tldrdailynews.com logo
Tag

Oxygen

All articles tagged with #oxygen

Ocean Microbes Provide About Half of Earth’s Oxygen, With a Hidden Footnote
science19 days ago

Ocean Microbes Provide About Half of Earth’s Oxygen, With a Hidden Footnote

Phytoplankton in the sunlit ocean photosynthesize enough to supply about half of Earth's oxygen, with Prochlorococcus alone contributing up to a fifth; rainforests are not net producers since their oxygen output is offset by respiration and decay. Atmospheric oxygen is a long-term stock built over millions of years by buried carbon, not a daily plankton output. Satellites like NASA's PACE now help distinguish phytoplankton communities to refine these estimates and track ocean changes.

via Space Daily|
#ocean#oxygen#pace
Rod Stewart pauses Utah concert for onstage oxygen after nearly fainting
entertainment20 days ago

Rod Stewart pauses Utah concert for onstage oxygen after nearly fainting

Rock icon Rod Stewart paused his Utah show to take oxygen from a tank after nearly fainting onstage, an moment some fans attributed to the venue’s high elevation (about 4,300 feet). He recovered, telling the crowd that the show must go on as he continued the performance. The tour—One Last Time—has a next date July 31 at Jones Beach Theater in Wantagh, NY, and TMZ reported he had recently been sidelined by laryngitis, which led to a canceled San Diego show.

via NBC News|
#altitude#concert-incident#entertainment
Mars air proof: Tiny MOXIE device demonstrates oxygen production on the Red Planet
space29 days ago

Mars air proof: Tiny MOXIE device demonstrates oxygen production on the Red Planet

NASA’s MOXIE, a microwave-sized instrument aboard the Perseverance rover, produced breathable oxygen from Martian CO2 between 2021 and 2023—5.4 g in its first hour and a total of 122 g across 16 runs—demonstrating that solid oxide electrolysis works on Mars and validating in-situ resource utilization in principle. However, turning this into a crewed-Mars capability would require a much larger, continuously powered system (targeting about 2–3 kg of O2 per hour and 25–30 kW) known as Big MOXIE, which is not yet built and faces significant engineering and mission challenges.

via Space Daily|
#in-situ-resource-utilization#mars#moxie
Oxygen-Fueled Sky Giants: Ancient Griffinflies Dwarfed by Predators Eventually
science-paleontology1 month ago

Oxygen-Fueled Sky Giants: Ancient Griffinflies Dwarfed by Predators Eventually

Meganeuropsis permiana and other griffinflies reached wingspans over 70 cm in an oxygen-rich Late Carboniferous–Early Permian atmosphere, but recent research suggests insect size was shaped by multiple factors—oxygen delivery, flight mechanics, and ultimately predation by birds and other aerial predators— meaning the giant-insect era ended as skies filled with competitors and oxygen levels shifted.

via Space Daily|
#griffinflies#insects#meganeuropsis
From poison to breath: how cyanobacteria seeded Earth’s oxygen-rich world
science1 month ago

From poison to breath: how cyanobacteria seeded Earth’s oxygen-rich world

Oxygen, now essential to life, started as a poisonous byproduct released by cyanobacteria about 2.4–2.5 billion years ago, triggering the Great Oxidation Event that poisoned much of the anaerobic biosphere and reshaped Earth’s chemistry. As some microbes adapted to oxygen, they evolved enzymes and aerobic respiration, enabling far more energy production and the rise of larger, more complex life. The modern atmosphere remains a steady-state maintained by ongoing photosynthesis, with cyanobacteria still producing oxygen today.

via Space Daily|
#aerobic-respiration#anaerobic#cyanobacteria
Oxygen’s toxic rise: the Great Oxidation Event and Earth’s first mass extinction
science1 month ago

Oxygen’s toxic rise: the Great Oxidation Event and Earth’s first mass extinction

Around 2.4 billion years ago, cyanobacteria started releasing oxygen through photosynthesis, and as sinks filled, oxygen accumulated in the oceans and air. That oxygen was poisonous to the dominant anaerobic life, sparking Earth’s first major mass extinction—the Great Oxidation Event. Evidence includes sulfur isotope patterns that indicate an oxygen-free atmosphere before 2.4 Ga and their disappearance after, and the widespread formation of banded iron formations as iron was oxidized. Oxygen’s rise also collapsed methane, possibly helping trigger the long Huronian glaciation. The fossil record is sparse and the transition was uneven and gradual, not a single moment, but it marks a pivotal shift as life adapted to breathe oxygen.

