Astrobiology News
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Astrobiology News
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| Future missions to the Moon or Mars could use plants as bio-harvesters to extract valuable elements from the alien soils. | ||||
| Greening the Moon and Mars | ||||
| Scientists have reported there is a one-in-a-thousand chance of an asteroid colliding with the Earth in the year 2182. Asteroid (101955) 1999 RQ36 is 560 meters in diameter and could cause major pro | ||||
| Asteroid Impact in 2182? | ||||
| Every day, millions of microorganisms travel with the wind from one place on Earth to another. Bacteria, funguses and viruses on dust particles can move thousands of kilometers. A team of researchers | ||||
| The Flight of Migrating Microbes | ||||
| Astrobiology Magazine s field research editor Henry Bortman spent a week alongside members of the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) in British Columbia, Canada. In Bortman s sixth and final report | ||||
| Sampling Microbial Muck | ||||
| An expedition partially funded by NASA has discovered the deepest known hydrothermal vent in the world. Studying the site, 5000 meters below the Caribbean Sea, can help astrobiologists understand the | ||||
| The World s Deepest Vent | ||||
| Astronomers have discovered a star that is 300 times the mass of the Sun - twice as large as the previously accepted limit for the size of stars. The finding could alter theories of how solar systems | ||||
| How Massive Can Stars Be? | ||||
| For 50 years we ve been scanning the skies for signals from intelligent aliens. Now, scientists are wondering if there is a better approach. A new theory is bringing economics into the fold with the s | ||||
| Finding Frugal Aliens | ||||
| By calculating where photosynthesis might be possible around the galaxy, scientists are developing a new way to figure out where Earth-like planets with life might be located. | ||||
| Odds for Life Better in Photosynthesis Zones | ||||
| NASA s Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer, or WISE, completed its first survey of the entire sky. Among the more than one million images of everything from asteroids to distant galaxies, WISE has dis | ||||
| WISE Discovers over 90 Near-Earth Objects | ||||
| "The thermosphere", the layer of Earth s atmosphere that meets space, recently collapsed and is now rebounding again...and we don t know why. The thermosphere is important because it shields us from t | ||||
| The Collapse of the Thermosphere | ||||
| Astrobiology Magazine s field research editor Henry Bortman is spending a week alongside members of the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) in British Columbia, Canada. In Bortman s fifth report, he | ||||
| Outer Space, Under Water | ||||
| Scientists have found evidence of lake-level changes on Saturn s moon, Titan. Titan is the only world aside from Earth than is known to have a hydrological cycle. Studying Titan s hydrology can help a | ||||
| Watching Titan s Lakes Rise and Fall | ||||
| Astronomers have confirmed the existence of a gas giant planet, named HD 209458b, that is orbiting so close to its star that its heated atmosphere is escaping into space. Studying the cometary planet | ||||
| Hot Planet with a Comet s Tail | ||||
| With some robotic help, a team of scientists from NASA, Carnegie Mellon and the USGS has helped authorities solve a cold case murder investigation. | ||||
| Solving a Murder Mystery | ||||
| Astrobiology Magazine s field research editor Henry Bortman is spending a week alongside members of the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) in British Columbia, Canada. In Bortman s fourth field rep | ||||
| The Big Question: Biology or Chemistry? | ||||
| NASA s Juno spacecraft is in a cleanroom in Denver, where engineers recently added a unique protective shield around its sensitive electronics. Juno s launch window opens in August of 2011, when the c | ||||
| Building an Armored Tank for Jupiter | ||||
| A new study shows that the transition from unicellular to multicelluar organisms may not have been as difficult as previously thought. The evolution of multicelluar organisms was one of the most pivot | ||||
| Clues to Life s Shift from Simple to Complex | ||||
| The shrinking technology of cell phones, laptops and cameras are now leading to palm-sized satellites. Easy to build and affordable, these small satellites offer a new way to conduct astrobiology rese | ||||
| Tiny Satellites for Big Science | ||||
| Scientists have identified a new class of moons in the rings of Saturn. It is the first time that scientists have been able to track the orbits of individual objects in a debris disk. The research is | ||||
| Saturn Propellers Reflect Solar System Origins | ||||
| Scientists with NASA s ICESCAPE mission are currently exploring the Arctic s Chukchi Sea, studying the physics, chemistry and biology of the ocean and ice. Studying environments such as this can help | ||||
| Sucking the Ocean Through a Straw | ||||
| Astronomers have used a completely new technique to find an exotic extrasolar planet. The same approach might even be sensitive enough to find planets as small as the Earth in orbit around distant sta | ||||
| A New Way to Find Earths | ||||
| Recent discoveries of gas giant planets in unusual orbits challenge the generally accepted theory of planet formation. While these discoveries do not disprove the theory, they have opened our eyes to | ||||
| Recipes for Renegade Planets | ||||
| The sample return canister from the Hayabusa spacecraft has been opened, and does contain a small amount of dust, possibly from the asteroid Itokawa. Studying samples from an asteroid can help astrobi | ||||
| Hayabusa Contains a Hint of Dust | ||||
| Complex interactions between Saturn and its satellites have led to a comprehensive model that could explain how oxygen may end up on the surface of Saturn s moon Titan. The presence of these oxygen at | ||||
| Oxygen Moves from Enceladus to Titan | ||||
| Astrobiology Magazine s field research editor Henry Bortman is spending a week alongside members of the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP) in British Columbia, Canada. In this third field report, h | ||||
| What Do You Call a Microbialite? | ||||
| Earth-like planets are familiar ground in science fiction, and in reality many scientists believe that our galaxy could be full of such worlds. However, habitable planets and moons are difficult to fi | ||||
| Extreme Starlight Suppression | ||||
| Astrobiology Magazine s Henry Bortman is spending a week alongside members of the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP). This second field report describes the glitches and problems researchers have h | ||||
| On the Beach with the Gaviators | ||||
| Researchers are reporting the first experimental evidence showing how atmospheric nitrogen can be incorporated into organic macromolecules. The finding indicates what organic molecules might be found | ||||
| Zapping Titan-Like Atmosphere Creates Molecules of Life | ||||
| Astrobiology Magazine s Henry Bortman is in the field this week alongside members of the Pavilion Lake Research Project (PLRP). The scientists are studying microbialites, carbonate structures that ar | ||||
| Flying the North Basin | ||||
| Astronomers have confirmed that the first directly observed extrasolar planet is orbiting a sun-like star. The planet is adding to our knowledge of how planetary systems form and can help astrobiologi | ||||
| First Directly Imaged Planet Confirmed Orbiting Sun-Like Star | ||||