Life on early Earth seems to have begun with a paradox: while life needs water as a solvent, the essential chemical backbones of early life-forming molecules fall apart in water. Our universal solvent, it turns out, can be ...
Space Exploration
Oct 2, 2017
1
10
A critical feature of many multicellular lifeforms on Earth are hard, biological structures, such as animal bones and snail shells that are made from minerals.
Archaeology
Aug 28, 2017
0
347
Computers are simulating the ancestral versions of the most common protein on Earth, giving scientists an unparalleled look at early life's development of harnessing energy from the Sun and production of oxygen.
Earth Sciences
Aug 8, 2017
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16
Could the next flyby target for NASA's New Horizons spacecraft actually be two targets?
Space Exploration
Aug 7, 2017
0
22
On August 21, as North America experiences its first total eclipse of the Sun in 38 years, astrobiologists are taking advantage of this rare celestial event to conduct experiments on life's ability to survive hostile conditions.
Space Exploration
Jul 31, 2017
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50
Life has found ways to overcome, and even thrive, in many extreme situations—from super saline pools to the high temperatures of hydrothermal vents. A new experiment has shown that the microgravity found in space is also ...
Space Exploration
Jul 24, 2017
0
19
A common bacteria is furthering evidence that evolution is not entirely a blind process, subject to random changes in the genes, but that environmental stressors can also play a role.
Evolution
Jul 20, 2017
0
45
As NASA inches closer to launching new missions to the solar system's outer moons in search of life, scientists are renewing their focus on developing a set of universal characteristics of life that can be measured.
Space Exploration
Jul 7, 2017
0
16
Rocky planets are probably a whole lot more common in our galaxy than astronomers previously believed—according to the latest release of Kepler Space Telescope data last week—a scenario that enhances the prospects for ...
Astronomy
Jun 29, 2017
3
247
The icy moons in the outer solar system hold the potential for life, given that they may contain oceans of water. But life also needs a source of energy input to perform essential functions such as growth, reproduction and ...
Space Exploration
Jun 14, 2017
2
19
