Mastodawn

#Terrestrial contamination on #Mars 🔴 would essentially be permanent — over timeframes of thousands of years. This could complicate #scientific efforts to look for Martian life. Likewise, if #microbes 🦠 evolved on Mars, they could be capable of surviving until present day. That means returning Mars samples could contaminate #Earth.” https://news.northwestern.edu/stories/2022/10/ancient-bacteria-might-lurk-beneath-mars-surface

Ancient bacteria might lurk beneath Mars’ surface

In a first-of-its-kind study, a researchers found that ancient bacteria could survive close to the surface on Mars much longer than previously assumed. If bacteria evolved on Mars when water last flowed billions of years ago, they might still be living in Mars' subsurface.

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Spaceflight 🚀Mar 1

We can consider three possible responses to the discovery of indigenous life on #Mars 🔴

• Leave it alone
• Alter Mars to enhance the chances of that biota to become a global scale biology
• Collect samples for laboratory preservation, then replace or augment it with #terrestrial life forms

It is very unlikely that we would drive to extinction any native #Martian #microorganisms 🦠 by extending the habitability of Mars
#RobertZubrin 2002
https://marspapers.org/paper/McKay_2000.pdf

#Terraforming #Mars

NIOO-KNAW Feb 23

New publication: Recoupling #terrestrial, #benthic and #pelagic habitats by constructing #littoralzones diversifies #carbon flows to aquatic #macroinvertebrates.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.baae.2026.01.003

RichRARobi Feb 13

If you want to know how old one of the many repeats on #TV actually is, I believe the date is usually shown at the end of the credits in roman numerals. You need to be quick to read it.

Just watched a 2011 (MMXI) repeat of location (x3), and house prices were about half those of nowadays.

#terrestrial in decline

Scientific Frontline Feb 12

A physical model demonstrating that #snowflakes (ice dendrites) formed under #terrestrial conditions possess complex, non-smooth, and #asymmetrical shapes, refuting the popular notion of perfect geometric symmetry.
#Physics #MaterialScience #sflorg
https://www.sflorg.com/2026/02/phy02122601.html

UrFU Physicists Discovered Snowflake Has Complex & Asymmetrical Shape

Convection prevents the formation of a perfect pattern, which affects crystal growth

💧🌏 Greg Cocks Jan 17

New Study Uncovers [Another Positive] Surprising Effect[s] Of Beavers' Dam-Building Behavior
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https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/study-uncovers-surprising-effect-beavers-193000239.html <-- shared technical / media article
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https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2656.70136 <-- shared paper
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https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/beavers-are-dam-good-for-biodiversity-bringing-bats-butterflies-and-other-critters-to-their-neighborhoods-180987717/ <-- shared technical article
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https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.70193 <-- shared paper
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#water #surfacewater #groundwater #hydrology #natural #beaver #wildlife #habitat #ecosystem #streamflow #beaverdams #geomorphology #montane #landscape #landforms #basin #watershed #drainage #spatial #reservoir #biodiversity #bat #butterfly #pollinators #pollination #insects #arthropods #food #feeding #predation #trees #vegetation #switzerland #night #day #nightandday #sampling #remotesensing #diversity #deadwood #spatialanalysis #LiDAR #ecology #aquatic #terrestrial #ecosystemengineering #model #modeling #structuralequationmodel #SEM #species #foodsecurity #biology #wetland #butterfly #bee #hoverfly #moth

Stefan F. Wirth Jan 9

#Isopod #Porcellio #hoffmannseggii is one of the largest known #terrestrial isopods. It is native to southern Spain, #Portugal, and #Morocco. Adults can reach a length of 4 centimeters.
It exhibits unusually strong #territorial #behavior and is also known for guarding its #offspring.
I am successfully #breeding this #species.
© #StefanFWirth Berlin January 2026