Landing on Mars once felt like a distant dream. Now, space agencies have sent rovers and landers to explore the Red Planet ...

The grey patches are likely lichen, a combination of a fungus and an algae. It is harmless to you and the tree. It is common ...

Have you ever noticed the strange, colorful splotches clinging to rocks, tree bark, or even old fences after a rainy day?

Lichens have survived Martian conditions in an unprecedented scientific experiment. This discovery opens new perspectives on the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Lichens, these symbiotic ...

Algal blooms have many causes, but it's commonly chemicals in industrial fertilizers that end up in rivers and oceans in a ...

Synthetic lichens could transform Martian dust into self-growing habitats for future Mars bases and 3D printed buildings.

A Texas A&M research team has developed synthetic lichens that could be the answer to self-growing structures on Mars.

Can desert lichen survive extreme UV radiation? Study shows it might hold clues to how life could exist on distant, high-radiation planets.

A walk in the desert and a curious discovery could have revealed that the secrets of alien life grow in the harshest ...

DRI researcher Henry Sun gathers lichen from the Mojave Desert. (Image credit: Henry Sun/DRI) Lichen is composed of algae or cyanobacteria that exist symbiotically with fungi.

A dedicated Cryptogamic Gallery is also being developed within the glasshouse to showcase and facilitate the study of non-flowering plant groups such as algae, fungi, bryophytes, and pteridophytes.