Celestial bodies orbiting around the sun or other stars.

Creation and development of bodies within solar systems, includes study of early planetary geology.

Planet that is the third in order from the sun. It is one of the four inner or terrestrial planets of the SOLAR SYSTEM.

The environment outside the earth or its atmosphere. The environment may refer to a closed cabin (such as a space shuttle or space station) or to space itself, the moon, or other planets.

The science concerned with celestial bodies and the observation and interpretation of the radiation received in the vicinity of the earth from the component parts of the universe (McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 5th ed)

The interdisciplinary science that studies evolutionary biology, including the origin and evolution of the major elements required for life, their processing in the interstellar medium and in protostellar systems. This field also includes the study of chemical evolution and the subsequent interactions between evolving biota and planetary evolution as well as the field of biology that deals with the study of extraterrestrial life.

Large bodies consisting of self-luminous gas held together by their own gravity. (From McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

Aggregates of matter in outer space, such as stars, planets, comets, etc. and the properties and processes they undergo.

The sixth planet in order from the sun. It is one of the five outer planets of the solar system. Its twelve natural satellites include Phoebe and Titan.

The fourth planet in order from the sun. Its two natural satellites are Deimos and Phobos. It is one of the four inner or terrestrial planets of the solar system.

The process of cumulative change at the level of DNA; RNA; and PROTEINS, over successive generations.

Devices, manned and unmanned, which are designed to be placed into an orbit about the Earth or into a trajectory to another celestial body. (NASA Thesaurus, 1988)

The natural satellite of the planet Earth. It includes the lunar cycles or phases, the lunar month, lunar landscapes, geography, and soil.

The group of celestial bodies, including the EARTH, orbiting around and gravitationally bound by the sun. It includes eight planets, one minor planet, and 34 natural satellites, more than 1,000 observed comets, and thousands of lesser bodies known as MINOR PLANETS (asteroids) and METEOROIDS. (From Academic American Encyclopedia, 1983)

Small solar system planetary bodies including asteroids. Most asteroids are found within the gap lying between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter.

Any solid objects moving in interplanetary space that are smaller than a planet or asteroid but larger than a molecule. Meteorites are any meteoroid that has fallen to a planetary surface. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

The eighth planet in order from the sun. It is one of the five outer planets of the solar system. Its two natural satellites are Nereid and Triton.

The gaseous envelope surrounding a planet or similar body. (From Random House Unabridged Dictionary, 2d ed)

Chemical and physical transformation of the biogenic elements from their nucleosynthesis in stars to their incorporation and subsequent modification in planetary bodies and terrestrial biochemistry. It includes the mechanism of incorporation of biogenic elements into complex molecules and molecular systems, leading up to the origin of life.

Finely divided solid matter with particle sizes smaller than a micrometeorite, thus with diameters much smaller than a millimeter, moving in interplanetary space. (NASA Thesaurus, 1994)

Travel beyond the earth's atmosphere.

An independent Federal agency established in 1958. It conducts research for the solution of problems of flight within and outside the Earth's atmosphere and develops, constructs, tests, and operates aeronautical and space vehicles. (From U.S. Government Manual, 1993)

An environment simulating one or more parameters of the space environment, applied in testing space systems or components. Often, a closed chamber is used, capable of approximating the vacuum and normal environments of space. (From NASA Thesaurus, 1988) This also includes simulated EXTRAVEHICULAR ACTIVITY studies in atmosphere exposure chambers or water tanks.

The inanimate matter of Earth, the structures and properties of this matter, and the processes that affect it.

Water in its gaseous state. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

The science of the earth and other celestial bodies and their history as recorded in the rocks. It includes the study of geologic processes of an area such as rock formations, weathering and erosion, and sedimentation. (From McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

The relationships of groups of organisms as reflected by their genetic makeup.

The techniques used to produce molecules exhibiting properties that conform to the demands of the experimenter. These techniques combine methods of generating structural changes with methods of selection. They are also used to examine proposed mechanisms of evolution under in vitro selection conditions.

The longterm manifestations of WEATHER. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed)

Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of systems, processes, or phenomena. They include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.

Any device or element which converts an input signal into an output signal of a different form. Examples include the microphone, phonographic pickup, loudspeaker, barometer, photoelectric cell, automobile horn, doorbell, and underwater sound transducer. (McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

A broad class of substances containing carbon and its derivatives. Many of these chemicals will frequently contain hydrogen with or without oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, phosphorus, and other elements. They exist in either carbon chain or carbon ring form.

