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spacenutspod · 29 days

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This episode of Space Nuts is brought to you with the support of NordVPN. For our special discount deal and 30 day money back guarantee, visit nordvpn.com/spacenuts ...You'll be glad you did! Embark on a cosmic exploration with your favorite interstellar enthusiasts, Andrew Dunkley and Professor Fred Watson, in this latest episode of Space Nuts. Today's celestial journey takes us to Saturn's moon, Titan, where new research casts a shadow on the prospects of finding life in its sub-ice oceans. Despite the rich hydrocarbons on Titan's surface, the study by astrobiologist Catherine Neish suggests that the transfer of essential organic materials to the ocean below is far too slow to foster life as we know it. The implications of this finding could extend to other icy moons, potentially dampening hopes for habitability across our solar system. Then, we pivot to Earthly matters as we join the United Nations' cosmic conversation. The UN has finally agreed to tackle the burgeoning issue of satellite constellations cluttering our orbit. With over 8,000 satellites circling our planet and plans for many more, astronomers are increasingly concerned about light pollution and radio interference. But can the UN's agenda lead to effective regulation, or will it be a case of too little, too late in the fast-paced space industry? From the icy depths of Titan to the crowded skies of Earth, this episode of Space Nuts is a testament to the ever-evolving quest for knowledge and the challenges of preserving our cosmic frontiers. So, sit back, tune in, and let your imagination take flight as we unravel these astronomical enigmas. For the full spectrum of space-time adventures and to keep your astronomical curiosity quenched, subscribe to Space Nuts on your preferred podcast platform. And don't forget to tune in to our Space Nuts Q&A episodes every Monday for more cosmic queries and celestial insights. Until next time, keep your eyes to the stars and your passion for discovery burning bright! 📋 Episode Chapters (00:00) Professor Fred Watson joins us on this episode of Space Nuts (02:02) New study suggests Titan's subsurface ocean could be right for potential life (10:35) There have been speculations that Titan could have a different basis of life (13:47) Andrew Dunkley says there will be methane and ethane rainbows on Titan (15:32) United nations to meet later this year to discuss concentrations of satellites (25:38) Space company SpaceX to deorbit 100 older starlink satellites to reduce satellite interference

#acids #amino #astrobiologist #astrobiology #catherine #comet #dragonfly #impacts #mission #moon #nations #neish #oceans #saturn's #space #study #sub-ice #talks #titan #united

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midnights-wish · 1 year

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“Odds are you're right-handed, but really you're not. You're left-handed. Every amino acid in every protein in your body has a left-handed twist to it. In fact, virtually every protein in every life form that has ever existed is exclusively left-handed. If astrobiologists ever find a microbe on a meteor or moon of Jupiter, almost the first thing they'll test is the handedness of its proteins. If the proteins are left-handed, the microbe is possibly earthly contamination. If they're right-handed, it's certainly alien life.”

Sam Kean, ‘The Disappearing Spoon’.

#sam kean #the disappearing spoon #read #books and reading #books and literature #books and libraries #quotes #quote #book quote #book quotes #science #amino acid #protein #astrobiologist #jupiter #proteins #alien life #book blog #booklr

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kuriousmedia · 10 months

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What would happen if you fell into a black hole?

youtube

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astro-likes-tea · 3 months

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As someone obsessed with astrobiology, I wish we talked about tardigrades (water bears) more. They could help solve so many unanswered questions that astrobiologists have and we just ignore them?? Also they're so cute?? and they're like indestrictable!!! also they kinda look like scott pilgrim as an animal! anyway sorry for nerding out!!

#tardigrade #water bear #astrobiology #book nerd #astrobiologist!!#silly

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wowowwild · 7 months

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You seem unwell about these characters. Who are you taking on a trip? (59 on ask meme)

59. Choose one character you would take on a trip.

I am unwell about these characters. I'm taking Apollo Justice on a trip, he deserves a vacation. We're going to do trans men things together like drink lemonade and make out and play cowboys. Do you think he'll look at frogs with me? I bet he would look at frogs with me. And we'll talk about space and I'll get really into astro biology and abiogenesis and wait am I Clay Terran? Girl (gn) help.

