We only have one example of a planet with life: Earth. But within the next generation, it should become possible to detect signs of life on planets orbiting distant stars. […]
panspermia
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets, Panspermia, Press Release
Statistical Signatures of Panspermia in Exoplanet Surveys
A fundamental astrobiological question is whether life arose spontaneously on earth or was transported here from an extrasolar system. We propose a new strategy to answer this question based on […]
Posted inPanspermia, Planetary Protection & Biosafety
Could Life Hitch a Ride to Saturn and Jupiter?
A new study supported by the NASA Astrobiology Institute suggests that the possibility of life being transferred from the inner solar system to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, although […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Meteorites & Asteroids, Panspermia
Nature's Starships: Observed Abundances and Relative Frequencies of Amino Acids in Meteorites
The class of meteorites called carbonaceous chondrites are examples of material from the solar system which have been relatively unchanged from the time of their initial formation. These meteorites have […]
Posted inIcy Worlds, Panspermia
Life Could Have Hitched a Ride to Outer Planet Moons
Life on Earth or Mars could have been brought to the moons of Jupiter or Saturn on rocks blasted off those planets, researchers say. These findings suggest if scientists ever […]
Posted inIcy Worlds, Panspermia
Seeding Life on the Moons of the Outer Planets via Lithopanspermia
Material from the surface of a planet can be ejected into space by a large impact, and could carry primitive life forms with it. We performed n-body simulations of such […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life, Panspermia, Planetary Protection & Biosafety
Could Life Have Survived a Fall to Earth?
It sounds like science fiction, but the theory of panspermia, in which life can naturally transfer between planets, is considered a serious hypothesis by planetary scientists. The suggestion that life […]