The first chemical element in the periodic table. It has the atomic symbol H, atomic number 1, and atomic weight [1.00784; 1.00811]. It exists, under normal conditions, as a colorless, odorless, tasteless, diatomic gas. Hydrogen ions are PROTONS. Besides the common H1 isotope, hydrogen exists as the stable isotope DEUTERIUM and the unstable, radioactive isotope TRITIUM.

Differential and non-random reproduction of different genotypes, operating to alter the gene frequencies within a population.

Descriptions of specific amino acid, carbohydrate, or nucleotide sequences which have appeared in the published literature and/or are deposited in and maintained by databanks such as GENBANK, European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), National Biomedical Research Foundation (NBRF), or other sequence repositories.

A functional system which includes the organisms of a natural community together with their environment. (McGraw Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 4th ed)

The continuous developmental process of a culture from simple to complex forms and from homogeneous to heterogeneous qualities.

The property of objects that determines the direction of heat flow when they are placed in direct thermal contact. The temperature is the energy of microscopic motions (vibrational and translational) of the particles of atoms.

Theoretical representations that simulate the behavior or activity of genetic processes or phenomena. They include the use of mathematical equations, computers, and other electronic equipment.

The restriction of a characteristic behavior, anatomical structure or physical system, such as immune response; metabolic response, or gene or gene variant to the members of one species. It refers to that property which differentiates one species from another but it is also used for phylogenetic levels higher or lower than the species.

Genotypic differences observed among individuals in a population.

A multistage process that includes cloning, physical mapping, subcloning, determination of the DNA SEQUENCE, and information analysis.

The sequence of PURINES and PYRIMIDINES in nucleic acids and polynucleotides. It is also called nucleotide sequence.

The order of amino acids as they occur in a polypeptide chain. This is referred to as the primary structure of proteins. It is of fundamental importance in determining PROTEIN CONFORMATION.

The process of accumulation of genetic and epigenetic changes over time in individual cells and the effect of the changes on CELL PROLIFERATION.

Changes in biological features that help an organism cope with its ENVIRONMENT. These changes include physiological (ADAPTATION, PHYSIOLOGICAL), phenotypic and genetic changes.

The arrangement of two or more amino acid or base sequences from an organism or organisms in such a way as to align areas of the sequences sharing common properties. The degree of relatedness or homology between the sequences is predicted computationally or statistically based on weights assigned to the elements aligned between the sequences. This in turn can serve as a potential indicator of the genetic relatedness between the organisms.

A set of genes descended by duplication and variation from some ancestral gene. Such genes may be clustered together on the same chromosome or dispersed on different chromosomes. Examples of multigene families include those that encode the hemoglobins, immunoglobulins, histocompatibility antigens, actins, tubulins, keratins, collagens, heat shock proteins, salivary glue proteins, chorion proteins, cuticle proteins, yolk proteins, and phaseolins, as well as histones, ribosomal RNA, and transfer RNA genes. The latter three are examples of reiterated genes, where hundreds of identical genes are present in a tandem array. (King & Stanfield, A Dictionary of Genetics, 4th ed)

Remains, impressions, or traces of animals or plants of past geological times which have been preserved in the earth's crust.

The genetic complement of an organism, including all of its GENES, as represented in its DNA, or in some cases, its RNA.

Any detectable and heritable change in the genetic material that causes a change in the GENOTYPE and which is transmitted to daughter cells and to succeeding generations.

Family of the suborder HAPLORHINI (Anthropoidea) comprising bipedal primate MAMMALS. It includes modern man (HOMO SAPIENS) and the great apes: gorillas (GORILLA GORILLA), chimpanzees (PAN PANISCUS and PAN TROGLODYTES), and orangutans (PONGO PYGMAEUS).

Functions constructed from a statistical model and a set of observed data which give the probability of that data for various values of the unknown model parameters. Those parameter values that maximize the probability are the maximum likelihood estimates of the parameters.

Warm-blooded vertebrate animals belonging to the class Mammalia, including all that possess hair and suckle their young.

The naturally occurring transmission of genetic information between organisms, related or unrelated, circumventing parent-to-offspring transmission. Horizontal gene transfer may occur via a variety of naturally occurring processes such as GENETIC CONJUGATION; GENETIC TRANSDUCTION; and TRANSFECTION. It may result in a change of the recipient organism's genetic composition (TRANSFORMATION, GENETIC).

A sequence of amino acids in a polypeptide or of nucleotides in DNA or RNA that is similar across multiple species. A known set of conserved sequences is represented by a CONSENSUS SEQUENCE. AMINO ACID MOTIFS are often composed of conserved sequences.