https://phys.org/space-news/astrobiology en-us Astrobiology news stories about origin and evolution of life in the Universe Our search for life beyond Earth is still in its infancy. We're focused on Mars and, to a lesser extent, ocean moons like Jupiter's Europa and Saturn's Enceladus. Should we extend our search to cover more unlikely places like molecular clouds? https://phys.org/news/2023-12-life-molecular-clouds.html Astronomy Astrobiology Fri, 01 Dec 2023 09:06:40 EST news620643997 In 1950, while sitting down to lunch with colleagues at the Los Alamos Laboratory, famed physicist and nuclear scientist Enrico Fermi asked his famous question: "Where is everybody?" In short, Fermi was addressing the all-important question that has plagued human minds since they first realized planet Earth was merely a speck in an infinite universe. Given the size and age of the universe and the way the ingredients for life are seemingly everywhere in abundance, why haven't we found any evidence of intelligent life beyond Earth? https://phys.org/news/2023-11-dont-robotic-civilizations-rapidly-universe.html Astrobiology Wed, 29 Nov 2023 15:24:06 EST news620493842 While life on Earth is relatively new, geologically speaking, the ingredients that combined to form it might be much older than once thought. According to research published in ACS Central Science, the simplest amino acid, carbamic acid, could have formed alongside stars or planets within interstellar ices. The findings could be used to train deep space instruments like the James Webb Space Telescope to search for prebiotic molecules in distant, star-forming regions of the universe. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-blocks-life-stars-planets.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 29 Nov 2023 09:52:04 EST news620473922 Scientists from the Planetary Science Institute have uncovered evidence of potential salt glaciers on Mercury, opening a new frontier in astrobiology by revealing a volatile environment that might echo habitability conditions found in Earth's extreme locales. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-unveiling-mercury-geological-mysteries-salt.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Fri, 17 Nov 2023 12:48:37 EST news619447714 We're inching closer and closer to reliably detecting biosignatures on distant planets. Much of the focus is on determining which chemicals indicate life's presence. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-life-easiest-planets-earlier-earth.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Fri, 17 Nov 2023 12:19:07 EST news619445941 How did the molecular building blocks for life end up on Earth? One long-standing theory is that they could have been delivered by comets. Now, researchers from the University of Cambridge have shown how comets could deposit similar building blocks to other planets in the galaxy. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-comets-blocks-life-exoplanets.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Tue, 14 Nov 2023 19:00:01 EST news619178354 Professor Amri Wandel, from Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has unveiled research that promises to redefine our comprehension of habitable exoplanets. In a recent study published in The Astronomical Journal, Professor Wandel introduces the concept of subglacial liquid water as a pivotal element in broadening the boundaries of the conventional habitable zone. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-subglacial-classical-habitable-zone-exoplanets.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 09 Nov 2023 10:45:51 EST news618749149 Saturn's ocean moon, Enceladus, is attracting increasing attention in the search for life in our solar system. Most of what we know about Enceladus and its ice-covered ocean comes from the Cassini mission. Cassini ended its exploration of the Saturn system in 2017, but scientists are still working through its data. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-enceladus-raw-materials-life.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 08 Nov 2023 15:37:04 EST news618680221 The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has evolved considerably in the past 60 years since the first experiment was conducted. This was Project Ozma, which was conducted in 1960 by Dr. Frank Drake and his colleagues using the National Radio Astronomy Observatory (NRAO) in Green Bank, West Virginia. While the experiment did not reveal any radio signals from space, it established the foundation upon which all future SETI is based. Like Ozma, the vast majority of these experiments have searched for possible technosignatures in the radio spectrum. https://phys.org/news/2023-11-seti-telescopes-double-check.html Astronomy Astrobiology Mon, 06 Nov 2023 13:21:04 EST news618499261 With thousands of known exoplanets and tens of thousands likely to be discovered in the coming decades, it could be only a matter of time before we discover a planet with life. The trick is proving it. So far the focus has been on observing the atmospheric composition of exoplanets, looking for molecular biosignatures that would indicate the presence of life. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-life-planet-neighbors.