Life on Mars...

revisited:  Complexity Analysis of the Viking Labeled Release Experiments.

Makes one want to rethink...

the whole take-me-to-your-leader approach: Could 'advanced' dinosaurs rule other planets?

Earth's millimeter-scale emissaries...

to other worlds, the adorable water bear (more technically known as tardigrades):

Tardigrade Eggs Might Survive Interplanetary Trip

Image courtesy Wikipedia.

The amazing trajectories...

of life-bearing meteorites from Earth seems to support the notion of panspermia and similar ideas advanced by the late English astronomer Sir Fred Hoyle.  Interesting.

Let's get small...

Credit: The Wall Street Journal.

Life on Mars...

will resemble this: Underground oasis found below Earth's driest desert.

Darwin Day at EWU...

will kick off with a seminar presented by Dr. Jack Sullivan (University of Idaho) on the "Divergence with gene flow in chipmunks:  An emerging paradigm in speciation" at 2 pm in SCI 137.  Then, the winners of the birthday cake competition will be announced at about 3 pm, and I'll update this post after that time with pics of the most creative cakes.

11:50 am UPDATE:  The 16 cake entries have been examined and ranked by the judges, but I won't reveal the winners until after 3 pm today.  Stay tuned.

3:50 pm UPDATE:  And the winners are...

First place goes to a cake bearing beautifully crafted trilobite fossils:

 And second place goes to these fantastic tortoises:

There were many more wonderful cakes entered this year, and by now, they're probably mostly gone as there was a good crowd milling about with hungry eyes.  Congratulations to everyone involved.

Russian scientists reach Lake Vostok...

beneath 2.4 miles (3.8 km) of Antarctic ice after two decades of drilling.  The enormous sub-glacial lake is thought to have been isolated from the Earth's atmosphere for about 20 million years, and will be carefully sampled for microbial life during the next field season.

Celebrate Charlie Darwin's 203rd birthday...

by baking a cake in his honor!

The EWU Department of Biology is hosting their annual cake competition and any group or individual may participate (hint to geology students).  Deliver your creative cakes that reflect some aspect of Darwin's work to SCI 258 by 11 am on 17 February for judging, with results announced at 3 pm in SCI 243 & 247.  Then we dig in and eat 'em.

RELATED:  Your humble blog correspondent is one of the judges for the event, and he can be easily influenced.  Think chocolate.  And bacon.

UPDATE:  Here's a look back to 2009, 2010 and 2011 if you need some inspiration.

Underwater caves in the Bahamas...

could give clues to life beyond Earth.

You don't have to convince me that caves are special places, and that they provide unique niches for life, both here on Earth and potentially on other worlds.

Know your forest biomass...

distribution by studying this new map showing the concentration of carbon in trees in the U.S.  (Click on the image to download the ~ 4 MB JPG hi-res version).

Can't see the forest for the trees?  Now you can.

Recently discovered itsy-bitsy...

teensy-weensy frog in Papua New Guinea is world's smallest known vertebrate.  Two of them can sit side-by-side on a dime.  Here's a pic.

UPDATE: Angler Fish Challenges Frog's 'Smallest' Title.

Scientists find microbes...

in lava tube living in conditions like those on Mars.

That's where I'd look for extant life on the red planet - in thin films on the walls of lava tubes.  The cavern environment provides more moderated temperatures, and shielding from ionizing radiation, than on the surface.

Slow motion extinction...

at the end of the Cretaceous: Massive volcanoes, meteorite impacts delivered one-two death punch to dinosaurs.

Afterwards, mammals celebrate!

IR image of bats in flight...

just in time for Halloween:

Image credit: Live Science.

Did pumice provide the foundation...

for early life on Earth?

Here's the on-line article (.pdf) published in Astrobiology, but it's only freely available for the next several days, so take a look while you can.

Paper wasps have been busy...

this summer, building an impressive nest on my roll-off roof astronomical observatory behind my home in the pines:

It's a work of natural art, but, unfortunately, I won't be able to collect it since it is so interleaved within the wooden cross-braces for the rails:

Fastest mammal muscles on Earth...

are the basis for echolocation in bats. Here's the technical abstract.

Remember, bats need friends.

Update on white-nose syndrome...

Helping Bats Hold On

Remember, bats need friends.

I thought my students were bored...

but it's more about brain temperature regulation: More than a sign of sleepiness, yawning may cool the brain.