Atmospheric seasons could signal alien life
Dozens of potentially habitable planets have been discovered outside our solar system, and many more are awaiting detection.
Astronomy
May 9, 2018
8
312
News tagged with nasa astrobiology institute
Scientists find moon of Saturn has chemical that could form 'membranes'
NASA scientists have definitively detected the chemical acrylonitrile in the atmosphere of Saturn's moon Titan, a place that has long intrigued scientists investigating the chemical precursors of life.
Space Exploration
Jul 28, 2017
0
712
Looking back 3.8 billion years into the root of the 'Tree of Life'
NASA-funded researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology are tapping information found in the cells of all life on Earth, and using it to trace life's evolution. They have learned that life is a master stenographer ...
Evolution
Nov 30, 2015
34
977
55-year old dark side of the Moon mystery solved
(Phys.org) —The Man in the Moon appeared when meteoroids struck the Earth-facing side of the moon creating large flat seas of basalt that we see as dark areas called maria. But no "face" exists on farside of the moon and ...
Space Exploration
Jun 9, 2014
23
0
On early Earth, iron may have performed magnesium's RNA folding job
On the periodic table of the elements, iron and magnesium are far apart. But new evidence suggests that 3 billion years ago, iron did the chemical work now done by magnesium in helping RNA fold and function properly.
Biochemistry
May 31, 2012
3
0
Pond scum explains evolution of first animals
Microbial mats that existed on sea floors prior to the Cambrian explosion provided the foundation for early animal life to arise, new research looking at trace fossils of that early life has found.
Earth Sciences
Jan 8, 2018
0
743
A new Goldilocks for habitable planets
The search for habitable, alien worlds needs to make room for a second "Goldilocks," according to a Yale University researcher.
Astronomy
Aug 19, 2016
11
2361
Nitrogen may be a sign of habitability
We might commonly think of Earth as having an oxygen-dominated atmosphere, but in reality the molecule makes up only a fifth of our air. Most of what surrounds us is nitrogen, at 78 percent. Astrobiologists are beginning ...
Astronomy
Jan 13, 2016
2
64
Straight up, with a twist: New model derives homochirality from basic life requirements
Life is quirky. Although the molecules that make up all living things obey physical and chemical laws, they do so with a puzzling twist. How did the distinctive molecular features of life emerge, and what can they tell us ...
General Physics
Oct 13, 2015
12
778
Ancient rocks record first evidence for photosynthesis that made oxygen
A new study shows that iron-bearing rocks that formed at the ocean floor 3.2 billion years ago carry unmistakable evidence of oxygen. The only logical source for that oxygen is the earliest known example of photosynthesis ...
Earth Sciences
Oct 6, 2015
1
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