https://phys.org/space-news/astrobiology en-us Astrobiology news stories about origin and evolution of life in the Universe 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 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 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 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 Scientists have discovered a simple and reliable test for signs of past or present life on other planets—"the holy grail of astrobiology." https://phys.org/news/2023-09-life-mars-planets-ai.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 25 Sep 2023 15:00:01 EDT news614852481 Space scientists have discovered a new process to test for life on Mars and on Earth, using cutting-edge technology to sequence DNA using the tiniest possible sample of DNA mass. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-scientists-life-mars.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 25 Sep 2023 11:45:39 EDT news614861135 The first use of a novel method of analyzing Mars' gravitational force supports the idea that the planet once had an extensive northern ocean. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-mars-gravity-analysis-ancient-ocean.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 20 Sep 2023 12:51:03 EDT news614433061 Life on a faraway planet—if it's out there—might not look anything like life on Earth. But there are only so many chemical ingredients in the universe's pantry, and only so many ways to mix them. A team led by scientists at the University of Wisconsin–Madison has exploited those limitations to write a cookbook of hundreds of chemical recipes with the potential to give rise to life. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-recipes-life-distant-inhabited-planets.html Astrobiology Tue, 19 Sep 2023 12:41:28 EDT news614346085 A large team of scientists with a wide variety of backgrounds has joined together to suggest that a data-driven approach to search for life elsewhere in the universe should replace methods now in use. In their paper posted on the arXiv preprint server, the group explains how a data-driven approach could help prevent human-centered biases from overlooking potential signs of life. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-scientists-data-driven-approach-life-planets.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 14 Sep 2023 11:50:01 EDT news613905816 Uncovering the organic (carbon-based) chemistry in interstellar space is central to understanding the chemistry of the universe in addition to the origin of life on Earth and the possibilities for life elsewhere. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-carbon-atoms-diffuse-interstellar-ice.html Astronomy Astrobiology Thu, 14 Sep 2023 11:00:02 EDT news613907893 In the past few decades, several phenomena have led to excited speculation in the scientific community that they might indeed be indications that there is extraterrestrial life. It will no doubt happen again. https://phys.org/news/2023-09-youve-alien-life.html Astrobiology Tue, 12 Sep 2023 14:21:05 EDT news613747261 An international team of astrophysicists, astronomers and chemists has found evidence of carbonic acid (HOCOOH) in interstellar space, marking the first time it has been detected in such a setting. In their paper published in The Astrophysical Journal, the group describes their discovery, where it was found, and what it might mean for research into the origins of life. https://phys.org/news/2023-08-evidence-carbonic-acid-interstellar-space.html Astronomy Astrobiology Wed, 23 Aug 2023 11:30:01 EDT news612002536 As the next generation of giant, high-powered observatories begin to come online, a new study suggests that their instruments may offer scientists an unparalleled opportunity to discern what weather may be like on far-away exoplanets. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-cosmic-weather-worlds-life.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 27 Jul 2023 14:55:17 EDT news609688513 Scientists have devised a new technique for finding and vetting possible radio signals from other civilizations in our galaxy—a major advance in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) that will significantly boost confidence in any future detection of alien life. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-spoofed.html Astronomy Astrobiology Mon, 17 Jul 2023 14:47:04 EDT news608824021 A new study featuring data from the NASA Mars Perseverance rover reports on an instrumental detection potentially consistent with organic molecules on the Martian surface, hinting toward past habitability of the Red Planet. The research, led by a team of scientists that includes UF astrobiologist Amy Williams, was recently published in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-reveals-evidence-diverse-material-mars.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 13 Jul 2023 13:25:04 EDT news608473501 A new analysis shows that there are probably many more Earth-like exoplanets with liquid water than had been thought, significantly increasing the chance of finding life. The work finds that even where the conditions are not ideal for liquid water to exist at the surface of a planet, many stars will harbor geological conditions suitable for liquid water under the planet's surface. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-probability-worlds-fold.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 10 Jul 2023 18:00:25 EDT news608198158 Avi Loeb, a physicist from Harvard University in the US, has recovered 50 tiny spherical iron fragments from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean that he claims may be material from an interstellar alien spaceship. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-physicist-spherical-meteor-fragments-alien.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 10 Jul 2023 12:52:30 EDT news608212344 A study led by Brown University researchers offers new insights into how water from melting ice could have played a recent role in the formation of ravine-like channels that cut down the sides of impact craters on Mars. