read MoreOctober 13, 2024
NASA Europa Mission Set to Launch with UT Austin Instrument to Explore Jupiter’s Ocean World
One of the great mysteries of the solar system is whether the ingredients for life exist below the surface of Jupiter’s icy ocean moon Europa….
Read MoreMay 2, 2023
“Golden” Fossils Reveal Origins of Exceptional Preservation
All that glitters is not gold, or even fool’s gold in the case of fossils. A recent study by scientists at The University of Texas…
Read MoreApril 21, 2023
Study of Saturn’s Moon Adds to Evidence of Strong Ocean Currents on Enceladus
Beneath the frozen surface of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus lies a vast ocean where, according to a new study, turbulent waters carry nutrients and minerals…
Read MoreJanuary 11, 2023
Fossils Reveal Dinosaurs of Prehistoric Patagonia
A study led by The University of Texas at Austin is providing a glimpse into dinosaur and bird diversity in Patagonia during the Late Cretaceous,…
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