Scientists at NASA’s Ames Research Center now have the capability to systematically investigate the molecular evolution of cosmic carbon. For the first time, these scientists are able to automatically interpret […]
Biosignatures
Posted inEuropa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
Instrument Concepts for Europa Exploration
The Instrument Concepts for Europa Exploration (ICEE) Program supports the advanced development of spacecraft-based instruments for Europa exploration. The goal of the program is to mature and reduce the technical […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Status Report
New Evidence Challenges Oldest Signs of Life
Ancient rocks are shedding new light on the timeline for life’s emergence on Earth. The rocks from the Nuvvuagittuq Supracrustal Belt in Quebec, Canada, are believed to be some of […]
Posted inArctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release
NASA Research Shows DNA Building Blocks Can Be Made in Space
NASA-funded researchers have found more evidence meteorites can carry DNA components created in space.
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Tricorders & Sensors
The Zöe Rover: Robotic Astrobiology Expedition Yields Significant Science Findings
A group of scientists announced today that they identified habitats and microbial life using a rover in Chile’s arid Atacama desert, one of the harshest environments on Earth, and that […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
What Is Life – and How Do We Search for It in Other Worlds?
I need a “tricorder”—the convenient, hand-held device featured on Star Trek that can detect life forms even from orbit. Unfortunately, we don’t have a clue how a tricorder might work, since life […]
![An artist’s depiction of our world when the Earthshine measurements were taken, enhanced to show the “red edge” from vegetation. A distant astronomer on another planet would see the spectral signatures of our oxygen atmosphere, water, and chlorophyll from land plants. [enlarge] Credit: John Walker’s “Earth Viewer,” Christine Lafon, (Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics).](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2002/10/Astronomers-Find-Life-on-Earth.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Astronomers Find Life On Earth
Now that the discovery of extrasolar planets, or planets around distant stars, has become relatively routine, scientists are now tackling the next step: finding life-bearing worlds. To do this, observers […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release
Discoveries about life on Earth inspire Beagle 2
The nineteenth century spirit of discovery is inspiring the effort to land the first probe on Mars in the twenty first century. Last week, as if to give the inspiration […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars
Arctic and Antarctic Analogs for Liquid Water on Mars
In June 2000 the world got another dose of Mars hysteria similar, but more limited in amplitude, to the attention that accompanied the ALH84001 Mars meteorite announcement in 1996. The […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Mars Once Had Salty Oceans – Just Like Earth
On the same day that NASA was announcing the apparent presence of liquid water near the surface of Mars, another research team announced that Mars once had salty oceans like […]