NASA: National Aeronautics and Space Administration

  1. Content with the tag: “bacteria

  2. Novel Species of Bacteria Found Deep Within Greenland Glacier


    Researchers from NAI’s Penn State Team announced at this week’s American Society of Microbiology General Meeting in Boston their discovery of a novel species of ultra-small bacteria that has survived for more than 120,000 years within the ice of a Greenland glacier at a depth of nearly two miles. Read Penn State’s press release here. The species is related genetically to certain bacteria found in fish, marine mud, and the roots of some plants, yet...

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  3. Seafloor Microbes Abundant and Thriving....An Alternative Cradle for Life?


    Credit: Nicolle Rager-Fuller/National Science Foundation

    Researchers from NAI’s Marine Biological Laboratory Team continue their study of the deep biosphere, reporting the latest results in this week’s Nature. This new study reveals that bacterial communities dwelling on ocean-bottom rocks are more abundant and diverse than previously thought, especially relative to the overlying water column. The microbes appear to “feed” on the oceanic crust through seawater–rock alteration reactions...

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  4. Is There Life on Mars? Ask a Magnet.


    Between three and four billion years ago, Mars was a lot like Earth. Both planets are believed to have had surface water. Those similarities make it a prime candidate for extraterrestrial life. “The assumption is that if bacterial life emerged on Earth at that time, then why not on Mars?” says Soon Sam Kim, principal member of technical staff...

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  5. Extracellular Protein-Metal Aggregates: A New Biosignature?


    Deep inside a flooded mine in Wisconsin, scientists from NAI’s University of California, Berkeley Team have discovered an environment in which bacteria emit proteins that sweep up metal nanoparticles into immobile clumps. Their finding may lead to innovative ways to remediate subsurface metal toxins, and have exciting implications for identifying biosignatures on Earth and other worlds. The research, published in the June 14th issue of Science, was done in collaboration with a team from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Lawrence...

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  6. Microbial Populations in Antarctic Permafrost


    Members of NAI’s Michigan State University Alumni Team are part of an international team of scientists characterizing the microbial populations in Antarctic permafrost soils. Based on multiple samples, they describe the presence of diverse populations of both aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, cyanobacteria, green algae, yeasts, and fungi. Based on the documented ages of the permafrost regions—perhaps more than 5 million years old—these findings represent the oldest viable microorganisms discovered in permafrost on Earth. Their paper appears in the April...

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  7. Biodiversity in Hypersaline Mats


    Researchers at NAI’s University of Colorado, Boulder and Marine Biological Laboratory Team published their analysis of biodiversity in hypersaline microbial mats in a recent issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology. Bacteria dominated the mat in unprecedented diversity representing 752 species, including 15 novel candidate phyla.

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