https://phys.org/space-news/astrobiology en-us Astrobiology news stories about origin and evolution of life in the Universe Evolution has produced a wondrously diverse variety of lifeforms here on Earth. It just so happens that talking primates with opposable thumbs rose to the top and are building a spacefaring civilization. And we're land-dwellers. But what about other planets? If the dominant species on an ocean world builds a technological civilization of some sort, would they be able to escape their ocean home and explore space? https://phys.org/news/2024-02-intelligent-civilizations-worlds.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 28 Feb 2024 10:43:03 EST news628339381 Organic materials discovered on Mars may have originated from atmospheric formaldehyde, according to new research, marking a step forward in our understanding of the possibility of past life on the red planet. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-possibility-life-mars-biomolecules-atmospheric.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 28 Feb 2024 08:40:40 EST news628332037 In July of 2023, retired commander in the U.S. Navy David Fravor testified to the House Oversight Committee about a mysterious, Tic Tac-shaped object that he and three others observed over the Pacific Ocean in 2004. The congressional hearings riveted the world by bringing Unidentified Anomalous Phenomena (UAP) out of the "alien truther" realm and into the mainstream. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-west-ufos.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Wed, 28 Feb 2024 08:24:05 EST news628331041 Just over five years ago, on 22 February 2019, an unmanned space probe was placed in orbit around the moon. Named Beresheet and built by SpaceIL and Israel Aerospace Industries, it was intended to be the first private spacecraft to perform a soft landing. Among the probe's payload were tardigrades, renowed for their ability to survive in even the harshest climates. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-tardigrades-colonized-moon.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Tue, 27 Feb 2024 11:04:21 EST news628254256 Discovering exoplanets is almost routine now. We've found over 5,500 exoplanets, and the next step is to study their atmospheres and look for biosignatures. The James Webb Space Telescope is leading the way in that effort. But in some exoplanet atmospheres, lightning could make the JWST's job more difficult by obscuring some potential biosignatures while amplifying others. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-exoplanets-lightning-itll-complicate-life.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Tue, 27 Feb 2024 09:28:46 EST news628248522 Life on our planet appeared early in Earth's history. Surprisingly early, since in its early youth our planet didn't have much of the chemical ingredients necessary for life to evolve. Since prebiotic chemicals such as sugars and amino acids are known to appear in asteroids and comets, one idea is that Earth was seeded with the building blocks of life by early cometary and asteroid impacts. While this likely played a role, a new study published in Nature Astronomy shows that cosmic dust also seeded young Earth, and it may have made all the difference. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-cosmic-life-earth.html Astrobiology Mon, 26 Feb 2024 13:59:02 EST news628178341 Physicists at ETH Zurich and the University of Zurich wanted to know whether the planned LIFE space mission could really detect traces of life on other planets. Yes, it can, say the researchers, with the help of observations of our own planet. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-earth-life-space-mission.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 26 Feb 2024 10:42:09 EST news628166525 Universe Today has investigated the importance of studying impact craters, planetary surfaces, exoplanets, and astrobiology, and what these disciplines can teach both researchers and the public about finding life beyond Earth. Here, we will discuss the fascinating field of solar physics (also called heliophysics), including why scientists study it, the benefits and challenges of studying it, what it can teach us about finding life beyond Earth, and how upcoming students can pursue studying solar physics. So, why is it so important to study solar physics? https://phys.org/news/2024-02-solar-physics-life-earth.html Astronomy Astrobiology Fri, 23 Feb 2024 12:53:04 EST news627915181 The conditions for life throughout the universe are so plentiful that it seems reasonable to presume there must be extra-terrestrial civilizations in the galaxy. But if that's true, where are they? The Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) program and others have long sought to find signals from these civilizations, but so far there has been nothing conclusive. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-snoop-extraterrestrial-communications-networks.html Astrobiology Fri, 23 Feb 2024 12:30:02 EST news627913801 In the three years since NASA's Perseverance rover touched down on Mars, the NASA science team has made the daily task of investigating the red planet seem almost mundane. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-years-life-mars.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 22 Feb 2024 15:55:03 EST news627839701 The search for life beyond Earth fascinates many and inspires big questions: Are we truly alone in the universe? Is our Earth unique? Is it possible that life beyond Earth may actually be far from little green aliens and much closer to the microbial life with which we share our planet? https://phys.org/news/2024-02-subglacial-microbial-life-earth.html Astrobiology Mon, 19 Feb 2024 11:59:04 EST news627566341 A study led by Western astrobiologist Catherine Neish shows the subsurface ocean of Titan—the largest moon of Saturn—is most likely a non-habitable environment, meaning any hope of finding life in the icy world is dead in the water. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-saturn-largest-moon-uninhabitable.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 14 Feb 2024 16:59:40 EST news627152375 Stars that pass by our solar system have altered the long-term orbital evolution of planets, including Earth, and, by extension, modified our climate. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-stars-orbital-evolution-earth-planets.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 14 Feb 2024 11:32:04 EST news627132722 Using data from the retired Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA)—a joint project of NASA and the German Space Agency at DLR—Southwest Research Institute scientists have discovered, for the first time, water molecules on the surface of an asteroid. Scientists looked at four silicate-rich asteroids using the FORCAST instrument to isolate the mid-infrared spectral signatures indicative of molecular water on two of them. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-scientists-molecules-asteroids.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 12 Feb 2024 17:18:03 EST news626980681 A team of researchers from the SETI Institute, Berkeley SETI Research Center and the University of Washington reported an exciting development for the field of astrophysics and the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI), using observations from the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) mission to monitor the SETI Ellipsoid, a method for identifying potential signals from advanced civilizations in the cosmos. