http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. At this early stage in the search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system and beyond, the emphasis is on liquid water. Where it can exist on a planet's or moon's surface, so the thinking goes, life as we know it has a chance. Much of the observational and theoretical work in astrobiology therefore concerns the "habitable zone," the orbital band around stars where a rocky world's water neither freezes away nor boils off. http://phys.org/news286782360.html Space & Earth Fri, 03 May 2013 07:10:01 EST news286782360 (Phys.org) —When it comes to examining the surface of rocks on Mars with a high-powered laser, five is a magic number for Los Alamos National Laboratory postdoctoral researcher Nina Lanza. http://phys.org/news282932912.html Space & Earth Tue, 19 Mar 2013 17:29:15 EST news282932912 Mankind should not assume that it will definitely find life on alien planets according to a hypothesis being presented at the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science, this week. Professor Charles Cockell, Director of the UK Centre for Astrobiology at the University of Edinburgh, will raise the possibility that there is no life 'out there' at a discussion meeting entitled Characterising exoplanets: detection, formation, interiors, atmospheres and habitability. http://phys.org/news282329420.html Space & Earth Tue, 12 Mar 2013 17:50:49 EST news282329420 Astronomers have their fingers crossed that within the haul of data collected by NASA's Kepler mission, which has already detected nearly three thousand possible exoplanets, hide the signatures of the very first exomoons. http://phys.org/news281691550.html Space & Earth Tue, 05 Mar 2013 07:39:19 EST news281691550 US astronomers looking for life in the solar system believe that Europa, one of the moons of Jupiter, which has an ocean, is much more promising than desert-covered Mars, which is currently the focus of the US government's attention. http://phys.org/news280299089.html Space & Earth Sun, 17 Feb 2013 04:51:49 EST news280299089 (Phys.org)—Astronomers find planets in strange places and wonder if they might support life. One such place would be in orbit around a white or brown dwarf. While neither is a star like the sun, both glow and so could be orbited by planets with the right ingredients for life. http://phys.org/news272622153.html Space & Earth Tue, 20 Nov 2012 08:22:48 EST news272622153 The first comprehensive analysis of what we knew about the Gale crater on Mars before the recent landing of space rover Curiosity has been published by the International Journal of Astrobiology (IJA). http://phys.org/news267872181.html Space & Earth Wed, 26 Sep 2012 09:57:21 EST news267872181 (Phys.org)—Exoplanet hunters estimate that there could be billions of super-Earths—planets with a mass of up to ten times that of Earth—orbiting stars in the Milky Way alone. But do super-Earths really deserve their name and would they be capable of hosting life? A study of the thermal evolution of rocky super-Earths suggests that they may bear very little resemblance to our home planet. Dr. Vlada Stamenkovic will present the results at the European Planetary Science Congress on Wednesday 26th September. http://phys.org/news267812495.html Space & Earth Tue, 25 Sep 2012 18:00:01 EST news267812495 (Phys.org)—Ancient Mars, like Earth today, was a diverse planet shaped by many different geologic processes. So when scientists, using rovers or orbiting spacecraft, detect a particular mineral there, they must often consider several possible ways it could have been made. http://phys.org/news266655792.html Space & Earth Wed, 12 Sep 2012 08:03:19 EST news266655792 (Phys.org)—A star's internal chemistry can doom a planet's life long before the star itself dies. http://phys.org/news266216374.html Space & Earth Fri, 07 Sep 2012 05:59:42 EST news266216374 By some estimates, a third of the Earth's organisms by mass live in our planet's rocks and sediments, yet their lives and ecology are almost a complete mystery. This week, microbiologist James Holden at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and others report in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences the first detailed data about a group of methane-exhaling microbes that live deep in the cracks of hot undersea volcanoes. http://phys.org/news263481245.html Biology Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:00:09 EST news263481245 NASA chose Gale Crater as a landing site for its Mars Science Laboratory rover because the giant crater probably had conditions that may have once hosted life. The bottom layers near the crater floor "have minerals in them that form in water," says Philip Christensen, Regents' Professor of Geological Sciences in ASU's School of Earth and Space Exploration. http://phys.org/news263119494.html Space & Earth Thu, 02 Aug 2012 09:45:01 EST news263119494 It's no secret that Mars is a beaten and battered planet -- astronomers have been peering for centuries at the violent impact craters created by cosmic buckshot pounding its surface over billions of years. But just how beat up is it? http://phys.org/news258639693.html Space & Earth Mon, 11 Jun 2012 13:21:58 EST news258639693 (Phys.org) -- Determining the habitability of rocky, Earth-like planets in the universe will be crucial for us as a species, according to scientists from The Australian National University. http://phys.org/news254732022.html Space & Earth Fri, 27 Apr 2012 08:04:59 EST news254732022 Photosynthesis maintains Earth's habitability for life as we know it, and shapes the way we search for