Runners up include: klavgav my special boy, Maya Fey the weirdest girl, Kay Faraday a partner for crimes, and Ema Skye the science guy-irl.

#what does being a trans man have to do with lemonade making out and play cowboys? we do it better #also i firmly believe clay was an astrogeologist bc it's funny not an astrobiologist which is not funny bc it's irrelevant #ace attorney #apollo justice #clay terran #klavier gavin #maya fey #kay faraday #ema skye #ace's ask

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opens-up-4-nobody · 2 years

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#uuuugh i desperately want to take a geology course #and aquire paleontology friends #and be a paleontologist. i mean i wanna be an astrobiologist with Microbiology. ecology. evolutionary biology. geology. and paleontology #influences. also biochemistry. and that's all vaid bc astrobiology is intersectional. i can get there however i want #and what i want is to look at the evolution of biochemistry in cyanobacteria but finding someone who does something that specific is hard #but like learning abt paleontology has broken my brain a bit. like maybe its just bc im in the desert and u can see the exposed ground but #like i look at the landscape and see the volcanic rock and uplifted areas snd everything and its just like #holy fuck we are walking around on 4billion years worth of history and i wanna kno how all those processes work #in terms of making the landscape how it is #and i got to see some fucking wild trace fossils the other day and i was so fucking excited to see them #and when i go home to visit i think we're gonna see a pretty good natural history museum #bc my parents were like: what do u wanna do while ur home? and i was like well u see i am v into paleontology atm #and im v excited to go with them bc idk they kno what kinda freak i am and that always makes things easier #also they would prob read the info on the exibits if i asked bc i cant fucking read lol #and my mum is v into rock collecting rn so that is an excuse for me to learn abt geology stuff #hhhhh there is just so much cool stuff to learn #and everyday i have to sit there and do my lab work on a topic that i have greatly diverged away from #like my boss was like: im so excited. when we publish all this data u will be the name ppl think of when they think of carbon cycling in X #system! which is true. its a narrow field and ive generated lots of data #and what do i feel abt all that data? absolutely fuck all. its like ive maliciously collected a bunch of little gems and then im gonna #uncarimonially dump them on the floor for a tiny collection of ppl and then walk the fuck out the door #idk its probably just me being passive aggressive bc collecting the data has/is casuing me such physical and mental strain #but god if i could take a paleontology class rn id be so fucking annoying abt it. to b fair id also be the same abt a Microbiology class #sigh... maybe within the next year #unrelated #lmao im extremely annoying abt paleontology now and i havent even taken a class #at every chance im just like: well u kno... *insert fact here*#and i feel so obnoxious but i can't stop so i guess its just a hazard of being around me haha

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angelshimaa-archive · 2 years

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asked a friend to read my recent shoto angst drabble

girl literally had glossy eyes after

she’s asking me to send it in some way or something (she doesnt rlly know how tumblr works)

and she said my future in writing is bright

#I LOVE HER SM.#please im so HONOURED #OML #i do wanna do writing in future but on the side yk #tryna be my country's first astrobiologist #but WOW IM HONOURED #— rambles ༊*·˚

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235uranium · 5 months

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listen all love to biologists but why are they always confused when physicists suggest that there are common paths that things follow with an "end goal". like yeah the field based on the principal that you can determine effect if you know the cause is interested in understanding those things.

