Last update:

Mars Curiosity rover takes a last look at mysterious sulfur

NASA's Curiosity rover is preparing for the next leg of its journey, a months-long trek to a formation called the boxwork, a set of weblike patterns on Mars's surface that stretches for miles. It will soon leave behind Gediz ...

What's behind the Martian methane mystery?

The seasonal variations of methane in the Martian atmosphere is an intriguing clue that there might be life hiding under the surface of the red planet. But we won't know for sure until we go digging for it.

Volcanic caves research advances the search for life on Mars

Through the intricate study of lava tubes—caves formed following volcanic eruptions when lava cools down—an international team of researchers has uncovered clues about Earth's ancient environments that could be significant ...

Mars may have been habitable much more recently than thought

Evidence suggests Mars could very well have been teeming with life billions of years ago. Now cold, dry, and stripped of what was once a potentially protective magnetic field, the red planet is a kind of forensic scene for ...

Could life at TRAPPIST-1 survive the star's superflares?

The TRAPPIST-1 system is a science-fiction writer's dream. Seven Earth-sized worlds orbit a red dwarf star just 40 light-years away. Three of those worlds are within the habitable zone of the star. The system spans a distance ...

More news

Astrobiology
Giant meteorite impact 3.26 billion years ago may have aided early life
Astrobiology
Could life exist below Mars ice? Study proposes possibilities
Astrobiology
Scientists use Allen Telescope Array to search for radio signals in the TRAPPIST-1 star system
Astrobiology
New instruments will study potential habitability of Jupiter's moon Europa
Astrobiology
How did the building blocks of life arrive on Earth? Zinc fingerprints in meteorites offer clues
Astrobiology
Mars analog stations investigate lichen biodiversity during simulated missions
Astrobiology
Ryugu sample analyses show asteroids may have delivered compounds needed to start life on Earth
Astrobiology
Astronomers use Webb to probe a 'steam world' in the constellation Pisces
Astrobiology
NASA is launching a major mission to look for habitable spots on Jupiter's moon Europa
Space Exploration
Investigating the possibility of using asteroid material to grow edible biomass for astronauts
Astrobiology
2-billion-year-old rock could help understand very early life on Earth and the hunt for evidence of life on Mars
Astrobiology
Investigating the statistical likelihood of triple star systems hosting exoplanets
Astrobiology
Another building block of life can handle Venus' sulfuric acid
Astrobiology
Can the 'hard steps' in the evolutionary history of human intelligence be recast with geological thresholds?
Astronomy
How a nearby supernova left its mark on Earth life
Astrobiology
How sweet is the Milky Way? Astrochemist is helping find out
Astrobiology
Potential indicators of life on other planets can be created in a lab
Astrobiology
Advanced civilizations will overheat their planets within 1,000 years, researchers suggest
Astrobiology
Those aren't Dyson spheres, they're HotDOGs
Astrobiology
Could stars hotter than the sun still support life?

Other news

Environment
Scientists seek miracle pill to stop methane cow burps
General Physics
Extending classical black hole inequalities into the quantum realm
Plants & Animals
First successful test of wild minke whales reveals they have ultrasonic hearing
Analytical Chemistry
Sustainable method can electrosynthesize important chemical for synthetic rubber production
Archaeology
Healthy elbow room: Social distancing in Neolithic mega-settlements
Other
Saturday Citations: Sweaty, remarkable humans; ocean level rise projections; closeup of a star in another galaxy
Astronomy
2 million mph galaxy smash-up seen in unprecedented detail
Evolution
Gene regulation study reports surprising results: Extensive regions of DNA belong to multiple gene switches
Archaeology
Peaches spread across North America through Indigenous networks, radiocarbon dating and document analysis show
Archaeology
Earliest fish-trapping facility in Central America discovered in Maya lowlands
Biochemistry
Natural substance from edible cyanobacterium could combat skin aging by enhancing collagen
Molecular & Computational biology
'e-Drive': New gene drive reverses insecticide resistance in pests... then disappears
General Physics
Accessing the lesser known nucleon: New neutron measurement can help physicists learn about nucleon structure and spin
Analytical Chemistry
Exploring new liquid organic hydrogen carrier materials for a safer, more transportable energy source
Paleontology & Fossils
Fossil discovery reveals giant worm lizard with snail-cracking jaws
Condensed Matter
Discovery of van Hove singularities could lead to novel materials with desirable quantum properties
Planetary Sciences
Niagara fireball event leads to discovery of tiniest known asteroid
Optics & Photonics
Prototype lenses can block epileptic-seizure causing wavelengths
Biochemistry
Next-generation, nature-inspired sunscreens have a new molecular scaffold
Optics & Photonics
Improved ultrasound technique produces previously unattainable images inside live cells

New study delves into ozone's influence on exoplanetary climate

In the quest for life beyond our solar system, a new study delves into the atmospheric dynamics of planet Proxima Centauri b, illuminating ozone's pivotal role in shaping planetary climates. This research signifies a significant ...

What can early Earth teach us about the search for life?

Earth is the only life-supporting planet we know of, so it's tempting to use it as a standard in the search for life elsewhere. But the modern Earth can't serve as a basis for evaluating exoplanets and their potential to ...

Webb telescope probably didn't find life on an exoplanet—yet

Recent reports of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope finding signs of life on a distant planet understandably sparked excitement. A new study challenges this finding, but also outlines how the telescope might verify the presence ...

New findings point to an Earth-like environment on ancient Mars

A research team using the ChemCam instrument onboard NASA's Curiosity rover discovered higher-than-usual amounts of manganese in lakebed rocks within Gale Crater on Mars, which indicates that the sediments were formed in ...

Enceladus spills its guts through strike–slip motion

Over the course of its elliptical orbit, the moon Enceladus is squeezed unevenly by Saturn's gravitational pull and deforms from a spherical shape into a football shape and back again. This cyclic stress causes a phenomenon ...

Will we know if TRAPPIST-1e has life?

The search for extrasolar planets is currently undergoing a seismic shift. With the deployment of the Kepler Space Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS), scientists discovered thousands of exoplanets, ...