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We simulate Venus' evolution with a coupled one-dimensional solar-atmosphere-lithosphere-mantle-core model to predict currently unobservable features and its eruptive mass flux. We identified four distinct evolutionary pathways that…
Organic material in anoxic sediment represents a globally significant carbon reservoir that acts to stabilize Earth's atmospheric composition. The dynamics by which microbes organize to consume this material remain poorly understood. Here…
Theoretical predictions and observational data indicate a class of sub-Neptune exoplanets may have water-rich interiors covered by hydrogen-dominated atmospheres. Provided suitable climate conditions, such planets could host surface liquid…
The variational method with constraints recently developed by Verkley and Gerkema to describe maximum-entropy atmospheric profiles is generalized to ideal gases but with temperature-dependent specific heats. In so doing, an extended and non…
From a purely operational standpoint, the existence of microbes that can grow under extreme conditions, or "extremophiles", leads to the question of how the molecules making up these microbes can maintain both their structure and function.…
A key challenge in origin-of-life studies is understanding the environmental conditions on early Earth under which abiogenesis occurred. While some constraints do exist (e.g., zircon evidence for surface liquid water), relatively few…
Giant unilamellar vesicles (GUVs) composed of as few as three lipid species can phase separate into small-scale lipid domains with stripes and dots patterns. These patterns have been experimentally characterized in terms of how their size…
We present a simple coarse-grained bead-and-spring model for lipid bilayers. The system has been developed to reproduce the main (gel-liquid) transition of biological membranes on intermediate length scales of a couple of nanometres and is…
The complex structure of the Salvinia molesta is investigated via rare event molecular dynamics simulations. Results show that a hydrophilic/hydrophobic patterning together with a re-entrant geometry control the free energy barriers for…
Shock wave induced cavitation experiments and atomic force microscopy measurements of flat polyamide and hydrophobized silicon surfaces immersed in water are performed. It is shown that surface nanobubbles, present on these surfaces, do not…
We aim to understand cloud formation in substellar objects. We combined the non-equilibrium, stationary cloud model of Helling, Woitke & Thi (2008; seed formation, growth, evaporation, gravitational settling, element conservation) with the…
This paper presents the first structured evaluation of Solar System bodies hypothetically relocated to Earth orbit (1 AU) to assess their potential as alternative habitats. Using comparative criteria, planetary size and gravity, atmospheric…
A series of simulations aimed at elucidating the self-assembly dynamics of spherical virus capsids is described. This little-understood phenomenon is a fascinating example of the complex processes that occur in the simplest of organisms.…
Terrestrial planets within the Venus zone surrounding M dwarf stars can retain surface ice caps on the perpetual dark side if atmospheric heat transport is inefficient, {as suggested by previous global climate simulations…
The habitability of a planet depends on various factors, such as delivery of water during the formation, the co-evolution of the interior and the atmosphere, as well as the stellar irradiation which changes in time. Since an unknown number…
Atmospheric tides can have a strong impact on the rotational dynamics of planets. They are of most importance for terrestrial planets located in the habitable zone of their host star, where their competition with solid tides is likely to…
The form of depleted sulphur in dense clouds is still unknown. Until now, only two molecules, OCS and SO2, have been detected in interstellar ices but cannot account for the elemental abundance of sulphur observed in diffuse medium.…
Using a microfluidic trap, we study the behavior of individual phospholipid vesicles in contact with fatty acids. We show that spontaneous fatty acids insertion inside the bilayer is controlled by the vesicle size, osmotic pressure…
While small, Neptune-like planets are among the most abundant exoplanets, our understanding of their atmospheric structure and dynamics remains sparse. In particular, many unknowns remain on the way moist convection works in these…
The noble elements constitute the simplest group of atoms. At low temperatures or high pressures they freeze into the face-centered cubic (fcc) crystal structure (except helium). We perform molecular dynamics using the recently proposed…