Curiosity’s detection of the gas, if atmospheric, could be an indicator of life on the Red Planet. But skeptics say further work is needed to rule out the rover itself as the source of the methane.
spectroscopy
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A 30,000-Year-Old Feather Is a First-of-Its-Kind Fossil
A new analysis of a fossil found in 1889 has unveiled the presence of zeolites—and an entirely new mineralization method.
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Asteroid Samples Suggest a Solar System of Ancient, Salty Incubators
The discovery of salty mineral evaporites on Ryugu indicates that watery environments may have been widespread in the early solar system.
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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.
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First 3D Map of Exoplanet Weather Reveals Superfast Jet
New observations also answer a long-standing question about where this ultrahot planet keeps its titanium.
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Tropical Congestus Clouds Explained by Water Vapor Spectroscopy
A new study demonstrates how the abundance of congestus clouds in the tropics can be explained by the water molecule’s discerning appetite for infrared radiation.
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Scientists Finally Get a Good Look at a Disintegrating Exoplanet
The James Webb Space Telescope offers astronomers a rare glimpse into the chemical composition of a rocky planet’s interior—and the results are “very surprising.”
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Each Glacier Has a Unique Organic Matter Composition
Like snowflakes, no two glaciers are alike: Carbon-containing compounds released from glaciers vary from place to place, meaning climate and ecosystem effects of melting could vary as well.
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Sensing Remote Realms of the Deep Ocean on Earth—and Beyond
A novel laser-equipped probe is collecting measurements of deep-sea geochemical environments that once seemed impossible to gather, pointing the way toward future explorations of other ocean worlds.
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Smells Like an Exoplanet
Hydrogen sulfide, spotted in the atmosphere of the exoplanet HD 189733 b, helps constrain how the planet formed.