The subsurface ocean of Saturn’s moon Enceladus probably has higher than previously known concentrations of carbon dioxide and hydrogen and a more Earthlike pH level, possibly providing conditions favorable to […]
University of Washington
Posted inPress Release, TRAPPIST-1
New Climate Models of TRAPPIST-1's Seven Intriguing Worlds
Not all stars are like the Sun, so not all planetary systems can be studied with the same expectations. New research from a University of Washington-led team of astronomers gives […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Oxygen Levels on Early Earth Rose And Fell Several Times
Earth’s oxygen levels rose and fell more than once hundreds of millions of years before the planetwide success of the Great Oxidation Event about 2.4 billion years ago, new research […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Orbital Variations Can Trigger Snowball States In Habitable Zones Around Sunlike Stars
Aspects of an otherwise Earthlike planet’s tilt and orbital dynamics can severely affect its potential habitability — even triggering abrupt “snowball states” where oceans freeze and surface life is impossible, […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Earth's Stable Temperature Past Suggests Other Planets Could Also Sustain Life
Theories about the early days of our planet’s history vary wildly. Some studies have painted the picture of a snowball Earth, when much of its surface was frozen. Other theories […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
A New Atmospheric Disequilibrium Could Help Detect Life on Other Planets
As NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope and other new giant telescopes come online they will need novel strategies to look for evidence of life on other planets. A University of […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release
Limited Phosphorus Recycling Can Suppress a Planet’s Biosphere
The amount of biomass — life — in Earth’s ancient oceans may have been limited due to low recycling of the key nutrient phosphorus, according to new research by the […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release
Earth As A Hybrid Planet: The Anthropocene Era in Astrobiological Context
For decades, as astronomers have imagined advanced extraterrestrial civilizations, they categorized such worlds by the amount of energy their inhabitants might conceivably be able to harness and use. They sorted […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Did Life Start More Than Once on Earth?
Conditions suitable to support complex life may have developed in Earth’s oceans — and then faded — more than a billion years before life truly took hold, a new University […]
Posted inHabitable Zones, Press Release, Proxima Centauri
Could Proxima Centauri b Really Be Habitable?
The world’s attention is now on Proxima Centauri b, a possibly Earth-like planet orbiting the closest star, 4.22 light-years away. The planet’s orbit is just right to allow liquid water […]