Thousands of exoplanets orbit nearby stars, showcasing a remarkable diversity in mass, size and orbits.
Searching for signs of life is a primary goal of the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO). However, merely detecting oxygen, methane, or other widely discussed biosignatures is insufficient evidence for a […]
Today, at the Living Planet Symposium, ESA revealed the first stunning images from its groundbreaking Biomass satellite mission – marking a major leap forward in our ability to understand how […]
If you’re an animal living through a mass extinction, it’s best to be one that’s found a unique way to make a living.
![Odds ratio of the hypotheses that abiogenesis is a fast vs slow process. Each curve represents the odds ratio, computed using Equation 1, as a function of the biosphere’s ultimate lifespan, T - although we have subtracted off the modern epoch to yield remaining time on the x-axis. Previous estimates [1, 8] for the earliest evidence of life yield the dotted and dashed lines, but the new LUCA date of 4.2 Gya [10] greatly improves the odds factor. Indeed, the three solid lines show how the odds are always above 10:1 irrespective of how one chooses T or indeed fairly extreme choices (Carboniferious and Cambrian period) for the earliest civilization on Earth, t ′ I - evident by the circles which denote the minima. -- astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/Strong-Evidence-That-Abiogenesis.png?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
The early start to life naively suggests that abiogenesis is a rapid process on Earth-like planets. However, if evolution typically takes ~4Gyr to produce intelligent life-forms like us, then the […]
Titan, Saturn’s largest moon, is a strange, alien world. Covered in rivers and lakes of liquid methane, icy boulders and dunes of soot-like “sand,” its topography has long fascinated scientists […]
This chapter explores the key carbon compounds that shaped the Archean biogeochemical cycle, delineating their substantial impact on Earth’s primordial atmospheric and biospheric evolution.
Without plants on land, humans could not live on Earth. From mosses to ferns to grasses to trees, plants are our food, fodder and timber. All this diversity emerged from […]
![Comparison of Venus and Earth atmospheric profiles (left) and depth-equivalent Earth altitude versus Venus altitude (right). Data of Venus atmosphere taken from [21]; Earth atmosphere represented with Linsley’s model [17, 22]. The vertical green dashed lines at the left panel indicate the extremes of the “Habitable Zone” (HZ) of reference [23] (venusian altitudes in the range 42.8 km to 62.2 km). -- astro-ph.EP](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/The-Venusian-Chronicles.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Venus’ atmosphere — specifically its clouds buoyed up 40 to 60 km above the surface — has long been suspected to encompass a biosphere where Earth-like living organisms could grow […]
Underlying the thick sediment layer in ocean basins, the flow of seawater through the cracked and porous upper igneous crust supports a previously hidden and largely unexplored active subsurface microbial […]