#☢️.txt #i was reading stuff from evo biologists on assembly theory and it genuinely gives me the impression that they dont understand the goal #i do think the authors of the recent paper were a bit uh. cocky about it bc its really mainly of interest to physicists and astrobiologists #but like. 'why does it matter how biological evolution works from a physics perspective specifically if it isnt violating the rules'#sure. it does not matter to your research. it matters to physics because that is What We Study #biologists dont care that the pathway from quantum behavior to complex life isnt written down. i get that #for most of you thats not what you study. thats fine #but it IS of interest and even importance in physics for us to have a through understanding of those things!#also yeah physicists want our models to work for multiple things #again. you are confused about the field concerned with universal laws wants to find a universal law #really think someone needs to lock a bunch of physicists and biologists in a room so each of them can actually explain what they do #but man. what do biologists think physics is even about.

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torvistantrum · 1 year

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J’étais moi, mais j’étais aussi le lac, le volcan et l’univers

Nathalie Cabrol - Voyage aux frontières de la vie

#nathalie cabrol #astrobiologiste #science #universe #oblivion

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persimnon · 2 years

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ohhh i want to be her i want to be assured in my future i want to be born 13 years ago so i don’t have to worry

#this is about the astrobiologist who just announced her postdoc literally doing my incredibly specific dream job #blither blather bother

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memecucker · 1 year

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i think its pretty meta how the international mining megacorp Rio Tinto is named after their first mine which was located at the Rio Tinto river in Spain and the river is called "Rio Tinto" because its water is brightly red and orange due to being heavily contaminated and acidic with large amounts of iron and other metals present making it inhospitable to all non-extremophile life to the point that it is studied by astrobiologists exploring the possibility of life in places where there would be liquid but highly acidic water

Also the area around the river had been used for mining iron, copper and other metals for over 5,000 years so even well before the Romans arrived and while there's debate about to what level the pollution of the river is manmade vs natural (surface level deposits that would be more likely to contaminate the river naturally would also make it a more obvious site to mine metals in ancient times) it is kinda accidentially self-aware that Rio Tinto of all corporations is named after a river which has had been polluted by human mining for thousands of years

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mindblowingscience · 4 months

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As far as we know, life needs water. Due to this simple truth, astronomers and astrobiologists have naturally focused their efforts on identifying exoplanets that might harbor liquid oceans. Water in its liquid form can exist on a planet's surface, where direct heat from its host star can keep the substance from freezing — but it can also exist beneath a planet's surface, where internal sources of heat can sustain flowing, subsurface oceans. In a new analysis, NASA has revealed that 17 discovered exoplanets could house subsurface oceans buried below thick sheets of ice. These worlds, much like the icy moons of Jupiter, could therefore be promising places to search for biosignatures — chemical signs of life.

#Science #Space #Astronomy #Planetary Science #Exoplanets #NASA

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rosanna-writer · 4 months

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rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky

Summary: Five times Rhys and Feyre stared at the stars (and one time they painted their own). Warnings: None Rating: General Audiences Word Count: ~2.2k

This is for @star-captain, my bonus giftee for @acotargiftexchange! I had a lot of fun writing some Feysand stargazing fluff for the fandom's resident astrobiologist <3

And again, a HUGE thank you to the event organizers for all their work putting this together!

You can find it Here on AO3 or under the cut!

Taking girls stargazing worked every time. Rhysand had made countless exes melt over how romantic it was to sit out under the stars, especially when there was just enough of a chill in the night air that they'd cuddle closer as he pointed out constellations one by one.

He should have known it wouldn't work on Feyre.

Really, it had seemed like a miracle that she'd even agreed to go out with him in the first place—Rhys had never met anyone so dead-set on calling him a prick. For a long time, the blush that stained her freckled cheeks every time he'd purred Feyre darling seemed like the most he'd ever get.

But on the drive out to a park far enough from the city to see the stars properly, the conversation had flowed easily between them. Rhys had itched to put his hand on her thigh as she she'd adjusted the radio and jokingly criticized his taste in music the whole way.

