There may be more habitable planets in the universe than we previously thought, according to Penn State geoscientists, who suggest that plate tectonics—long assumed to be a requirement for suitable conditions for life—are ...
Astronomy
Jul 30, 2018
3
668
Life as we know it needs water to thrive. Even so, we see life persist in the driest environments on Earth. But how dry is too dry? At what point is an environment too extreme for even microorganisms, the smallest and often ...
Space Exploration
Jul 24, 2018
0
67
New findings, published in the journal Astrobiology, suggest that large craters are the prime locations in which to find the building blocks of life on Saturn's largest moon, Titan.
Space Exploration
Jul 20, 2018
32
189
Detecting biomarkers in glacial lakes on Earth could pave the way for astrobiologists to detect evidence for life on other worlds, and also unravel the properties of the environments in which that life lived.
Space Exploration
Jul 16, 2018
0
40
In the last decade, we have discovered thousands of planets outside our solar system and have learned that rocky, temperate worlds are numerous in our galaxy. The next step will involve asking even bigger questions. Could ...
Astronomy
Jun 26, 2018
3
73
In the past two decades, NASA spacecraft have identified potentially habitable environments throughout the solar system and beyond. Spacecraft on Mars have found evidence that lakes and streams once covered the planet, protected ...
Space Exploration
Jun 25, 2018
7
56
In the face of climate change, deforestation and biodiversity loss, creating a sustainable version of civilization is one of humanity's most urgent tasks. But when confronting this immense challenge, we rarely ask what may ...
Astronomy
Jun 5, 2018
41
932
Rakesh Mogul, a Cal Poly Pomona professor of biological chemistry, was the lead author of an article in the journal Astrobiology that offers the first biochemical evidence explaining the reason the contamination persists.
Space Exploration
Jun 2, 2018
27
2314
Two nearby supernovae that exploded about 2.5 and eight million years ago could have resulted in a staggered depletion of Earth's ozone layer, leading to a variety of repercussions for life on Earth.
Astronomy
May 18, 2018
1
247
Researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder have discovered microbes living in a toxic volcanic lake that may rank as one of the harshest environments on Earth. Their findings, published recently online, could guide ...
Space Exploration
May 2, 2018
9
282
