https://phys.org/space-news/astrobiology/ en-us Astrobiology news stories about origin and evolution of life in the Universe The ocean beneath Saturn's moon Enceladus lies under kilometers of ice, but some of its contents do reach the surface. Jets near the south pole spray out water vapor and icy particles, offering a way to investigate the hidden ocean without drilling down to it. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-salt-crystals-clues-life-beneath.html Astrobiology Sat, 17 Oct 2026 11:40:01 EDT news711288914 Plants begin responding to spaceflight almost immediately after leaving Earth, according to a new University of Florida study that captured the earliest stages of biological adaptation during a commercial suborbital mission. Published in the journal npj Microgravity, the study reports the results of an experiment conducted by a UF astronaut during Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-26 flight on Aug. 29, 2024. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-shift-gene-minutes-spaceflight-reveals.html Space Exploration Fri, 16 Oct 2026 19:00:01 EDT news711376001 A Ph.D. student at the University of Sydney has produced the first comprehensive classification system and map of Martian soils, creating a new framework that could help scientists compare landscapes across the Red Planet and identify promising locations for future exploration, habitation and food production. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-comprehensive-mars-soil-classification-framework.html Astrobiology Fri, 16 Oct 2026 16:40:06 EDT news711372541 When astronauts first travel to Mars or anywhere else in deep space, they will have to contend with two problems that our planet protects us from on its surface—radiation and weightlessness. Scientists already know both can have a profound impact on the human body, but the extent of that impact and how long it can last remain a mystery. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-mars-heartbreaking.html Space Exploration Wed, 14 Oct 2026 19:00:01 EDT news711190418 NASA experiments focused on human and plant health and drug-resistant organisms will travel to the International Space Station aboard SpaceX's 35th Commercial Resupply Services mission for the agency from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida, advancing research that benefits life on Earth and future exploration. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-nasa-spacex-crs-mission-health.html Astronomy Tue, 13 Oct 2026 08:00:02 EDT news711088502 An international team of astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), of which the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a partner (NSF NRAO), has combined expertise from across the globe to open a new window on how the organic molecules that seed planets, and potentially life, form in space. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-alcohol-space-exotic-methanol-planet.html Astronomy Wed, 07 Oct 2026 10:40:18 EDT news710587401 In early 2024, laboratory-grown neurospheres (i.e. clusters of neural stem cells) were sent to the International Space Station (ISS) to be exposed to microgravity. The return trip was delayed several times due to bad weather in the landing zone. As a result, the cells were outside controlled culture conditions for longer than anticipated—beyond the limit of what they were expected to survive. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-stem-cells-survive-unexpectedly-rough.html Space Exploration Tue, 06 Oct 2026 12:40:10 EDT news710500141 Earth seems like a troubled place right now, but at least our cosmic surroundings appear peaceful. This is not universally true, as explosions, collisions and other dangers lurk in other places and times. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-life-cosmos-universe-supercomputer-yields.html Astronomy Tue, 06 Oct 2026 10:40:29 EDT news710498341 The truth is out there—but identifying signs of life in space involves an intense search for biosignatures within our solar system and beyond. However, developing sensitive yet compact technologies capable of detection has proven to be an out-of-this-world challenge. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-electrical-technique-life-space.html Astrobiology Mon, 05 Oct 2026 05:00:06 EDT news710162162 Saturn's icy moon Enceladus hides a global ocean beneath its frozen surface. From fractures near its south pole, material from this ocean is ejected into space as a plume of water vapor and ice particles. These particles offer scientists a rare opportunity to investigate an extraterrestrial ocean without drilling through kilometers of ice. