[ESA]. Scientists using the European Space Agency’s Mars Express, in combination with a state-of-the-art meteorological model of the Red Planet, have found that there may be some very exotic physics […]
Desert Worlds
Posted inMars
European Rover Trains For Mars In The Desert
[ESA] The exercise was an important rehearsal for what the ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover might encounter when it lands on the Red Planet in 2030. It brought together a rover […]
Posted inTricorders & Sensors
Tricorder Tech: An Electrical Technique For Identifying Signs Of Life In Space
[The University of Osaka] The truth is out there – but identifying signs of life in space involves an intense search for biosignatures within our solar system and beyond. However, […]
![Observation and modeling of the Arsia Mons Elongated Cloud (AMEC). (A) Observation by the Mars Express VMC imager41,42, at 8.5 a.m. Local Time. (B) Reference simulation assuming only heterogeneous nucleation, at 8.1 a.m. Local Time. (C) Same as B, but with homogeneous nucleation added. See also supplementary video S1.-- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Homogeneous.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inMars
Homogeneous Nucleation of Water Vapor Evidenced by Elongated Clouds on Mars
[astro-ph.EP] It is widely accepted that water vapor forms clouds by heterogeneous nucleation (condensation on pre-existing dry nuclei).
Posted inMars
Sulfate Deposits On Iani Chaos On Mars
[NASA/JPL-Caltech/UArizona] This HiRISE image shows light-toned layered deposits within Iani Chaos. Many of the same deposits occur within the depressions of Iani Chaos, as well as several nearby similar regions […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
How A Desert Alga Helps Us Understand Plants’ Adaptability To Extreme Environmental Conditions
[Rheinland-Pfälzische Technische Universität Kaiserslautern-Landau] A single-celled green alga from the sand dunes of the Negev Desert has, within just a few years, become a key model organism in modern photosynthesis […]
Posted inMars
The North Pole Of Mars Is Less Dusty Than Scientists Thought
[University of Washington] Although Mars may have once resembled Earth, the rocky red planet now appears far from hospitable. Still, certain details — such as ice-bound water — pique researchers’ […]
Posted inMars
Study Finds An Ancient History Of Water On Mars That Shifted Over Time
[Purdue University] From orbit, a carbonate-rich band of rock along the inside edge of Mars’ Jezero Crater looked like it might be the remains of an ancient lakeshore. Then NASA’s […]
Posted inMars
Complex Water Systems Revealed On Early Mars
[NASA] A new study reveals that Jezero Crater’s enigmatic ‘Margin Unit’ was shaped by a complex sequence of ancient lakes, groundwater systems, and hydrothermal fluids.
Posted inMars
Landforms In Ares Vallis Carved Out By Ancient Water Flow
[NASA]. Ares Vallis is a large valley that was carved billions of years ago by water flowing across the surface of Mars.