Earth’s global magnetic field likely dates back billions of years and is a barrier against cosmic radiation. What roles has it played in the planet’s biosphere?
life as we know it
An Ice Probe on Earth Could Help Us Find Life in Space
An instrument called WATSON can help find biosignatures on icy ocean worlds.
Exoplanet Earth: An Ultimate Selfie to Find Habitable Worlds
Aliens spying on us from afar is a common science fiction trope. Soon we might know what E.T. would see through a telescope. And that information could help identify other Earth-like planets.
¿Podría la Vida Estar Flotando en las Nubes de Venus?
Si están presentes, los microbios podrían explicar patrones de evolución en la atmósfera planetaria de Venus, al observarse con luz ultravioleta.
Life Teems Below the Surface
Scientists are resolving how plants, microbes, and lithology sculpt the structure of the critical zone.
Critical Zone Science Comes of Age
The developing field, which unites Earth scientists to examine the planet’s surface as a single, unified entity, is unraveling the complex, interconnected processes that support life on Earth.
Curiosity Solves the Mystery of Gale Crater’s Hematite Ridge
A new special issue of JGR: Planets details the water-rich history of a distinctive geomorphic feature on Mars dubbed Vera Rubin ridge, as investigated by the Curiosity rover.
Mars 2020 Team Using Australian Rocks in Search for Life on Mars
Scientists are investigating evidence of ancient terrestrial microbes preserved in Australia as well as mineral maps derived from Mars orbiter data to shed light on how to search for life on Mars.
Chicxulub Impact Crater Hosted a Long-Lived Hydrothermal System
Chemical and mineralogical evidence of fluid flow—potentially conducive to microscopic life—was revealed in rock cores extracted from the crater’s “peak ring.”
How Long Was Venus Habitable?
Climate simulations of Venus’s history could provide insights into the habitability of Earth and of exoplanets.