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Tue, 31 Oct 2023 12:54:03 EDT news617975641 Extraterrestrial mining and metal processing are key strategies for space exploration. In a new study in Scientific Reports, Rodolfo Marin Rivera, and a team of scientists in materials science, conducted catalytic dissolution of metals from meteorite proxies of metal-rich asteroids by using a deep eutectic solvent. These solvents are important for extraterrestrial mining since they can be designed to have relatively low vapor pressures and can comprise organic waste products from extraterrestrial settlements. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-asteroids-method-metals.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Tue, 31 Oct 2023 10:20:01 EDT news617966108 A pink glow is shining on the faces of enthusiastic students as they tend to plants in purpose-built grow boxes for space stations. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-australian-school-students-space-veggies.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Mon, 30 Oct 2023 13:40:01 EDT news617890371 The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has always been plagued by uncertainty. With only one habitable planet (Earth) and one technologically advanced civilization (humanity) as examples, scientists are still confined to theorizing where other intelligent life forms could be (and what they might be up to). https://phys.org/news/2023-10-civilizations-quickly-universe.html Astronomy Astrobiology Thu, 26 Oct 2023 13:56:05 EDT news617547361 Scientists have observed the creation of rare chemical elements in the second-brightest gamma-ray burst ever seen—casting new light on how heavy elements are made. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-second-brightest-gamma-ray-elements-life.html Astronomy Astrobiology Wed, 25 Oct 2023 11:00:02 EDT news617447650 The astrophysicists, from Trinity and the Breakthrough Listen team and Onsala Space Observatory in Sweden, are scanning the universe for "technosignatures" emanating from distant planets that would provide support for the existence of intelligent, alien life. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-astrophysicists-scan-galaxy-life.html Astronomy Astrobiology Tue, 24 Oct 2023 13:06:35 EDT news617371589 New analysis of data from the Curiosity rover reveals that much of the craters on Mars today could have once been habitable rivers. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-curiosity-rover-evidence-ancient-mars.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Tue, 24 Oct 2023 09:54:27 EDT news617360065 The universe is more than 13 billion years old and space is often depicted as a vast, empty vacuum. Other than planets and stars, there's nothing there, right? Actually, space is littered with complex, carbon-based molecules. However, the range of molecules and the chemistry involved in their formation remains largely mysterious. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-simulating-space-explore-great-mystery.html Astrobiology Tue, 24 Oct 2023 09:20:04 EDT news617358001 It's been 30 years since a group of scientists led by Carl Sagan found evidence for life on Earth using data from instruments on board the Nasa Galileo robotic spacecraft. Yes, you read that correctly. Among his many pearls of wisdom, Sagan was famous for saying that science is more than a body of knowledge—it is a way of thinking. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-carl-sagan-life-earth-years.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 23 Oct 2023 13:21:04 EDT news617286061 In a new study published in The Astronomical Journal, researchers used the known population of exoplanets and extrapolated to the much larger, unknown population of exoplanets to set better thresholds for planetary effects on signals from ETIs (extraterrestrial intelligences). https://phys.org/news/2023-10-exoplanet-informed-clearer-bounds-radio-technosignatures.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 23 Oct 2023 12:47:04 EDT news617284022 In searching for life in the universe, a field known as astrobiology, scientists rely on Earth as a template for biological and evolutionary processes. This includes searching for Earth analogs, rocky planets that orbit within their parent star's habitable zone (HZ) and have atmospheres composed of nitrogen, oxygen, and carbon dioxide. However, Earth's atmosphere has evolved considerably over time from a toxic plume of nitrogen, carbon dioxide, and traces of volcanic gas. Over time, the emergence of photosynthetic organisms caused a transition, leading to the atmosphere we see today. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-combination-oxygen-methane-reveal-presence.html Astrobiology Thu, 19 Oct 2023 13:05:04 EDT news616939501 A landmark discovery by a collaborative team led by the Planetary Science Institute's Alexis Rodriguez has unveiled evidence of sedimentary plains created by aquifer drainage within Martian collapse formations termed chaotic terrains. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-biosignatures-ancient-mars-mud-lake.