A handful of interstellar objects and long-period comets could have scooped up microorganisms from Earth and carried them to worlds around other stars.
life as we know it
Posted inFeatures
Three Times Tectonics Changed the Climate
Fifty years after the birth of modern plate tectonics theory, a group of researchers highlights three key examples of how our planet’s shape-shifting outer layer has altered our climate.
Posted inGeoFIZZ
Extreme Life and Where to Find It
Life finds a way in the most extreme environments on Earth and sparks the imagination about far-off places where we may yet find it.
Posted inNews
Microbes Spotted on Blades of Ice High in the Andes
Researchers discover microbial life on ice spires known as penitentes on the arid, sunlight-blasted upper reaches of Llullaillaco, one of the best earthly analogues for Mars.
Posted inNews
Newly Discovered Fossil Species Named After Star Wars Starship
The 500-million-year-old species is a distant relative of today’s crabs, spiders, and insects.
Posted inNews
Microbes Spotted in “Polyextreme” Hot Springs
Hot springs that are as acidic as battery acid are home to single-celled microorganisms that may indicate that life could have been sustained on ancient Mars.
Posted inNews
Marine Virus Survey Reveals Biodiversity Hot Spots
Ocean samples collected from around the world produced a twelvefold increase in the number of marine viruses known. A portion of the Arctic Ocean has “surprisingly high diversity.”
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Researchers Bring Early Martian Water Chemistry to Life
Lab experiments constrain conditions necessary for a key mineral to have formed in ancient lagoons and a crater lake.
Posted inNews
Modeling the Climates of Worlds Beyond Earth
Scientists are applying climate models to distant planets to determine their habitability.
Posted inScience Updates
In Search of Life Under the Seafloor
A multinational research team drilled into the seafloor to see whether chemical processes in exposed shallow mantle rocks could generate nutrients to support life in the subsurface.