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-enceladus-ocean-spray-chemically-diverse.html Astrobiology Sun, 04 Oct 2026 12:00:01 EDT news709890049 On Earth, most of us rarely have to think about the signals that keep our internal clocks aligned. The sun rises, daylight changes, darkness arrives and morning comes again. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-space-circadian-rhythms.html Astrobiology Fri, 02 Oct 2026 12:00:11 EDT news710158627 As humanity looks toward future bases on the moon, plant cultivation will be critical for sustaining life there. Plants can provide food, oxygen, medicine, water purification and waste recycling, making them indispensable for lunar development. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-moon.html Astrobiology Fri, 02 Oct 2026 11:40:15 EDT news710153581 The Mars we know today is a cold, dry world of dust and rocks. However, around 3.8–3.6 billion years ago, it may have looked very different. Geological and mineral evidence suggests that, in its distant past, the planet experienced periods warm and wet enough for water to exist on its surface, potentially forming rivers, lakes and even an ocean in the northern hemisphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-10-ancient-life-chemistry-clues-mars.html Astrobiology Thu, 01 Oct 2026 10:40:11 EDT news710065741 Is there life elsewhere, or is Earth unique in the universe? This is one of humanity's great unanswered questions. One way to approach this mystery is to investigate how life began here on Earth. Our research explores the conditions in which a mixture of molecules somehow transformed from chemistry into biology. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-sugar-meteorites-survival-early-earth.html Astrobiology Wed, 30 Sep 2026 12:20:06 EDT news709980361 Four and a half billion years ago, Earth and Mars were born in the rotating cloud of gas and dust that would eventually become our solar system. Yet exactly how the planets formed remains one of the most disputed questions in planetary science. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-earth-mars-built-cosmic-recipes.html Astrobiology Wed, 30 Sep 2026 12:00:01 EDT news709980001 Although Mars may have once resembled Earth, the rocky red planet now appears far from hospitable. Still, certain details—such as ice-bound water—pique researchers' curiosity. As on Earth, ice on Mars contains valuable records of past climate that could reveal whether the planet hosts, or has ever hosted, life. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-north-pole-mars-dusty-scientists.html Astrobiology Wed, 30 Sep 2026 09:00:22 EDT news709975621 This summer, exoplanet science—the study of planets orbiting stars beyond our sun—took a big step forward. Reports of helium gas escaping from the atmosphere of LHS 1140b propelled this exoplanet from the pages of scientific journals into the mainstream media. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-alien-life-possibility-exoplanet-lhs.html Astrobiology Tue, 29 Sep 2026 19:20:02 EDT news709919582 New research led by the University of Michigan is helping set the stage for future observatories to characterize rocky planets outside our solar system, planets that could prove life isn't confined to Earth. The new research represents the most sensitive modern search for giant planets in a nearby binary system—a system with two stars orbiting each other—known as 70 Ophiuchi AB, or 70 Oph AB. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-suns-giant-planets-nearby-binary.html Astrobiology Tue, 29 Sep 2026 14:20:06 EDT news709903801 Scientists have helped solve a longstanding mystery about how Earth remained habitable after oxygen first accumulated in its atmosphere more than 2 billion years ago, providing evidence that ancient ocean chemistry sustained life-friendly conditions. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-ocean-chemistry-life.html Astrobiology Tue, 29 Sep 2026 13:40:11 EDT news709903621 What are the chances of finding extraterrestrial life in our solar system? Frank Postberg, a professor of planetary science at Freie Universität Berlin, has published a study in Science Advances with an international team of researchers. They present new evidence that it is easier to determine the constituents of the ocean hidden beneath Enceladus's icy surface than previously assumed. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-great-news-saturn-moon-enceladus.html Astrobiology Fri, 25 Sep 2026 14:00:21 EDT news709396040 In the search for extraterrestrial life, it makes sense to first look for rocky planets with an atmosphere, like Earth. Without an atmosphere, a planet can't have surface water. But of the more than 6,300 exoplanets cataloged thus far, the vast majority are not rocky, and only a handful of the rocky worlds appear to have an atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-coolest-lava-world-atmosphere-clues.html Astrobiology Thu, 24 Sep 2026 18:20:06 EDT news709469461 When the universe was still in its infancy—only 500 million years after the Big Bang, or about 3% of its current age—some of the universe's earliest stars and galaxies had already formed. Astronomers have long predicted that much of the gas surrounding these young galaxies must have remained relatively pristine, composed mostly of hydrogen and helium, the primordial ingredients available in the newborn cosmos. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-jwst-early-galaxies-seeding-universe.html Astrobiology Thu, 24 Sep 2026 05:00:04 EDT news709373161 Conditions on early Earth may have become stable enough to sustain the chemistry associated with the origins of life around 4.33 billion years ago, according to new research co-led by Planetary Science Institute senior scientist Oleg Abramov. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-earth-gained-optimal-conditions-life.html Astrobiology Wed, 23 Sep 2026 10:40:16 EDT news709373041 Science fiction suggests that life on other planets, if it exists, is likely far more advanced than life on Earth. A recent study suggests otherwise. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-nearby-advanced-alien-civilization-pounce.html Astrobiology Tue, 22 Sep 2026 16:00:04 EDT news709307941 When NASA's Perseverance rover reached the inner edge of Mars' Jezero Crater in September 2023, mission scientists were surprised by what they found. The geologic area, called the "Margin Unit," stretches along the shoreline of an ancient Martian lake, so they expected sedimentary rocks, which would have formed as layers of sand piled on top of each other over millennia. Composed of clay and silt, sedimentary rocks on Earth are good at preserving past microbial life. The scientists were especially intrigued by strong signals of carbonate minerals detected by Mars orbiters. On Earth, carbonates frequently form in shallow ocean and lake environments capable of supporting life. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-early-mars-reveal-episodes.html Astrobiology Mon, 21 Sep 2026 16:30:01 EDT news709226281 Many of the moons orbiting Saturn, Uranus and Neptune likely conceal oceans of liquid water beneath miles of icy shell. Because life as we know it needs water, these buried oceans rank among the most promising places to search for life beyond Earth. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-scientists-simulate-cosmic-icy-moons.html Astrobiology Sat, 19 Sep 2026 07:00:06 EDT news708960640 Researchers at the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory have teamed up to get a fresh look at the complex makeup of meteorites and glimpse into our solar system's past. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-glimpse-solar-molecules-meteorite.html Astrobiology Thu, 17 Sep 2026 14:40:21 EDT news708860713 Most of our experience with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has focused on capturing radio signals that alien species have sent out, whether intentionally or unintentionally. That creates a huge "synchronicity" problem—what if there aren't any alien civilizations broadcasting radio signals now, but there were a billion years ago? The Milky Way is around 13 billion years old—hoping that we exist at the same time as an alien civilization that happens to be actively messaging is a huge leap of faith. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-clues-ancient-alien-civilizations-moon.html Astrobiology Tue, 15 Sep 2026 06:20:01 EDT news708611555 Before there was Earth, there was chemistry. In the unimaginable cold, dark clouds where stars and planets are born, carbon molecules assemble into more complex forms—starting a chemical journey that could eventually deliver some of life's basic ingredients to young planets. There's only one problem: These molecules need heat to form. At least that's what scientists have long believed. But new research from FIU chemist Alexander Mebel reveals such chemistry can actually happen at temperatures nearing absolute zero, which is -460°F (-273°C). https://phys.org/news/2026-09-series-reactions-reveals-complex-carbon.html Astrobiology Mon, 14 Sep 2026 14:00:10 EDT news708607262 Nitrogen is a key ingredient in the biomolecules that form the building blocks of life. Yet as an unbonded gas, it is far more likely to drift into space than to lock itself into solid compounds, making it difficult for astronomers to trace its journey to Earth in the distant past. https://phys.org/news/2026-09-asteroid-ryugu-reveals-nitrogen-complex.html Astrobiology Thu, 10 Sep 2026 10:30:11 EDT news708252153