Now she'd settled in a camping chair, a light blanket around her shoulders and a thermos of coffee in hand, her head tilted back to look at the sky. Feyre was the most beautiful woman Rhys had ever seen, but somehow, she looked even better in the moonlight, and he was tempted to spend the whole night staring at her and not the stars they'd come to see.

And Rhys suspected if he spent hours just gawking at her, there wouldn't be a second date.

He settled into the chair next to her and started with the same routine he always used when he took someone stargazing. "We're facing north. That bright star directly in front of us is Polaris—"

"I know. And the Big Dipper is right there," Feyre said pointing.

So she'd done this before, then. Rhys relaxed, glad that he wouldn't spend half the night mapping out the basics of the night sky. He would have done it gladly for Feyre, but there were better ways to spend a rare perfectly clear night providing a tutorial.

"Which is your favorite?"

As she started telling him about Orion's belt Feyre's smile was bright enough to light up the entire night. Rhys hung on her every word, memorizing exactly why she'd always loved the hunter, because there was nothing that seemed more important than knowing her inside and out.

By the end of the night, Rhys was sure he was going to marry her some day.

***

Feyre woke to the feather-light brush of Rhys's fingers in her hair. Making a low noise in the back of her throat, she buried her face deeper into the pillow. He chuckled, sweeping his thumb along her cheek.

"I know the bed is comfortable, but I promise the surprise is worth waking up for," he said softly.

Feyre cracked open one blue-grey eye. "There's a surprise?"

"When it's your birthday and the longest night of the year? Of course."

Feyre sat up slowly, pulling the quilt with her. She blinked at Rhys owlishly, taking in the layers he was dressed in. Only an hour before, he'd been in bed with her, wearing nothing at all. "Are we…going somewhere?"

"Yes, stargazing. So bundle up."

Feyre shot out of bed like a cannonball and dug out one of Rhys's sweatshirts from the closet. "I didn't think you'd want to go," she said, shrugging it on over her t-shirt.

"Last year, you said no one would go on your birthday because December was too cold."

"You remembered that?"

Rhys wasn't sure he could have forgotten—she'd looked so heartbroken over something easily remedied by a good coat, thick socks, and hand warmers. The temperature might have plunged, but they'd been lucky enough to have another clear night, as if the stars wanted to shine their brightest on Feyre's birthday.

And beyond that, he'd been panicking for months over what to do for her first birthday since they'd started dating. She'd struggled to accept gifts gracefully for as long as he'd known her, and he hated seeing her stammer and insist whatever she'd been given was too much.

But Feyre didn't need to know how long he'd been agonizing for. He picked at an invisible piece of lint on his sweater as she rooted around in a drawer for a hat. "There isn't much about you that's easy to forget."

An hour later, they'd managed to get the telescope set up, even with their hands wrapped up in thick gloves. Their breath made clouds in the air as they took turns adjusting it and peering up at the stars.

By the time they tumbled back into bed, the sun had nearly risen. It had taken the last of Feyre's energy to peel off her coat and all the layers under it, and she'd nearly fallen back to sleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. Rhys's arms banded around her, pulling her close as she whispered, "This was the best birthday I can remember."

***

After nearly a year of dating, they'd planned their summer travel around the Perseids. The late-August heat cooled off enough to make nights perfectly comfortable for watching the annual meteor shower. For months, Feyre had been looking forward to getting out of the city and watching it with Rhys.

But of course, a summer thunderstorm had gotten in the way of their plans.

In the days leading up to the trip, Rhys had been watching the weather obsessively, fretting over every last change in the predicted cloud cover. More than once, Feyre had nudged him to stop refreshing the page and just come to bed.

In the end, they'd decided not to cancel. Partial cloud cover, chance of rain low. It seemed worth risking it for the chance to watch shooting stars streak across the sky all night.

But the cloud cover turned out to be quite a lot worse than just partial. They'd only just gotten settled when a storm rolled in, and the rain began to pour.

