Yale astronomers have taken a fresh look at the nearby Alpha Centauri star system and found new ways to narrow the search for habitable planets there. According to a study […]
2017
Posted inMicrobiology & Virology, Press Release
How Do Bacteria Adapt?
A fundamental prerequisite for life on earth is the ability of living organisms to adapt to changing environmental conditions. Physicists at the Technical University of Munich and the University of […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release, SETI & Technosignatures
Breakthrough Listen Releases Initial Results and Data from Observations of ‘Oumuamua
No evidence of artificial signals emanating from the object so far detected by the Green Bank Telescope, but monitoring and analysis continue. Initial data are available for public inspection in […]
Posted inMicrobiology & Virology, Press Release
Every Grain Of Sand Is A Metropolis for Bacteria
Just imagine, you are sitting on a sunny beach, contentedly letting the warm sand trickle through your fingers. Millions of sand grains. What you probably can’t imagine: at the same […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Mars, Press Release
MAVEN Mission Sheds Light on Habitability of Extrasolar Planets
How long might a rocky, Mars-like planet be habitable if it were orbiting a red dwarf star? It’s a complex question but one that NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Press Release
Chandra Reveals the Elemental Nature of Cassiopeia A
Where do most of the elements essential for life on Earth come from? The answer: inside the furnaces of stars and the explosions that mark the end of some stars’ […]
Posted inPress Release, Titan
Atmospheric Circulation, Chemistry, and Infrared Spectra of Titan-like Exoplanets Around Different Stellar Types
With the discovery of ever smaller and colder exoplanets, terrestrial worlds with hazy atmospheres must be increasingly considered. Our Solar System’s Titan is a prototypical hazy planet, whose atmosphere may […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
Life's Building Blocks Observed in Spacelike Environment – Did life originate in space?
Where do the molecules required for life originate? It may be that small organic molecules first appeared on earth and were later combined into larger molecules, such as proteins and […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Press Release
Carbon Cycling and Habitability of Earth-size Stagnant Lid Planets
Models of thermal evolution, crustal production, and CO2 cycling are used to constrain the prospects for habitability of rocky planets, with Earth-like size and composition, in the stagnant lid regime. […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Press Release
Chemical Modeling for Predicting the Abundances of Certain Aldimines and Amines in Hot Cores
We consider six isomeric groups (CH3N, CH5N, C2H5N, C2H7N, C3H7N and C3H9N) to review the presence of amines and aldimines within the interstellar medium (ISM). Each of these groups contains […]