Tag Archive for 'Soil'

A diagram showing the evolutionary history from an aquatic organism and adaptive traits of CSP1-3 phylum for each habitat. Image credit: Michigan State University.

Biologists Discover New Phylum of Bacteria in Earth’s Deep Soil

Apr 8, 2025 by News Staff

Deep soil — ranging from below 30 cm (12 inches) to hundreds of meters, depending on soil type and region — is a neglected ecosystem within...

This artist’s impression shows how Mars may have looked about 4 billion years ago. Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

Ancient Mars was Cool and Relatively Wet, New Study Suggests

Jul 11, 2024 by News Staff

In a new study, planetary scientists found strong similarities between soils found in Gale Crater on Mars and those of Canada’s Newfoundland, a cold...

Gann et al. show that in principle it is possible to grow rice plants in MMS1 but levels of (Mg(ClO4)2) can be critical to both germination and growth; moreover, they presented that editing SnRK1a could potentially provide an approach to develop as table rice line that can germinate and grow in MMS1 with (Mg(ClO4)2). Image credit: Gann et al.

Genetically Modified Rice Could Actually Grow in Martian Regolith, New Study Suggests

Apr 27, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

One of the biggest challenges to growing food on Mars is the presence of perchlorate salts, which have been detected in the Martian regolith (soil) and...

Aled Roberts and Nigel Scrutton used simulated Martian soil mixed with potato starch and a pinch of salt to create the material that is twice as strong as ordinary concrete and is perfectly suited for construction work in extraterrestrial environments. Image credit: Aled Roberts & Nigel Scrutton, doi: 10.1515/eng-2022-0390.

StarCrete: Materials Scientists Create Starch-Based Concrete for Extraterrestrial Construction

Mar 17, 2023 by Enrico de Lazaro

The StarCrete is twice as strong as regular concrete and is made from extraterrestrial dust, potato starch, and a pinch of salt. Aled Roberts and Nigel...

Schematic model of fluvial systems both before and after the development of land plants: before the Devonian period, minimal land plants, rapid channel migration and river systems dominated by braided rivers led to rapid sediment transfer, minimal development of mud-sized particles and minor deposition of mudrocks along continental margins; in contrast, after the Devonian, the expansion of vascular land plants led to the development of meandering rivers and the dramatic slowing of sediment transfer to marine environments; the red dashed line represents a generalized sediment transport path that is more sinuous post-Devonian and less sinuous pre-Devonian; these diametric depositional systems influenced the isotopic composition of sediment available for reworking and melting in magmatic systems along destructive plate boundaries. Image credit: Spencer et al., doi: 10.1038/s41561-022-00995-2.

Emergence of Land Plants Altered Composition of Earth’s Continental Crust, Researchers Say

Aug 31, 2022 by News Staff

The evolution of land plants took place about 430 million years ago (Silurian period), when North America and Europe were conjoined in a landmass called...

Arabidopsis thaliana in the lunar regolith. Image credit: Paul et al., doi: 10.1038/s42003-022-03334-8.

Plants Can Germinate and Grow in Lunar Soil: Study

May 12, 2022 by News Staff

Using samples brought back from NASA’s Apollo 11, 12, and 17 missions, University of Florida biologists showed that a model terrestrial plant, Arabidopsis...

Yao et al. propose a potentially available extraterrestrial photosynthesis pathway on the Moon, which will help us to achieve a zero-energy consumption extraterrestrial life support system. Image credit: Yao et al., doi: 10.1016/j.joule.2022.04.011.

Lunar Soil Contains Active Compounds that Can Convert Carbon Dioxide into Oxygen and Fuels

May 5, 2022 by News Staff

In light of significant efforts being taken toward manned deep space exploration, it is of high technological importance and scientific interest to develop...

Longitudinal cross-section showing microplastic particles inside a birch lateral root in a one-year-old birch tree after being exposed to contaminated soil for 5 months. Clockwise from top left shows cross sections using light microscopy, fluorescence microscopy, and confocal laser scanning microscopy. Arrows point to fluorescing microplastic particles. Inset in bottom right panel shows the area indicated by the arrows in the bottom left panel after enlargement. All images have been enhanced using a contrast and brightness correction. Scales are shown in the bottom right or left corner of the respective image. Image credit: Austen et al., doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2021.152085.