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-gullies-mars-periods-liquid-meltwater.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 29 Jun 2023 14:00:02 EDT news607252305 Although technically challenging, space experiments are a scientifically important aspect of astrobiology and astrochemistry investigations. The international space station (ISS) offers an excellent example of a long-term research platform orbiting the Earth, with highly successful advances to implement experiments in space, which has contributed to a wealth of scientific data in the past few decades. Future space platforms present additional opportunities for experiments in astrobiology and astrochemistry. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-future-space-platforms-astrobiology-astrochemistry.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Thu, 29 Jun 2023 09:43:10 EDT news607250585 A team of international scientists has used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to detect a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Known as methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on) (CH3+), the molecule is important because it aids the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules. Methyl cation was detected in a young star system, with a protoplanetary disk, known as d203-506, which is located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-webb-crucial-carbon-molecule.html Astronomy Astrobiology Mon, 26 Jun 2023 13:02:03 EDT news607003321 How close can a rocky planet be to a star, and still sustain water and life? https://phys.org/news/2023-06-exoplanet-reveal-secrets-edge-habitability.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 21 Jun 2023 10:43:54 EDT news606562997 Using data from the Spitzer space observatory, Dr. Susana Iglesias-Groth, a researcher from The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has found evidence for the existence of the amino acid tryptophan in the interstellar material in a nearby star-forming region. The research is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-evidence-amino-acid-tryptophan-space.html Astronomy Astrobiology Tue, 20 Jun 2023 09:33:29 EDT news606472407 The best hope for finding life on another world isn't listening for coded messages or traveling to distant stars, it's detecting the chemical signs of life in exoplanet atmospheres. This long hoped-for achievement is often thought to be beyond our current observatories, but a new study argues that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) could pull it off. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-webb-telescope-powerful-variety-biosignatures.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 19 Jun 2023 13:02:52 EDT news606398569 In a new report now published in npj Microgravity, Zachary Estlack and a research team in mechanical engineering and space sciences at the University of Utah and the University of California, Berkeley, developed a microfluidic organic analyzer to detect life signatures beyond Earth and to clinically monitor astronaut health. The team performed extensive environmental tests across diverse gravitational atmospheres to confirm the functionality of the analyzer and its level of technology readiness. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-microfluidics-space-extraterrestrial-life-signatures.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Thu, 15 Jun 2023 11:30:01 EDT news606040770 Harvard University led research may have solved the puzzle of how life became molecularly right-handed. In the paper, "Origin of biological homochirality by crystallization of an RNA precursor on a magnetic surface," published in Science Advances, the researchers explain how it all might have started with the right kind of rocks. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-right-handed-blocks-life-rocky.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 15 Jun 2023 10:30:01 EDT news606040739 Scientists have taken a journey back in time to unlock the mysteries of Earth's early history, using tiny mineral crystals called zircons to study plate tectonics billions of years ago. The research sheds light on the conditions that existed in early Earth, revealing a complex interplay between Earth's crust, core, and the emergence of life. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-plate-tectonics-required-emergence-life.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:40:54 EDT news605965248 A team of astronomers from the University of Washington, the SETI Institute, Yale University and Smith College is searching the vicinity of a new supernova in the spiral arms of the Pinwheel Galaxy hoping to find a signal from an alien civilization. In their paper posted on the arXiv preprint server, the research team suggests that because of its brightness and proximity, if aliens live in the vicinity, they might use it as a signal to get our attention. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-nearby-supernova-aliens-attention.html Astronomy Astrobiology Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:37:35 EDT news605965050 The search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system just got more exciting. A team of scientists including Southwest Research Institute's Dr. Christopher Glein has discovered new evidence that the subsurface ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus contains a key building block for life. The team directly detected phosphorus in the form of phosphates originating from the moon's ice-covered global ocean using data from NASA's Cassini mission. Cassini explored Saturn and its system of rings and moons for over 13 years. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-key-block-life-saturn-moon.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 14 Jun 2023 11:55:49 EDT news605962545