Astrobiology
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Bennu Asteroid Sample Reveals Organic Compounds That May Hint at Life Beyond Earth
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has delivered a sample from asteroid Bennu, revealing amino acids, nucleobases, ammonia, and minerals formed in saltwater. These organic compounds, vital to life, suggest that the building blocks for life might have existed in other regions of the early solar system. The discovery of evaporite minerals, including halite ...
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Organic Molecules in Space: A Key to Understanding Life's Cosmic Origins
Organic molecules, the building blocks of life, have been discovered across space—from interstellar clouds to asteroids and comets. Findings from missions like Rosetta, Hayabusa2, and Osiris-Rex reveal that these compounds existed long before the Sun formed. Scientists believe organic molecules survived planetary formation in protoplanetary disks...
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Astrobiologists Create Framework to Study Extraterrestrial Life Evolution
Astrobiologists are redefining the search for extraterrestrial life, focusing on evolution and complexity in physical systems. Methods include spectroscopy for detecting chemical signatures and frameworks exploring non-Earth biochemistry. Researchers are also investigating technosignatures and minerals linked to biological processes. A universal un...
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Cosmic Rays Could Erase Signs of Life on Mars, Study Reveals
A new study highlights how cosmic radiation is destroying signs of ancient life on Mars. Organic materials like lipids degrade quickly under radiation, especially in salt-rich environments. Scientists suggest future Mars exploration should focus on deeper drilling, such as ESA's upcoming Rosalind Franklin Rover mission, to avoid surface radiation e...
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NASA’s Viking Mission May Have Destroyed Martian Life with Water Experiments
In 1975, NASA’s Viking mission tested Martian soil for microbial life using liquid water. A recent theory suggests this approach may have destroyed microbes adapted to Mars' dry, salt-driven conditions. Astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch proposes revisiting our assumptions about life on Mars and prioritising methods suited to its hyperarid enviro...
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NASA's Study Suggests Life Could Thrive Beneath Ice in Mars
NASA's latest study proposes that meltwater beneath Mars' icy surface could sustain microbial life. Researchers utilised advanced computer modelling to demonstrate that sunlight can penetrate water ice enough to allow photosynthesis in shallow meltwater pools. These pools, which may form in the Martian tropics, could provide a protective environmen...
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NASA's Europa Clipper Launches to Explore Life Possibilities on Icy Moon Europa
NASA's Europa Clipper mission is set to launch soon, aiming to explore the icy moon Europa's potential for life. By examining the ocean beneath its ice shell, the spacecraft will gather data on the moon's surface materials and atmospheric conditions. With advanced instruments, the mission seeks to identify organic compounds, analyze gas and dust pa...
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Asteroids Could Be Used To Prepare Meals For Future Astronauts: Study
. A study published in The International Journal of Astrobiology suggests that astronauts could use asteroids to meet their nutritional needs.
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Rocky Exoplanets May Be Holding Water in Deep Molten Iron Cores, Reveals Research
Recent research has shifted our understanding of water distribution on rocky exoplanets. The study reveals that up to 95 percent of a planet’s water could be sequestered deep within its molten iron core, challenging previous assumptions about water-rich worlds. This finding raises the possibility that much more water is hidden within the planet, ...
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Life May Exist Beneath The Salt Glaciers On Mercury's Surface: Report
Scientists from the Planetary Science Institute (PSI) have uncovered evidence of potential salt glaciers on Mercury.
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Interstellar Travel May Be Possible Without Spaceships in Future, Here's How
A new research paper published in the International Journal of Astrobiology says that extra-terrestrial civilisations may not need spaceships to travel to another star system. Extra-terrestrial and alien civilisations could employ free-floating planets as interstellar transportation to visit, explore, and colonise planetary systems. These free-floa...
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Astronomers Find Likely Source Of "Wow Signal" Received In 1977
Fifty years since a mysterious radio signal was received by a radio telescope on Earth, astronomers have claimed that they have found its source.
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Do Aliens Exist? Here’s What a NASA Scientist Has to Say About It
In a video on NASA's Instagram page, Dr. Lindsay Hays, an astrobiology expert, says this is a really interesting question — one that scientists have been trying to understand and explore for a really long time. Still, they have not been able to discover life on any other planet.
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NASA Mars Rover Perseverance Makes Historic Landing, to Look for Signs of Ancient Microbial Life
NASA's Mars rover Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology lab ever sent to another world, streaked through the Martian atmosphere on Thursday and landed safely inside a vast crater, the first stop on a search for traces of ancient microbial life on the Red Planet.
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NASA Perseverance Rover Faces 'Seven Minutes of Terror' Before Landing on Mars
When NASA's Mars rover Perseverance, a robotic astrobiology lab packed inside a space capsule, hits the final stretch of its seven-month journey from Earth this week, it is set to emit a radio alert as it streaks into the thin Martian atmosphere.
