Climbing the ladder to life detection

In the past two decades, NASA spacecraft have identified potentially habitable environments throughout the solar system and beyond. Spacecraft on Mars have found evidence that lakes and streams once covered the planet, protected ...

Surface of Saturnian moon Enceladus shields buried organics

The Saturnian moon Enceladus presents a unique opportunity in our solar system to search for evidence of life, given its habitable ocean and plume that deposits organic-bearing ocean material onto the surface.

Could life exist in the atmosphere of a sub-Neptune planet?

Earth is perfectly suited for organic life. It stands to reason then that similar worlds orbiting distant stars might also be rich with life. But proving it will be a challenge. One of the better ways to discover extraterrestrial ...

Team synthesizes a new polyoxometalate-based metal-organic complex

A research team has synthesized a new polyoxometalate-based metal-organic complex that they then tested as a catalyst for the oxidation reactions of various sulfides. They found that the complex possesses excellent catalytic ...

Successful synthesis of gamma-lactam rings from hydrocarbons

A team of researchers at the Center for Catalytic Hydrocarbon Functionalizations, within the Institute for Basic Science (IBS, South Korea), have designed a novel strategy to synthesize ring-shaped cyclic molecules, highly ...

Chemists use electrochemistry to amp up drug manufacturing

Give your medicine a jolt. By using - electrochemistry - a technique that combines electricity and chemistry, future pharmaceuticals - including many of the top prescribed medications in the United States - soon may be easily ...

New synthesis method uses light reaction on a water surface

By forming chemical bonds between atoms, complex molecules such as those needed for medicines, crop protection products, or high-performance materials are prepared using synthetic chemistry. Such synthesis reactions typically ...

Nitrogen in ancient rocks a sign of early life

Nitrogen is one of the essential nutrients of life on Earth, with some organisms, such as the kinds of microbes found within the roots of legume plants, capable of converting nitrogen gas into molecules that other species ...

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