Related topics: microorganisms

Preparing for alien life

At a recent event sponsored by NASA and the Library of Congress, a group of scientists and scholars explored how we might prepare for the inevitable discovery of life beyond Earth.

Fingerprints of life on Mars

NASA's Astrobiology Institute (NAI) announced that the SETI Institute has been selected as a new member of the NAI for a 5-year research program, "Changing Planetary Environments and the Fingerprints of Life." Led by planetary ...

When life went global

"An origin of life is not the same as an origin of a biosphere—that's an important distinction," says David Grinspoon, a planetary scientist and curator of astrobiology for the Denver Museum of Nature & Science.

Probing the depths of the methane world

In 2011, Jennifer Glass joined a scientific cruise to study a methane seep off of Oregon's coast. In these cold, dark depths, microbes buried in the sediment feast on methane that seeps through the seafloor.

Is there really any life 'out there'?

Mankind should not assume that it will definitely find life on alien planets according to a hypothesis being presented at the Royal Society, the UK's national academy of science, this week. Professor Charles Cockell, Director ...

Searching for organics in a nibble of soil

You might call it a high-tech panhandler, with its design for sifting through sprinkles of dirt to find tiny specks of organic material. Or you might think of it as a soil-eating-micro-espresso machine that could potentially ...

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