-
Bennu Asteroid Sample Reveals Organic Compounds That May Hint at Life Beyond Earth
NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission has delivered a sample from asteroid Bennu, revealing amino acids, nucleobases, ammonia, and minerals formed in saltwater. These organic compounds, vital to life, suggest that the building blocks for life might have existed in other regions of the early solar system. The discovery of evaporite minerals, including halite ...
-
Organic Molecules in Space: A Key to Understanding Life's Cosmic Origins
Organic molecules, the building blocks of life, have been discovered across space—from interstellar clouds to asteroids and comets. Findings from missions like Rosetta, Hayabusa2, and Osiris-Rex reveal that these compounds existed long before the Sun formed. Scientists believe organic molecules survived planetary formation in protoplanetary disks...
-
Astrobiologists Create Framework to Study Extraterrestrial Life Evolution
Astrobiologists are redefining the search for extraterrestrial life, focusing on evolution and complexity in physical systems. Methods include spectroscopy for detecting chemical signatures and frameworks exploring non-Earth biochemistry. Researchers are also investigating technosignatures and minerals linked to biological processes. A universal un...
-
Cosmic Rays Could Erase Signs of Life on Mars, Study Reveals
A new study highlights how cosmic radiation is destroying signs of ancient life on Mars. Organic materials like lipids degrade quickly under radiation, especially in salt-rich environments. Scientists suggest future Mars exploration should focus on deeper drilling, such as ESA's upcoming Rosalind Franklin Rover mission, to avoid surface radiation e...
-
NASA’s Viking Mission May Have Destroyed Martian Life with Water Experiments
In 1975, NASA’s Viking mission tested Martian soil for microbial life using liquid water. A recent theory suggests this approach may have destroyed microbes adapted to Mars' dry, salt-driven conditions. Astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch proposes revisiting our assumptions about life on Mars and prioritising methods suited to its hyperarid enviro...
-
NASA's Study Suggests Life Could Thrive Beneath Ice in Mars
NASA's latest study proposes that meltwater beneath Mars' icy surface could sustain microbial life. Researchers utilised advanced computer modelling to demonstrate that sunlight can penetrate water ice enough to allow photosynthesis in shallow meltwater pools. These pools, which may form in the Martian tropics, could provide a protective environmen...
-
NASA's Europa Clipper Launches to Explore Life Possibilities on Icy Moon Europa
NASA's Europa Clipper mission is set to launch soon, aiming to explore the icy moon Europa's potential for life. By examining the ocean beneath its ice shell, the spacecraft will gather data on the moon's surface materials and atmospheric conditions. With advanced instruments, the mission seeks to identify organic compounds, analyze gas and dust pa...
-
Asteroids Could Be Used To Prepare Meals For Future Astronauts: Study
. A study published in The International Journal of Astrobiology suggests that astronauts could use asteroids to meet their nutritional needs.
-
Rocky Exoplanets May Be Holding Water in Deep Molten Iron Cores, Reveals Research
Recent research has shifted our understanding of water distribution on rocky exoplanets. The study reveals that up to 95 percent of a planet’s water could be sequestered deep within its molten iron core, challenging previous assumptions about water-rich worlds. This finding raises the possibility that much more water is hidden within the planet, ...
-
Life May Exist Beneath The Salt Glaciers On Mercury's Surface: Report
Scientists from the Planetary Science Institute (PSI) have uncovered evidence of potential salt glaciers on Mercury.
-
Interstellar Travel May Be Possible Without Spaceships in Future, Here's How
A new research paper published in the International Journal of Astrobiology says that extra-terrestrial civilisations may not need spaceships to travel to another star system. Extra-terrestrial and alien civilisations could employ free-floating planets as interstellar transportation to visit, explore, and colonise planetary systems. These free-floa...
-
Astronomers Find Likely Source Of "Wow Signal" Received In 1977
Fifty years since a mysterious radio signal was received by a radio telescope on Earth, astronomers have claimed that they have found its source.
-
Do Aliens Exist? Here’s What a NASA Scientist Has to Say About It
In a video on NASA's Instagram page, Dr. Lindsay Hays, an astrobiology expert, says this is a really interesting question — one that scientists have been trying to understand and explore for a really long time. Still, they have not been able to discover life on any other planet.
-
NASA Mars Rover Perseverance Makes Historic Landing, to Look for Signs of Ancient Microbial Life
NASA's Mars rover Perseverance, the most advanced astrobiology lab ever sent to another world, streaked through the Martian atmosphere on Thursday and landed safely inside a vast crater, the first stop on a search for traces of ancient microbial life on the Red Planet.
-
NASA Perseverance Rover Faces 'Seven Minutes of Terror' Before Landing on Mars
When NASA's Mars rover Perseverance, a robotic astrobiology lab packed inside a space capsule, hits the final stretch of its seven-month journey from Earth this week, it is set to emit a radio alert as it streaks into the thin Martian atmosphere.
