The discovery of salty mineral evaporites on Ryugu indicates that watery environments may have been widespread in the early solar system.
life as we know it
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Using Algorithms to Help Find Life on Icy Ocean Worlds
Scientists could use machine learning to analyze atmospheric samples in order to help identify microbes on frozen moons. They’re testing the concept using bottles of brine and smelly bacteria.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Ceres’s Organics Might Not Be Homegrown After All
Scientists have been unable to determine whether the dwarf planet’s organics were produced by its own chemical processes or delivered by asteroids. New evidence implicates asteroids.
Posted inNews
Life’s Building Blocks Found in Bennu Samples
The discovery of amino acids, abundant ammonia, and the bases of DNA and RNA on asteroid Bennu suggest that materials essential to life might be widespread throughout the solar system.
Posted inAGU News
A Planetary Perturbation Like No Other
Scientists are tackling “the most profound questions about life itself” with complex computer modeling, billion-year-old bacteria, and old-fashioned fieldwork.
Posted inNews
Arctic Hydrothermal Vents May Resemble Those on Enceladus
By studying hydrogen-rich vent sites on Earth, scientists could learn more about the hidden ocean of Saturn’s icy moon—one of our solar system’s likeliest candidates for harboring life beyond Earth.
Posted inNews
Planetary Perturbations May Strengthen Gaia
Large-scale disruptions to life may ultimately increase ecological complexity over geologic timescales, though the risk of extinction always looms.
Posted inNews
Bacteria Battled for Iron in Earth’s Early Oceans
Billions of years ago, iron-oxidizing microbes may have competed for dissolved iron in the ocean, with some strains producing toxic gases that smothered their rivals.
Posted inNews
Clipper Sets Sail for an Ocean Millions of Miles Away
Europa Clipper will assess whether Jupiter’s moon has the right ingredients to host life, and could illuminate the mysteries of icy worlds throughout the solar system.
Posted inNews
Small Stars Produce Mighty UV Flares
Stronger-than-expected ultraviolet flares could either provide exoplanets the sparks of life or prevent them from having life at all.