Behind the Paper
The real stories behind the latest research papers, from conception to publication, the highs and the lows
Staying alive: sinking Trichodesmium fixes nitrogen in the dark ocean
Sunlight extinguishes about 150 m in the ocean, retaining photosynthetic microbes such as the diazotrophic cyanobacteria in the surface ocean layer. Here we find that Trichodesmium, a key photosynthetic diazotroph, fixes nitrogen while sinking into the deep ocean down to 1000 m depth.
The implications of the contamination of Arctic ice samples to future space missions to Europa and Enceladus
We developed a protocol that may be used to monitor and minimise the microbiological contamination of planetary field analogues of icy moons in their analysis. It may serve as a test-bed for procedures of decontamination of samples from future landing/return missions to icy moons.
