https://phys.org/space-news/astrobiology en-us Astrobiology news stories about origin and evolution of life in the Universe 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 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 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 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 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 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 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 Using impact craters as a dating tool, Planetary Science Institute Research Scientist Alexander Morgan has determined maximum timescales for the formation of Martian valley networks shaped by running water. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-intermittently-martian-valleys-hundreds-millions.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 15 Jan 2024 12:28:18 EST news624544095 Once upon a cosmic time, scientists assumed that stars apply an eternal magnetic brake, causing an endless slowdown of their rotation. With new observations and sophisticated methods, they have now peeked into a star's magnetic secrets and found that they are not what they expected. The cosmic hotspots for finding alien neighbors might be around stars hitting their midlife crisis and beyond. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-stars-life.html Astronomy Astrobiology Wed, 10 Jan 2024 17:07:04 EST news624128821 New research led by Stanford University scientists predicts life can persist in extremely salty environments, beyond the limit previously thought possible. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-microbes-limits-life-earth.html Astrobiology Tue, 09 Jan 2024 12:49:55 EST news624026990 A team of chemists and planetary scientists from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Nanoplanet Consulting and MIT has found evidence that a form of life that uses sulfuric acid as a liquid medium could exist in some of the clouds covering Venus. The team has published their paper on the arXiv preprint server. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-life-venus-sulfuric-acid-clouds.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Tue, 09 Jan 2024 09:50:01 EST news624015677 In a groundbreaking cosmic quest, the SETI Institute's Commensal Open-Source Multimode Interferometer Cluster (COSMIC) at the Karl G. Jansky Very Large Array (VLA) is expanding the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI). https://phys.org/news/2024-01-cosmic-extraterrestrial-intelligence.html Astronomy Astrobiology Mon, 08 Jan 2024 12:17:37 EST news623938655 In the quest to understand the potential for life beyond Earth, researchers are widening their search to encompass not only biological markers, but also technological ones. While astrobiologists have long recognized the importance of oxygen for life as we know it, oxygen could also be a key to unlocking advanced technology on a planetary scale. https://phys.org/news/2024-01-astrophysicists-explore-links-atmospheric-oxygen.html Astrobiology Tue, 02 Jan 2024 15:32:04 EST news623431922 A team of astrophysicists led by Lauren Weiss, assistant professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Notre Dame, created the first-ever catalog of small, Earth-like planets with Jupiter-like siblings (planets that share the same star)—a critical component in the search for life elsewhere in our universe. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-astrophysicists-publish-kepler-giant-planet.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Tue, 19 Dec 2023 14:46:11 EST news622219569 A vast, flat, "featureless" plain on Mars surprised researchers by revealing a much more tumultuous geologic past than expected, according to a study led by researchers at the University of Arizona. Enormous amounts of lava have erupted from numerous fissures as recently as 1 million years ago, blanketing an area almost as large as Alaska and interacting with water in and under the surface, resulting in large flood events that carved out deep channels. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-volcanism-mars-reveals-planet-previously.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Tue, 19 Dec 2023 10:49:48 EST news622205385 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. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-surface-saturnian-moon-enceladus-shields.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 18 Dec 2023 14:36:04 EST news622132561 The Earth is a wonderful blue and green dot covered with oceans and life, while Venus is a yellowish sterile sphere that is not only inhospitable but also sterile. However, the difference between the two is only a few degrees in temperature. A team of astronomers from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), with the support of the CNRS laboratories of Paris and Bordeaux, has achieved a world's first by managing to simulate the entirety of the runaway greenhouse process that can transform the climate of a planet from idyllic and perfect for life, to a place more than harsh and hostile. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-exoplanets-climate-habitable-hell.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 18 Dec 2023 11:57:25 EST news622123034 A study zooms in on data that NASA's Cassini gathered at Saturn's icy moon and finds evidence of a key ingredient for life and a supercharged source of energy to fuel it. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-nasa-life-sparking-energy-source-molecule.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 14 Dec 2023 12:53:05 EST news621780782 A NASA study expands the search for life beyond our solar system by indicating that 17 exoplanets (worlds outside our solar system) could have oceans of liquid water, an essential ingredient for life, beneath icy shells. Water from these oceans could occasionally erupt through the ice crust as geysers. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-icy-exoplanets-habitable-oceans-geysers.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 13 Dec 2023 12:24:03 EST news621692641 A team of scientists from the SETI Institute, University of California Davis and the Alaska Whale Foundation, had a close encounter with a non-human (aquatic) intelligence. The Whale-SETI team has been studying humpback whale communication systems in an effort to develop intelligence filters for the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-encounter-humpback-whales-reveals-potential.html Astrobiology Tue, 12 Dec 2023 14:59:21 EST news621615539 A school science experiment is answering questions that are out of this world. While there had been concerns that any evidence of organic matter on Mars might be obscured by the planet's geology, new research suggests this might not be the case. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-potential-life-mars-easier-thought.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Tue, 12 Dec 2023 11:14:04 EST news621602042 For many years, scientists have predicted that many of the elements that are crucial ingredients for life, like sulfur and nitrogen, first came to Earth when asteroid-type objects carrying them crashed into our planet's surface. https://phys.org/news/2023-12-earth-elements-lifecontrary-theories-meteorites.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 07 Dec 2023 11:20:01 EST news621168122