microbes Feed

microbes

Artist's depiction of the Mars Rover on the surface of Mars

There could be alien life on Mars, but will our rovers be able to find it?

23 Feb 2023

New research published today in Nature Communications suggests the rovers’ current equipment might not actually be up to the task of finding evidence of life.

thumb_no_writing.jpg

Perseverance rover’s search for life on Mars: from the outback to the red planet

19 Feb 2021

As NASA’s Perseverance rover lands on Mars, UNSW is playing a key role in the search for life on the red planet. In July 2019, Professor Martin Van Kranendonk took a team of NASA and European Space Agency scientists to the Pilbara, in the Western Australian outback.

Atacama desert

Ancient microbial life used arsenic to thrive in a world without oxygen

29 Sep 2020

How ancient microbes survived in a world without oxygen has been a mystery. Scientists discovered a living microbial mat that uses arsenic instead of oxygen for photosynthesis and respiration.

Researching air-eating microbes in Antarctica

27 Aug 2020

UNSW Sydney researchers have found their previous discovery of bacteria living on air in Antarctica is likely a process that occurs globally, further supporting the potential existenc

Robinson Ridge in the east Antarctic

Microbes living on air a global phenomenon

19 Aug 2020

UNSW researchers have found their previous discovery of bacteria living on air in Antarctica is likely a process that occurs globally, further supporting the potential existence of microbial life on alien planets.

Secrets of Antarctic lake’s microbes revealed

11 Aug 2020

UNSW Science Professor Rick Cavicchioli is an expert in microbes and why they are so important – just last year, he led an urgent call for the world to stop ignoring this ‘unseen majority’ in Earth’s biodiversity and ecosystem when addressing climate change. 

Mars

Astrobiologists put Mars Rover life-detecting equipment to the test

04 May 2020

Scientists have used the same methods that will soon be used to search for evidence of life on Mars to look for evidence of the earliest forms of life on Earth at a location in South Australia.

Sea ice

Leaving microbes out of climate change conversation has major consequences, experts warn

19 Jun 2019

An international group of leading microbiologists have issued a warning, saying that not including microbes – the support system of the biosphere – in the climate change equation will have major negative flow-on effects.

robinsonridge.jpg

Living on thin air: microbe mystery solved

07 Dec 2017

A discovery that microbes in Antarctica can scavenge hydrogen, carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide from the air to stay alive in such extreme conditions has implications for the search for life on other planets.

 

algae.jpg

Tiny fighters in sediments determine success of invasive marine plants

14 Sep 2017

UNSW-led research has uncovered a battle raging beneath the waves as armies of tiny microbes fight to determine whether exotic marine plants invade new territory and replace native species.

Pages