The problem
Water-bearing planets can lose hydrogen to space, especially when hydrogen is produced or liberated near the surface and transported upward. Over geological timescales, hydrogen escape can contribute to irreversible water loss.
Science
Hydrogen escape is a planetary habit. Biology may interrupt it.
AQUA connects microbial hydrogen oxidation with atmospheric hydrogen escape and the long-term fate of planetary water. Small metabolisms, large budgets. Deep time remains rude.
The microbial question
Hydrogen-oxidizing microbes use molecular hydrogen as an electron donor. AQUA asks whether that metabolism changes hydrogen availability, redox gradients, and the boundary conditions that matter for atmospheric escape.
The planetary stakes
Habitability is not a slogan. It is the result of coupled physical, chemical, geological, and biological processes. AQUA studies one coupling that is easy to miss if planets are treated as diagrams with labels.
TODO: Methods
Add project-specific methods: field sites, laboratory incubations, gas flux measurements, microbial community analyses, geochemical modelling, atmospheric escape modelling, and cross-scale integration.