Microplastic Particles Detected in Roots of Birch Trees

Feb 22, 2022 by Sergio Prostak

New research led by the Leibniz Institute for Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries shows that individual microplastic particles with diameters between...

Dr. Chris Balzotti climbs an ancient staircase discovered in a sinkhole near Coba, Mexico. Image credit: Richard Terry.

Ancient Maya Tended Sacred Groves of Cacao Trees in Humid Microclimates of Karst Sinkholes

Feb 1, 2022 by News Staff

An international team of archaeologists from the United States and Mexico has found several biomarkers of cacao in soil from karst sinkholes that dot the...

Listeria cossartiae is named for Pascale Cossart, a bacteriologist at the Pasteur Institute of Paris. Image credit: Catharine Carlin, Cornell University.

Five New Species of Listeria Bacteria Discovered

May 24, 2021 by Enrico de Lazaro

A team of microbiologists from Cornell University has isolated five new non-pathogenic species of Listeria soil samples from an agricultural water sample...

A tiny grain of lunar soil brought back by Apollo 17, magnified under a scanning electron microscope. Image credit: Jennika Greer, Field Museum.

Researchers Find New Way to Analyze Chemistry of Lunar Soil

Feb 7, 2020 by News Staff

An international team of planetary scientists and geochemists from the United States and Switzerland has demonstrated that a technique called atom probe...

Easter Island is located some 3,512 km from Chile’s west coast and its nearest inhabited neighbor, Pitcairn Island, located some 2,075 km to the west. For reasons still unknown early Rapa Nui people began carving giant statues out of volcanic rock. Image credit: Marlene Hanssen.

Easter Islanders Likely Believed Megalithic Statues Helped Maintain Soil Fertility

Dec 16, 2019 by News Staff

Ancient inhabitants of Easter Island (also known as Rapa Nui) likely believed their megalithic statues called moai stimulated agricultural food production,...

Wamelink et al were able to harvest radishes and radish seeds, cress and cress seeds, rye seeds, rocket, tomatoes and peas on Mars and Moon soil simulants. This photo shows experimental trays on April 16, 2015, seven days after sowing. Image credit: Wamelink et al, doi: 10.1515/opag-2019-0051.

Tomatoes, Peas and Several Other Crops Grow Well in Simulated Martian and Lunar Dirt

Oct 15, 2019 by Natali Anderson

A new experiment conducted by researchers at the Wageningen University & Research in the Netherlands shows that it’s possible to grow crops on Martian...

The Sahara Desert is the world’s largest hot, non-polar desert.

Sahara Desert is At Least 4.6 Million Years Old, New Research Shows

Sep 25, 2019 by News Staff

The Sahara Desert is the largest warm desert in the world, but its age has been controversial, with estimates ranging from the Miocene epoch (23-5.3 million...

View of Pit 1 of the Terracotta Army showing the hundreds of warriors once armed with bronze weapons. Image credit: Xia Juxian.

Archaeologists Solve Mystery of Terracotta Army’s Pristine Weapons

Apr 5, 2019 by News Staff

The world-famous Terracotta Army of Xi’an is an array of life-sized, realistic ceramic figures representing warriors, stationed in three large pits within...

Paleosols found inside Gale Crater on Mars are evidence of habitable environments, but have yielded no conclusive evidence of life. Image credit: Gregory J. Retallack.

U.S. Geologist Discovers Earth-Like Soils on Mars

Aug 22, 2014 by News Staff

Paleosols (ancient fossilized soils) filling the Yellowknife Bay geologic formation within the 3.7-billion-year-old Gale Crater on Mars are strong evidence...

An eroding bluff on the U.S. Great Plains reveals a buried, carbon-rich layer of fossil soil. Image credit: Jospeh Mason.

Ancient Soils Found to be Rich in Carbon

May 27, 2014 by News Staff

Deep, ancient soils, dating to between 15,000 and 13,500 years old, contain significant amounts of carbon and could contribute to climate change as the...

Strange Nanoparticles Discovered in Moon Glass

Jun 12, 2012 by News Staff

An international team of researchers has discovered alien-looking nanoparticles inside bubbles of glass in lunar soil. TXM tomography reconstruction anaglyph...