biosphere
Advanced Civilizations Could be Indistinguishable from Nature
Sometimes in science you have to step back and take another look at underlying assumptions. Sometimes its necessary when progress…
A New Way to Detect Daisy Worlds
The Daisy World model describes a hypothetical planet that self-regulates, maintaining a delicate balance involving its biogeochemical cycles, climate, and…
Life Might Thrive on the Surface of Earth for an Extra Billion Years
The Sun is midway through its life of fusion. It's about five billion years old, and though its life is…
What Can Early Earth Teach Us About the Search for Life?
Earth is the only life-supporting planet we know of, so it's tempting to use it as a standard in the…
Measuring the Atmospheres of Other Worlds to See if There are Enough Nutrients for Life
Life on Earth depends on six critical elements: Carbon, Hydrogen, Nitrogen, Oxygen, Phosphorous, and Sulfur. These elements are referred to…
Can the Gaia Hypothesis Be Tested in the Lab?
During the 1970s, inventor/environmentalist James Lovelock and evolutionary biologist Lynn Margulis proposed the Gaia Hypothesis. This theory posits that Earth…
Could We Find Aliens Terraforming Other Worlds?
The first early humans to use fire had no inkling of what it would lead to. Fire was one of…
Does the Entire Planet Have a Mind of its Own?
What is humanity? Do our minds set us apart from the rest of nature and from the rest of Earth?…
New Data Show How Phytoplankton Pumps Carbon Out of the Atmosphere at an Enormous Scale
One of the most fascinating things about planet Earth is the way that life shapes the Earth and the Earth…