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How can we find cryovolcanoes on Europa?

In the 1970s, NASA's Voyager probes passed through Jupiter's system and snapped pictures of its largest moons, also known as the Galilean moons. These pictures and the data they gathered offered the first hints that a global ...

How to engineer microbes to enable us to live on Mars

A field known as synthetic biology has become one of the most highly anticipated in science. Its outputs range from golden rice, which is genetically engineered to provide vitamin A, to advances stemming from the Human Genome ...

One day we might seed the universe with life. But should we?

Suppose humanity was faced with an extinction-level event. Not just high odds, but certain-sure. A nearby supernova will explode and irradiate all life, a black hole will engulf the Earth, a Mars-sized interstellar asteroid ...

Organic molecules of unprecedented size discovered on Mars

Scientists analyzing pulverized rock onboard NASA's Curiosity rover have found the largest organic compounds on the red planet to date. The finding, published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, ...

Using algorithms to help find life on icy ocean worlds

Scientists have long thought that our solar system's ocean worlds, such as Jupiter's moon Europa and Saturn's moon Enceladus, may harbor extraterrestrial life in the form of microbes. But detecting it could be a challenge ...

Study reveals white dwarfs could host life-supporting planets

Florida Tech's Caldon Whyte is two years into a lengthy universe exploration to earn his Ph.D. in space sciences. After graduating with a Bachelor's degree in astrobiology in 2023, he's fascinated by white dwarf stars—the ...

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Astrobiology
'Microlightning' in water droplets may have sparked life on Earth
Astrobiology
Violent supernovae 'triggered at least two Earth extinctions,' study suggests
Astrobiology
Signs of alien life may be hiding in these gases
Space Exploration
Astronauts prepare for International Space Station launch; biomedical, materials, physical sciences work planned
Space Exploration
How humans can reinvent themselves to live on other worlds
Astrobiology
New Mars life detection method strengthens sample return safety protocols
Astrobiology
Unburied treasure: Rover researchers find unexpected minerals on Mars that hint at possibility of ancient life
Astrobiology
Can surface fractures on Earth, Mars, and Europa predict habitability on other planets?
Astronomy
Water might be older than we first thought, forming a key constituent of the first galaxies
Astrobiology
Webb exposes complex atmosphere of starless super-Jupiter
Astrobiology
Mars time machine: Researchers create virtual model to decode red planet's climate evolution
Astrobiology
How did life develop on early Earth? New source of nitrogen discovered
Astrobiology
Geysers on Saturn's icy moon Enceladus may form from a 'mushy zone'
Astrobiology
Laser-powered device tested on Earth could help detect microbial fossils on Mars
Astrobiology
Mission concept proposes sampling Enceladus's subsurface ocean
Astrobiology
Ancient beaches testify to long-ago ocean on Mars
Astronomy
If you're going to call aliens, use this number
Astrobiology
Cosmic radiation from supernova altered virus evolution in Africa, study suggests
Astrobiology
Sulfur may be a new tool for finding alien life
Astrobiology
Life on Mars? It probably looks like something you'd find in your stomach

Other news

Other
Saturday Citations: Leaky continental plates, talking monkeys and a spectacular Einstein ring
Plants & Animals
Young plants' vulnerability linked to growth-energy trade-off
Cell & Microbiology
Artificial sweetener shows surprising power to overcome antibiotic resistance
General Physics
An exception to the laws of thermodynamics: Shape-recovering liquid defies textbooks
Biotechnology
Certain sunflower strains can be induced to form seeds without pollination
Cell & Microbiology
Scientists reveal new toxin that damages the gut
Earth Sciences
Ancient lakes and rivers unearthed in Arabia's vast desert
Mathematics
Mathematicians uncover the hidden patterns behind a $3.5 billion cryptocurrency collapse
Quantum Physics
Hot Schrödinger cat states created
Evolution
Battle of the sex chromosomes: How competition affects X vs. Y sperm fitness
Earth Sciences
Oxygen is running low in inland waters—and human activities are to blame
Earth Sciences
Scientists discover deep-sea microplastic hotspots driven by fast-moving underwater avalanches
Condensed Matter
Iron nitride's magnetoelastic properties show potential for flexible spintronics
Cell & Microbiology
Planarian worms can regenerate into a more youthful version of themselves
Molecular & Computational biology
Beyond photorespiration: A systematic approach to unlocking enhanced plant productivity
Biotechnology
Drone and camera combo offers affordable drought-tolerance selection for corn
Astronomy
Astronomers discover doomed pair of spiraling stars on our cosmic doorstep
Bio & Medicine
Label-free fluorosensor detects enteroviral RNA with high selectivity and sensitivity
Polymers
Polymers with flawed fillers boost heat transfer in plastics, study reveals
Planetary Sciences
Massive Jupiter storm churns ammonia deep into planet's atmosphere

Another building block of life can handle Venus' sulfuric acid

Venus is often described as a hellscape. The surface temperature breaches the melting point of lead, and though its atmosphere is dominated by carbon dioxide, it contains enough sulfuric acid to satisfy the comparison with ...

How a nearby supernova left its mark on Earth life

When a massive star explodes as a supernova, it does more than release an extraordinary amount of energy. Supernovae explosions are responsible for creating some of the heavy elements, including iron, which is blasted out ...

How sweet is the Milky Way? Astrochemist is helping find out

Astrochemist Ryan Fortenberry, UM associate professor of chemistry and biochemistry, collaborated with Ralf Kaiser, of the University of Hawaii at Mānoa, to study the creation of a simple sugar acid in space-like conditions. ...

Those aren't Dyson spheres, they're HotDOGs

If there really are advanced alien civilizations out there, you'd think they'd be easy to find. A truly powerful alien race would stride like gods among the cosmos, creating star-sized or galaxy-sized feats of engineering. ...

Could stars hotter than the sun still support life?

Although most potentially habitable worlds orbit red dwarf stars, we know larger and brighter stars can harbor life. One yellow dwarf star, for example, is known to have a planet teaming with life, perhaps even intelligent ...

Exoplanets could be hiding their atmospheres

Most of the exoplanets we've discovered orbit red dwarf stars. This isn't because red dwarfs are somehow special, simply that they are common. About 75% of the stars in the Milky Way are red dwarfs, so you would expect red ...

Plants could still grow well under alien skies

Photosynthesis changed Earth in powerful ways. When photosynthetic organisms appeared, it led to the Great Oxygenation Event. That allowed multicellular life to evolve and resulted in the ozone layer. Life could venture onto ...