Iron-rich rocks near ancient lake sites on Mars could hold vital clues that show life once existed there, research suggests. These rocks – which formed in lake beds – are […]
May 2018
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Habitability Classification of Exoplanets: A Machine Learning Insight
We explore the efficacy of machine learning (ML) in characterizing exoplanets into different classes. The source of the data used in this work is University of Puerto Rico’s Planetary Habitability […]
Posted inMars, Press Release
Miniature Chemistry Lab Will Look For Life On Mars
An international team of scientists has created a tiny chemistry lab for a rover that will drill beneath the Martian surface looking for signs of past or present life. The […]
Posted inImpact events, Press Release
When Dinosaurs Died So Did Forests And Tree-dwelling Birds
Sixty-six million years ago, the world burned. An asteroid crashed to Earth with a force one million times larger than the largest atomic bomb, causing the extinction of the dinosaurs. […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release
Ground-based optical transmission spectroscopy of the small, rocky exoplanet GJ 1132b
Terrestrial Solar System planets either have high mean molecular weight atmospheres, as with Venus, Mars, and Earth, or no atmosphere at all, as with Mercury. We do not have sufficient […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Organic Chemistry In A CO2 Rich Early Earth Atmosphere
The emergence of life on the Earth has required a prior organic chemistry leading to the formation of prebiotic molecules. The origin and the evolution of the organic matter on […]
Posted inMars, Press Release
Using Dorset UK as Model to Help Find Traces of Life on Mars
By studying a stream on the UK coast, experts have calculated how much organic matter we might find on Mars, and where to look. Imperial College London scientists have found […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
How Primordial Life On Earth Might Have Replicated Itself
Scientists have created a new type of genetic replication system which demonstrates how the first life on Earth – in the form of RNA – could have replicated itself. The […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Orbital Variations Can Trigger Snowball States In Habitable Zones Around Sunlike Stars
Aspects of an otherwise Earthlike planet’s tilt and orbital dynamics can severely affect its potential habitability — even triggering abrupt “snowball states” where oceans freeze and surface life is impossible, […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
Using Deep Space Climate Observatory Measurements to Study the Earth as An Exoplanet
Even though it was not designed as an exoplanetary research mission, the Deep Space Climate Observatory (DSCOVR) has been opportunistically used for a novel experiment, in which Earth serves as […]