A robotic rover deployed in the most Mars-like environment on Earth, the Atacama Desert in Chile, has successfully recovered subsurface soil samples during a trial mission to find signs of life. The samples contained unusual ...
Astrobiology
Feb 28, 2019
10
450
Just like the mythical creation stories that depict the formation of the world as the story of order from chaos, the early Earth was home to a chaotic clutter of organic molecules from which, somehow, more complex biological ...
Astrobiology
Feb 6, 2019
2
299
In 2020, NASA's next rover will launch from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and head to the Jezero Crater on Mars. Jezero was once home to an ancient lake-delta system that scientists believe may have captured ...
Space Exploration
Nov 29, 2018
1
148
Resonating oscillations of a planet's atmosphere caused by gravitational tides and heating from its star could prevent a planet's rotation from steadily slowing over time, according to new research by Caleb Scharf, who is ...
Space Exploration
Nov 5, 2018
2
35
Evidence that catastrophic geological events could have created evolutionary bottlenecks that changed the course of life on Earth may be buried within ancient rocks beneath our feet.
Astronomy
Oct 16, 2018
0
216
In 1971, English mathematical physicist and Nobel-prize winner Roger Penrose proposed how energy could be extracted from a rotating black hole. He argued that this could be done by building a harness around the black hole's ...
Astronomy
Aug 23, 2024
5
151
In 1977, astronomers received a powerful, peculiar radio signal from the direction of the constellation Sagittarius. Its frequency was the same as neutral hydrogen, and astronomers had speculated that any ETIs attempting ...
Astronomy
Aug 21, 2024
0
53
Is there intelligent life in the universe? And if so, just how common is it? Or perhaps the question should be, what are the odds that those engaged in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) will encounter it ...
Astrobiology
Aug 8, 2024
6
36
In an exciting breakthrough for astronomy and the search for extraterrestrial life, a team of international scientists has announced the discovery of Gliese 12 b, a temperate, Earth-sized exoplanet just 40 light-years away—a ...
Astrobiology
Jul 30, 2024
0
52
NASA has announced the first detection of possible biosignatures in a rock on the surface of Mars. The rock contains the first martian organic matter to be detected by the Perseverance rover, as well as curious discolored ...
Astrobiology
Jul 29, 2024
0
53
