All articles tagged with #atacama desert
In Chile’s Atacama Desert, the Residencia is a desert-blending, climate-controlled lodging for astronomers near ESO’s Paranal Observatory and the VLT. It’s famously film-friendly (a Quantum of Solace finale was shot there) but functions as a serious research hub with strict light-pollution controls, high-altitude living (no alcohol), and a cycle of night/day shifts as engineers work on the ELT nearby.
In Chile’s Atacama Desert, home to ESO’s Paranal Observatory, some of Earth’s darkest skies are increasingly affected by artificial light from nearby cities, mining and growing satellite traffic. A proposed nearby megaproject, Inna, could have raised light levels at the observatory by as much as 50% and introduced air turbulence, prompting scientists to push for tighter regulations beyond a 10% threshold. Although AES Andes canceled Inna in 2026, enforcement of light-pollution rules remains weak, and the International Astronomical Union’s 2025 guidelines call for lower limits and a possible secondary norm to empower government action to dim lights if needed. The issue underscores a global struggle: preserving dark skies is crucial for astronomy and our understanding of the universe, even as technology and industry encroach.
The Atacama Desert, a premier astronomy hub hosting the ELT and major observatories, faces rising light pollution from mining, energy projects, and urban development. Scientists warn that even small increases in artificial light can degrade decades of data and hinder the search for Earth-like planets, spurring calls for stricter protections and regulatory updates after a near-miss green-energy project near Paranal highlighted governance gaps.
The Atacama Desert in Chile hosts some of the world’s most powerful astronomical facilities thanks to exceptionally dark skies, but growing urban expansion, mining, wind farms, and a canceled nearby green-energy project have spotlighted how light pollution and regulations threaten these observatories and their ability to study the universe—spurring calls for stricter sky-preservation rules to safeguard projects like the ELT and the search for Earth‑like planets.
Scientists found bacteria and archaea two meters underground in Chile’s Atacama Desert, detected with the SOLID biosignature detector, revealing a hidden, salt‑rich microbial oasis that could inform how and where life might exist beneath Mars’ surface.
A University of Cologne–led study published in Nature Communications finds a diverse nematode community in soils across six sites in the Atacama Desert, the world's driest non-polar desert, with 21 families and 36 genera; higher precipitation correlates with greater biodiversity, and asexual reproduction appears to aid survival in high-altitude areas, though some regions show simplified food webs, offering insights into life’s resilience in extreme aridity amid climate-change context.
Six sampling sites across the Atacama Desert revealed diverse nematode communities thriving in buried soil, showing life can persist in extreme dryness and highlighting a richer desert ecosystem with implications for soil resilience amid increasing aridity from climate change.
A Nature Communications study finds diverse nematode communities in the Atacama Desert’s soils across six sites (dunes, altiplano, saline lakes, river valleys, fog oases), with 21 families and 36 genera. Genus richness correlates with moisture, elevation, and climate gradients, and reproduction modes shift with altitude (asexual at higher altitudes, sexual at lower). The work shows stable soil life even in hyper-arid cores and underscores implications for predicting soil resilience as global aridity increases and climate change progresses.
Researchers studying 4,000–6,000-year-old gypsum crusts and stromatolites in Chile’s Atacama Desert found living and fossilized microbial signatures. Gypsum’s light-transmitting, protective properties can shield biosignatures, making these crystals a potential time capsule for past life and a model for what to look for on Mars in future missions.
Space agency ESO released imagery of the ELT’s enormous 80-meter outer dome at Cerro Armazones in Chile. The dome will shelter a 39-meter primary mirror, protect optics from desert heat, and feature earthquake-resilient shock absorbers; the upper section will rotate to give the telescope full access to dark skies. The project is slated for completion in 2027, with first light planned for early 2029 and initial science observations in 2030.
Scientists studying the Atacama Desert discovered thriving nematode communities beneath the surface, showing how multicellular soil life adapts to extreme dryness and salinity, contributing to nutrient cycling and offering insight into biodiversity and climate-change impacts in arid ecosystems.
An international study across six Atacama sites finds diverse nematode communities persisting in ultra-dry soils; higher elevations favor parthenogenetic (asexually reproducing) species, while more water boosts biodiversity. The findings reveal resilient soil ecosystems in extreme deserts and warn that simplified food webs in some regions may be more vulnerable to climate change.
Scientists discovered 160-million-year-old dinosaur footprints in Chile's Atacama Desert, including the smallest known theropod tracks, offering insights into a once wetter Jurassic landscape with ephemeral wetlands that supported diverse dinosaur species.
NASA captured rare snowfall in the Atacama Desert, one of the driest places on Earth, due to an unusual cold-core cyclone, causing temporary disruption at the ALMA observatory and highlighting increasing climate variability in the region.
A rare snowstorm in July temporarily covered parts of the extremely dry Atacama Desert in Chile, affecting the ALMA radio telescope and highlighting potential impacts of climate change on hyperarid regions.