Rhys and Feyre packed up their things in record time and made a mad dash back to the car. Feyre sighed with relief once they were out of the rain—only to shriek in surprise at the droplets that hit her as Rhys shook his head like a dog.

"Sorry," he said, pushing a wet lock of hair out of his eyes.

Feyre shrugged. "It's not as if I was dry anyway."

Now that she'd caught her breath, she let her gaze roam over him. Rhys's t-shirt had been stark white against his warm brown skin, and now it clung to his chest, the swirling tattoos that covered it showing through the material.

He was beautiful, and sometimes Feyre couldn't believe her luck that he was hers.

Even if he was smirking at her as if he could read her thoughts.

In the end, they'd attempted to salvage the evening by finding a place to eat. Not that there were many options this late. It took a while to find a place that stayed open all night, a diner called Rita's that seemed to be the only one for miles.

They were still waterlogged when the waitress showed them to their table. Feyre caught the hungry stares at Rhys and had nearly growled a warning to back off. Something in his eyes glittered.

When they were alone in their booth, he'd leaned in close and whispered, "You know I'm yours and yours alone, Feyre darling."

She'd shivered, not just because of the cold air on her wet skin.

***

Feyre hadn't thought much about how entwined their lives had felt until the solar eclipse was approaching. Hotels in the path of totality filled up well in advance—years in advance, even. But somehow, it didn't feel like wishful thinking to assume she'd be going with Rhys.

And she'd been right, of course. They shared a townhouse now, and Rhys was the person she came home to every day. I f Feyre had her way, that would be true for the rest of her life.

So a few weeks before the trip, Feyre found herself buying a ring.

By some miracle, she'd kept it hidden for weeks, tucked away in the back of a closet and the pocket of her coat. Throughout the drive, checking into their hotel, and dinner, Rhys hadn't seemed to suspect a thing.

But still, as darkness fell the next day and the moon moved in front of the sun, Feyre's heart leapt into her throat. She couldn't imagine he'd say no, but….a small part of her still worried Rhys might.

Her fingers curled around the box in her pocket, clutching it as if to steady herself. She took a deep breath and watched the sky through the tinted glasses they'd bought for the occasion.

Rhys's fingers brushed her other hand. The moon was nearly directly in front of the sun. It was now or never. Feyre dropped to one knee, pulling the box from her pocket, and tugged on Rhys's hand for his attention.

Only to find that he'd just done the same thing.

For a moment, they just stared at each other in shock, both kneeling with a ring in hand, then burst into laughter. Feyre launched herself into Rhys's arms.

"Should I take that to mean the answer is yes?" he said, kissing her.

"Of course it is."

"So is mine, if that wasn't obvious."

***

Eloping in the middle of the night was tempting. And with every frustration over finding a caterer and a photographer and a baker and every other task that seemed to be piling up as the wedding approached, it seemed even more tempting.

But they'd both been far too set on the idea of a ceremony in a planetarium to let all the planning to go waste.

Feyre tilted her head back and looked up at the stars as she waited to walk down the aisle. The planetarium had arranged them to replicate the sky on the first night they'd gone stargazing together. Just as she had then, she found Polaris with ease, right above the altar where Rhys was waiting for her.

Her worries about tripping on her dress or stumbling over the words in her vows melted away. Like so many had before her, Feyre looked up at the stars and knew with certainty exactly where to find home.

The rest of the day felt like a dream—when the music started, Feyre felt as if she'd floated down the aisle, pulled to Rhys by a string nestled next to both their hearts. In some ways, they'd always belonged to each other, but declaring it in front of their loved ones had her nearly glowing with happiness.

***

Long before the pregnancy test had come back positive, they'd both known the nursery would be covered in stars. And once they'd heard the name Nyx, Rhys and Feyre had agreed that nothing else sounded quite right.

Feyre had resolved to paint the nursery ceiling well before she started showing and standing too long on swollen feet became impossible. As early as possible, she'd bought several cans of glow-in-the-dark paint and printed out a map of the stars.