habitable worlds around distant stars. Scientists have discovered a microbe that can use low-energy light to perform photosynthesis. This discovery could alter theories about the types of stars that could support Earth-like worlds. http://phys.org/news251107807.html Biology Fri, 16 Mar 2012 09:11:58 EST news251107807 Highly-tilted worlds would have extreme seasons, subjecting life to alternating periods of scorching and subzero temperatures. This could make the development of all but hardiest, simplest creatures a long shot. http://phys.org/news247745391.html Space & Earth Mon, 06 Feb 2012 10:10:12 EST news247745391 The Mars Science Laboratory is on its way to the red planet, and its rover Curiosity should touch down next summer. If the mission hits paydirt and comes across organic material, then one instrument in particular has the chemical tools for studying these building blocks of life. http://phys.org/news242381649.html Space & Earth Tue, 06 Dec 2011 08:30:05 EST news242381649 Scientists are now starting to identify potential habitable exoplanets after nearly twenty years of the detection of the first planets around other stars. Over 700 exoplanets have been detected and confirmed with thousands more still waiting further confirmation by missions such as NASA Kepler. Most of these are gas giants, similar to Jupiter and Neptune, but orbiting very dangerously close to their stars. Only a few have the right size and orbit to be considered suitable for any life. http://phys.org/news242297362.html Space & Earth Mon, 05 Dec 2011 08:49:34 EST news242297362 NASA will launch the Mars Science Laboratory on Nov. 26, 2011, to assess the past and present habitability of the Red Planet's surface. The mission will land Curiosity, a rover equipped with 10 instruments designed to search for evidence of elements needed to support life – namely, water and carbon-based materials – and to characterize life-limiting factors, such as the planet's radiation environment. http://phys.org/news241177344.html Space & Earth Tue, 22 Nov 2011 09:42:44 EST news241177344 (PhysOrg.com) -- Two University of Michigan planetary scientists are vital members of the science team of the Mars Science Laboratory, which will study whether the Red Planet was ever capable of harboring microbial life. It is scheduled to launch next week. http://phys.org/news240837294.html Space & Earth Fri, 18 Nov 2011 11:15:03 EST news240837294 We know for certain that life exists in the Milky Way galaxy: that life is us. Scientists are continually looking to understand more about how life on our planet came to be and the conditions that must be met for its survival, and whether those conditions can be replicated elsewhere in the Universe. It turns out that looking at our entire Galaxy, rather than focusing just on life-giving properties of our planet or indeed the habitability of regions of our own Solar System, is a good place to start. http://phys.org/news235988517.html Space & Earth Fri, 23 Sep 2011 10:00:02 EST news235988517 Observations over the last decade suggest that methane clouds form briefly over Mars during the summer months. The discovery has left many scientists scratching their heads, since it doesn't fit into models of the martian atmosphere. http://phys.org/news235122438.html Space & Earth Tue, 13 Sep 2011 08:48:32 EST news235122438 A pioneering camera and spectrometer that will fly aboard NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has completed cryogenic testing designed to mimic the harsh conditions it will experience in space. The Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) underwent testing inside the thermal space test chamber at the Science and Technology Facilities Council's Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL) Space in Oxfordshire, U.K. The sophisticated instrument is designed to examine the first light in the universe and the formation of planets around other stars. http://phys.org/news232892482.html Space & Earth Thu, 18 Aug 2011 13:21:45 EST news232892482 (PhysOrg.com) -- Fluctuations in climate can drastically affect the habitability of marine ecosystems, according to a new study by UCLA scientists that examined the expansion and contraction of low-oxygen zones in the ocean. http://phys.org/news227503946.html Space & Earth Fri, 17 Jun 2011 04:32:48 EST news227503946 (PhysOrg.com) -- An international team of astronomers has ruled out transits of a water-rich or hydrogen-helium atmosphere planet for Gliese 581e. The host star itself is relatively quiet which means good news for the potential habitability of at least one of its planets. http://phys.org/news226255766.html Space & Earth Thu, 02 Jun 2011 17:49:54 EST news226255766 New visualizations of the Earth from space provide a unique image of how the Earth has changed over the past 750 million years. http://phys.org/news225366296.html Space & Earth Mon, 23 May 2011 11:10:06 EST news225366296 Cracks in the icy shell of Jupiter’s moon Europa contain sulfur-rich material. An expedition to a sulfur spring in the Arctic could help solve some mysteries about Europa - including its potential for life. http://phys.org/news188752629.html Space & Earth Thu, 25 Mar 2010 16:40:01 EST news188752629 A new study by the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo shows the first quantitative evaluation of planetary habitability. The study identifies some potential habitats in the solar system and also shows how the habitability of our planet has changed in the past, with some periods being even better than today. http://phys.org/news174064680.html Space & Earth Tue, 06 Oct 2009 16:30:09 EST news174064680