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-seti-employs-ellipsoid-technique-distant.html Astronomy Astrobiology Mon, 12 Feb 2024 13:05:52 EST news626965544 In the fall of 1989, the Galileo spacecraft was launched into space, bound for Jupiter and its family of moons. Given the great distance to the king of planets, Galileo had to take a roundabout tour through the inner solar system, making a flyby of Venus in 1990 and Earth in 1990 and 1992 just to gain enough speed to reach Jupiter. During the flybys of Earth Galileo took several images of our planet, which astronomers have used to discover life on Earth. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-galileo-mission-life-earth.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Fri, 09 Feb 2024 11:41:03 EST news626701261 Space exploration is a complex and risky mission that requires careful preparation and a thorough understanding of the challenges inherent to life in space. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-astronauts-microbiomes-crucial-deep-space.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Thu, 08 Feb 2024 11:05:19 EST news626612714 Hidden beneath the heavily cratered surface of Mimas, one of Saturn's smallest moons lies a secret: a global ocean of liquid water. This astonishing discovery, led by Dr. Valéry Lainey of the Observatoire de Paris-PSL and published in the journal Nature, reveals a "young" ocean formed just 5 to 15 million years ago, making Mimas a prime target for studying the origins of life in our solar system. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-mimas-tiny-moon-young-ocean.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 07 Feb 2024 12:28:49 EST news626531327 An international team of radiation specialists, biologists and infectious disease experts has found four types of bacteria that are capable of surviving exposure to the hostile Mars environment. In their study, published in the journal Astrobiology, the group exposed four human-infectious bacteria to Mars-like conditions. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-bacteria-survive-mars-conditions.html Astrobiology Wed, 07 Feb 2024 11:20:01 EST news626525290 The search for habitable exoplanets involves looking for planets with similar conditions to the Earth, such as liquid water, a suitable temperature range and atmospheric conditions. One crucial factor is the planet's position in the habitable zone, the region around a star where liquid water could potentially exist on the planet's surface. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-newly-carbon-monoxide-runaway-gap.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Tue, 06 Feb 2024 17:04:03 EST news626461441 Does life exist elsewhere in the universe? If so, how do scientists search for and identify it? Finding life beyond Earth is extremely difficult, partly because other planets are so far away and partly because we are not sure what to look for. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-lake-deposits-idaho-scientists-insight.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Tue, 06 Feb 2024 11:59:04 EST news626443142 Trappist-1 is a fascinating exoplanetary system. Seven worlds orbiting a red dwarf star just 40 light-years away. All of the worlds are similar to Earth in mass and size, and three or four of them are potentially habitable. Imagine exploring a system of life-rich worlds within easy traveling distance of each other. It's a wonderful dream, but as a new study shows it isn't likely that life exists in the system. It's more likely the planets are barren and stripped of their atmospheres. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-atmospheres-trappist.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 05 Feb 2024 11:27:03 EST news626354821 A recent study accepted to The Planetary Science Journal and currently posted to the arXiv preprint server investigates how the organic hazes that existed on Earth between the planet's initial formation and 500 million years afterwards, also known as Hadean geologic eon, could have contained the necessary building blocks for life, including nucleobases and amino acids. This study holds the potential to not only help scientists better understand the conditions on an early Earth, but also if these same conditions on Saturn's largest moon, Titan, could produce the building blocks of life, as well. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-life-earth-atmospheric-haze-key.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 01 Feb 2024 12:30:04 EST news626013001 The next generation of advanced telescopes could sharpen the hunt for potential extraterrestrial life by closely scrutinizing the atmospheres of nearby exoplanets, new research suggests. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-spying-life-exoplanet-atmospheres.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 29 Jan 2024 15:33:04 EST news625764781 We do not yet know how, where, or why life first appeared on our planet. Part of the difficulty is that "life" has no strict, universally agreed-upon definition. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-improbable-life-earth.html Astrobiology Mon, 29 Jan 2024 13:40:02 EST news625754677 Our planet sits in the habitable zone of our sun, the special place where water can be liquid on the surface of a world. But that's not the only thing special about us: we also sit in the galactic habitable zone, the region within the Milky Way where the rate of star formation is just right. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-exploring-galactic-habitable-zone.html Astrobiology Mon, 29 Jan 2024 13:16:18 EST news625756576 A team of researchers has examined the Winchcombe meteorite and demonstrated the existence in it of nitrogen compounds such as amino acids and heterocyclic hydrocarbons—without applying any chemical treatment and by using a new type of detector design. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-cosmic-blocks-life-electron-microscope.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 29 Jan 2024 09:58:04 EST news625744682 If life ever existed on Mars, the Perseverance rover's verification of lake sediments at the base of the Jezero crater reinforces the hope that traces might be found in the crater. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-ancient-lake-mars-perseverance-rover.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Fri, 26 Jan 2024 14:00:01 EST news625480046 All modern life shares a robust, hardy, efficient system of intertwined chemicals that propagate themselves. This system must have emerged from a simpler, less efficient, more delicate one. But what was that system, and why did it appear on, of all places, planet Earth? https://phys.org/news/2024-01-early-life-radically-today.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Fri, 26 Jan 2024 12:33:55 EST news625494833 We know of Mars as the red planet, for its surface and atmosphere is caked in endless swirling dust of rusted iron, the rusting action provided by the always-eager oxygen. But this was not always so. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-planetary-size-cooling-mars-died.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 24 Jan 2024 16:00:03 EST news625334402