MIT researchers found that in extremely acidic conditions, such as those in Venus’ clouds, short peptides can remain stable and fold into shapes that may allow them to have biological functions. Credit: Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT; figures courtesy of the researchers

Study: Peptides Can Form Well-defined Structures In Harsh, Venus-like Conditions

by Keith CowingSeptember 1, 2026September 1, 2026

[MIT] When exploring solar system bodies for signs of past or present life, scientists have mainly focused on planets that have (or had) a liquid surface similar to Earth’s. However, […]

SpaceCHI 2026

by Keith CowingAugust 10, 2026

Space exploration is at the dawn of a new era. Major reductions in launch costs and the rise of the private space industry are rapidly democratizing access to space. Once […]

The planetary odd couple of a mini-Neptune and hot Jupiter probably formed out beyond its star’s “frostline,” in the colder region of the system’s early protoplanetary disk. Credit Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT

Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release

Astronomers Pin Down The Origins Of A Planetary Odd Couple

by Keith CowingMay 6, 2026May 6, 2026

Across the Milky Way galaxy, a planetary odd couple is circling a star some 190 light years from Earth. A normally “lonely” hot Jupiter is sharing space with a mini-Neptune, […]

The same gentle wind that would create small ripples on a lake in Earth (right) would make large waves on Saturn’s largest moon Titan (left). In these renderings, the marker is measured in meters. Credit Courtesy of Taylor Perron, Una Schneck, et al

Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Icy Worlds, Mars, Press Release, Titan, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Waves Hit Different On Other Planets

by Keith CowingApril 20, 2026April 20, 2026

On a calm day, a light breeze might barely ripple the surface of a lake on Earth. But on Saturn’s largest moon Titan, a similar mild wind would kick up […]

Lava-covered proto-Earth - Grok via Astrobiology.com

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Meteorites & Asteroids, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Geologists Discover The First Evidence of 4.5-billion-year-old “proto-Earth”

by Keith CowingOctober 15, 2025October 15, 2025

Scientists at MIT and elsewhere have discovered extremely rare remnants of “proto Earth,” which formed about 4.5 billion years ago, before a colossal collision irreversibly altered the primitive planet’s composition […]

This MODERN living glass sponge was spotted during a 2018 cruise. This photo reveals the bright colors and textures commonly associated with the living sponge, which is usually found in small patches. Credit: NOAA Fisheries, Marine Applied Research and Exploration.

Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

The First Animals On Earth May Have Been Sea Sponges, Study Suggests

by Keith CowingSeptember 30, 2025September 30, 2025

A team of MIT geochemists has unearthed new evidence in very old rocks suggesting that some of the first animals on Earth were likely ancestors of the modern sea sponge.

A disintegrating planet orbits a giant star. Credit Jose-Luis Olivares, MIT

Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Press Release

Rapidly Disintegrating Planet BD+054868Ab Produces A Comet-like Tail

by Keith CowingApril 22, 2025

MIT astronomers have discovered a planet some 140 light-years from Earth that is rapidly crumbling to pieces.

An artist’s illustration of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope revealing, in the infrared, a population of small main-belt asteroids. Credits: Image: Ella Maru and Julien de Wit

Astrogeology, Astronomy & Telescopes, Comets and Asteroids, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Extinction events, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, TRAPPIST-1

The Smallest Asteroids Ever Detected In The Main Belt

by Keith CowingDecember 11, 2024December 11, 2024

The asteroid that extinguished the dinosaurs is estimated to have been about 10 kilometers across. That’s about as wide as Brooklyn. Such a massive impactor is predicted to hit Earth […]

Caption: At left: Steel is seen to corrode into siderite (FeCO3) when immersed in subcritical liquid carbon dioxide (LCO2). At right: Samples of albite (a plagioclase feldspar) and a sandstone core are observed to form red rhodochrosite (MnCO3) when exposed to supercritical CO2 in the presence of a water solution with potassium chloride and manganese chloride, with particularly strong reaction near the interface of the two solutions. In both experiments, water saturation is provided by floating LCO2 on the water. Under the lower pressure conditions characteristic of early Mars, the water would float on the LCO2. Credits: Photos courtesy of Todd Schaef/PNNL (left) and Earl Mattson/Mattson Hydrology (right).

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Liquid On Mars Was Not Necessarily All Water

by Keith CowingDecember 7, 2024December 7, 2024

Dry river channels and lake beds on Mars point to the long-ago presence of a liquid on the planet’s surface, and the minerals observed from orbit and from landers seem […]