Finding the source of the impactor that wiped out the dinosaurs

The impactor believed to have wiped out the dinosaurs and other life forms on Earth some 66 million years ago likely came from the outer half of the main asteroid belt, a region previously thought to produce few impactors. ...

ExoMars orbiter continues hunt for key signs of life on Mars

The ESA-Roscosmos Trace Gas Orbiter has set new upper limits on how much methane, ethane, ethylene and phosphine is in the martian atmosphere—four so-called 'biomarker' gases that are potential signs of life.

Rare 4000-year comets can cause meteor showers on Earth

Comets that circle the Sun in very elongated orbits spread their debris so thin along their orbit or eject it out of the solar system altogether so that their meteor showers are hard to detect. From a new meteor shower survey ...

Can a new type of glacier on Mars aid future astronauts?

On April 21, 1908, near Earth's North Pole, the Arctic explorer Frederick Albert Cook scrawled in his diary a memorable phrase: "We were the only pulsating creatures in a dead world of ice." These words may soon take on new ...

Mars water loss shaped by seasons and storms

Mars has lost most of its once plentiful water, with small amounts remaining in the planet's atmosphere. ESA's Mars Express now reveals more about where this water has gone, showing that its escape to space is accelerated ...

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