via Space Daily|
#banded-iron-formations#cyanobacteria#great-oxidation-event
The Great Oxidation Event: Oxygen’s Rise Reshaped Life and Climate
science1 month ago

The Great Oxidation Event: Oxygen’s Rise Reshaped Life and Climate

Around 2.4 billion years ago, free oxygen began accumulating in Earth’s atmosphere during the Great Oxidation Event, driven by cyanobacteria; its rise triggered a mass extinction of anaerobic life, altered climate by ending methane greenhouse warming, and enabled aerobic metabolism, paving the way for complex life and eukaryotes—though oxygenation progressed slowly due to ocean chemistry and sinks, with later oxygenation events raising levels toward modern times.

via Space Daily|
#aerobic-respiration#archean#cyanobacteria
American climber sets Everest speed record in 9 hours 55 minutes
world1 month ago

American climber sets Everest speed record in 9 hours 55 minutes

American climber Tyler Andrews completed a solo, oxygen-assisted ascent of Mount Everest in 9 hours 55 minutes, smashing the previous 2003 record of 10 hours 56 minutes; verification by Nepal's authorities is pending. A cancer survivor from Massachusetts, Andrews is raising funds for youth athletes in Ecuador and Nepal; the season's crowded summit and five fatalities highlight ongoing safety concerns on Everest.

via CBS News|
#everest#nepal#oxygen
Oldest Eukaryotes Found in 1.7-Billion-Year Ocean Cores Point to Oxygen-Driven Life
science-paleontology1 month ago

Oldest Eukaryotes Found in 1.7-Billion-Year Ocean Cores Point to Oxygen-Driven Life

Fossils from 1.75–1.4 billion-year-old mudstone cores in Darwin, Australia, include more than 12,000 microscopic remains of the oldest known eukaryotes. Analysis shows these early complex cells lived in oxygenated bottom waters, suggesting oxygen was functionally necessary for their evolution. The fossils mostly occur in oxic, benthic settings, with fewer in anoxic layers, implying a seafloor lifestyle and a delayed transition to open-water, planktonic life during the Neoproterozoic.

via Indian Defence Review|
#benthic#eukaryotes#fossils
Chemistry Unmasks a Spiral Galaxy’s Ancient History
science1 month ago

Chemistry Unmasks a Spiral Galaxy’s Ancient History

Astronomers used chemical fingerprints from thousands of star-forming gas clouds in the nearby spiral galaxy NGC 1365 to reconstruct its 12-billion-year growth by matching observations to about 20,000 galaxy simulations. They found a centrally formed, oxygen-rich core with slower outer-disk growth, likely shaped by mergers with smaller galaxies and late gas inflows. This chemical-archaeology approach opens a new way to study how distant galaxies assembled over cosmic time.

via Yahoo News Australia|
#heavy-elements#ngc-1365#oxygen
Giant Insects Challenge Oxygen-Size Link, New Study Finds
science2 months ago

Giant Insects Challenge Oxygen-Size Link, New Study Finds

A Nature study argues that atmospheric oxygen did not limit the size of giant prehistoric insects. By examining tracheole density in flight muscles across species, researchers found oxygen delivery was not the constraining factor, suggesting other causes—such as vertebrate predation or exoskeleton constraints—helped shape why giants once dominated ancient skies.

via The Daily Galaxy|
#evolution#flight#insects
Breath-hold divers show human evolution in action, spleens included
science2 months ago

Breath-hold divers show human evolution in action, spleens included

A Copenhagen-led study finds Sama-Bajau divers who spend hours daily underwater have unusually large spleens that release extra red blood cells during dives, suggesting a inherited physiological adaptation rather than training alone. The finding, published in Cell, highlights how long-standing environmental pressures shape human biology, a pattern echoed by high-altitude Tibetans (EPAS1) and Andean populations with larger lungs, underscoring that evolution continues to tailor bodies to oxygen challenges globally—often with trade-offs such as risks to other bodily systems.

via Earth.com|
#bajau#diving#evolution