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 18 Oct 2023 10:29:03 EDT news616843741 One of the most exciting findings from NASA's Dawn mission is that Ceres, the largest object in the asteroid belt that lies between Mars and Jupiter, hosts complex organics. The discovery of aliphatic molecules, which consist of carbon and hydrogen chains, in conjunction with evidence that Ceres has abundant water ice and may have been an ocean world, means this dwarf planet might have once harbored the main ingredients associated with life as we know it. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-hypervelocity-impact-probe-dwarf-planet.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 16 Oct 2023 12:07:46 EDT news616676863 The smallest flowering plant on Earth might become a nutritious foodstuff for astronauts in the future, as well as a highly efficient source of oxygen. To help test their suitability for space, floating clumps of watermeal—individually the size of pinheads—were subjected to 20 times normal Earth gravity aboard ESA's Large Diameter Centrifuge by a team from Mahidol University in Thailand. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-hypergravity-odyssey-earth-tiniest.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Fri, 06 Oct 2023 13:54:03 EDT news615819241 A small team of biologists, environmental scientists and chemists at Queen Mary University of London, U.K., has found via modeling, that it might be possible for different types of plants to grow on Earth-like rocky planets. In their paper published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the group describes how they modeled photosynthetic antenna, taking into account possible scenarios on planets in other star systems and the results of their experiments. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-photosynthetic-antenna-earth-like-rocky-planets.html Astrobiology Tue, 03 Oct 2023 10:20:04 EDT news615546949 Barnard's Star is a small red dwarf just six light-years from Earth. Despite its proximity, it was only noticed in 1916 when E. E. Barnard found it had a particularly high proper motion. It had appeared in photographic plates taken by Harvard Observatory in the late 1800s, but as a small dim star, no one took notice of it. Since its discovery, Barnard's Star has been one of the most studied red dwarfs. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-world-largest-radio-telescope-scanned.html Astronomy Astrobiology Mon, 02 Oct 2023 12:43:04 EDT news615469381 Magnetotactic bacteria can form magnetofossils like magnetic nanocrystals as observed in the Martian meteorite ALH84001, which held a special place in the field of astrobiology primarily in the early 90s. While the flourishing of interest in magnetotactic bacteria has waned over time, a resurgence of magnetosome formation has led to a renaissance of magnetotactic bacteria (abbreviated as MTB) in astrobiology. https://phys.org/news/2023-10-renaissance-magnetotactic-bacteria-astrobiology.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 02 Oct 2023 09:50:01 EDT news615458522 In 1960, while preparing for the first meeting on the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI), legendary astronomer and SETI pioneer Dr. Frank Drake unveiled his probabilistic equation for estimating the number of possible civilizations in our galaxy—aka The Drake Equation. A key parameter in this equation was ne, the number of planets in our galaxy capable of supporting life—aka "habitable." At the time, astronomers were not yet certain other stars had systems of planets. But thanks to missions like Kepler, 5,523 exoplanets have been confirmed, and another 9,867 await confirmation. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-extraterrestrial-life-light-years-earth-average.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Fri, 29 Sep 2023 11:09:07 EDT news615204541 Astronomers are working hard to understand biosignatures and how they indicate life's presence on an exoplanet. But each planet we encounter is a unique puzzle. When it comes to planetary atmospheres, carbon is a big piece of the puzzle because it has a powerful effect on climate and biogeochemistry. If scientists can figure out how and where a planet's carbon comes from and how it behaves in the atmosphere, they've made progress in solving the puzzle. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-life-volcanoes.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Fri, 29 Sep 2023 11:05:04 EDT news615204301 To safeguard Earth's biosphere, scientists have turned toward Artificial Intelligence (AI) with the hope that it may help to protect biodiversity. Yet this hope has been challenged by AI's appetite for water and energy rooted in AI's need for big data, iterative computations and algorithmic perfection. For example, during its learning phases, GPT-3 consumes energy at a scale approaching hundreds of megawatt-hours. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-biotechnospheres-planetary-intelligence-extraterrestrial-civilizations.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 27 Sep 2023 11:40:01 EDT news615029739 Gigatons of greenhouse gas are trapped under the seafloor, and that's a good thing. Around the coasts of the continents, where slopes sink down into the sea, tiny cages of ice trap methane gas, preventing it from escaping and bubbling up into the atmosphere. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-seafloor-space-bacterial-proteins-climate.html Astrobiology Tue, 26 Sep 2023 12:13:04 EDT news614949181