Rhys leaned against the doorframe and watched her—the meticulous way she painted each star, her tongue peeking out from between her lips as she focused, and the delicate curve of her fingers around the paintbrush. Given the opportunity, he could watch Feyre paint for hours.

When her concentration finally broke, he said, "Is there anything you need my help with?"

"Do you mind opening the can of paint near my feet?"

He did as she asked, stepping closer to pick up the can of paint that was sitting next to the ladder. As Rhys pried the lid open, flecks of paint splattered across his face. He blinked in surprise, and Feyre giggled.

Rhys went to wipe the paint from his face, but Feyre said, "Wait, no! Not yet."

She climbed down the ladder and crossed the room to turn off the lights. The paint began to glow, making Rhys look like he was covered in stardust.

He tipped his head back to admire the half-finished mural on the ceiling. "It's already beautiful."

"You think so?" Feyre came closer, wrapping an arm around his waist as she surveyed her work. Mapping the sky had been a meticulous, painstaking process, but she could see the final result beginning to come together. It would be worth it, if only just to have the soft glow illuminating midnight feedings when Nyx arrived.

"Everything you make is beautiful." Rhys pressed a kiss to her temple, which distracted Feyre enough that she didn't notice his fingers dipping back into the can of paint. He flicked some onto her, so she looked like she was covered in stardust, too.

"Rhysand," she squeaked, moving to wipe the paint away.

He caught her wrist before she could. "Don't. It looks like your freckles are glowing."

Feyre started to say that if he wasted any more of the paint, she'd be sending him back to the craft store, but the way he was looking at her stole her breath. Rhys leaned in to kiss her, under the stars as always.

#feysand #feysand and nyx #rare as the glimmer of a comet in the sky

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nasa · 2 years

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Astrobiology: The Story of our Search for Life in the Universe

Astrobiologists study the origin, evolution, and distribution of life in the universe. This includes identifying evidence left behind by life that once survived on the ancient Earth, and extends to the search for life beyond our planet.

When looking for signs of life on other worlds, what are they looking for?

Things called biosignatures. For example, when you sign a piece of paper, your signature is evidence of your existence. Similarly, biosignatures are anything that can prove that life was once, or is, present in an environment.

If we were very very lucky, we might spot something we know is life with a powerful telescope or receive a "phone call" or radio signal from alien civilizations. Those types of biosignatures would be obvious. But they would only let us identify advanced life.

For most of Earth’s history (billions of years), single-celled life like bacteria and archaea have been around. Humans have only been making radio transmissions for hundreds of years. So we have a better chance of finding life if we look for signs that have been around for very long periods of time.

Patterns in ancient rocks that were created by life are a great example. That can be anything like a dinosaur footprint or structures built by microorganisms, like stromatolites.

Molecules can also be biosignatures, like DNA left behind for detectives to discover. But DNA doesn’t last very long on its own in most environments, so other molecules like lipids (like natural oils, wax, and fat) might be a better choice if you are looking for signatures of life from millions (or billions) of years ago.

Even the balance of gases in a planet’s atmosphere can be a sign of past or present life. On Earth, biology plays a major role in maintaining the delicate composition of gases like nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide in the air that we breathe.

These are just a few examples of signs astrobiologists look for when searching for life amongst the stars! Research into these biosignatures inform many of our biggest missions, from observatories like the Hubble Space Telescope and the Webb Space Telescope to our Mars Sample Return endeavor.

Want to learn more about the search for life? Check out the latest issue of our comic-book style graphic history novel, Astrobiology: The Story of our Search for Life in the Universe. This new chapter is all about biosignatures.

Explore life in the universe with us by following NASA Astrobiology on Twitter and Facebook.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

#Artists on Tumblr #NASA #space #science #life #explore #comic #comic book #artwork #history #illustrations #illustrators on tumblr #universe #are we alone?

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