Chemistry
Carbon-12 is an Essential Building Block for Life and Scientists Have Finally Figured Out How it Forms in Stars
Artist's impression of a red giant star. Their cores are cauldrons where carbon-12 is produced. Credit:NASA/ Walt Feimer Each of…
Astronomers Find a Star That Contains 65 Different Elements
Have you ever held a chunk of gold in your hand? Not a little piece of jewelry, but an ounce…
Hydrogen Gas Can Seep Through Rock Providing Food to Bacteria. Another Place to Look for Life On Other Worlds.
Spin Google Earth around until you're looking down at the nation of Oman. Ancient rock in that country is the…
Europa Could be Pulling Oxygen Down Below the Ice to Feed Life
Jupiter's moon Europa is a prime candidate in the search for life. The frozen moon has a subsurface ocean, and…
Even More Complex Organic Molecules Have Been Found in a Protoplanetary Disc. Was Life Inevitable?
Will we ever understand life's origins? Will we ever be able to put our finger on the exact moment and…
What’s it Like Inside a Super-Earth?
We know a ton about the inside of Earth. We know it has both an inner core and an outer…
Need Some More Ytterbium? Who Doesn’t? Here’s Where you can Find it in Space
Looking to do some mining in space? Need a little Ytterbium on your next flight through the galaxy? Researchers have…
One of Life’s Building Blocks can Form in Space
Peptides are one of the smallest biomolecules and are one of life's critical building blocks. New research shows that they…
Water was Already Here Before the Earth Formed
Where did Earth's water come from? That's one of the most compelling questions in the ongoing effort to understand life's…
Curiosity Sees a Strong Carbon Signature in a Bed of Rocks
Carbon is critical to life, as far as we know. So anytime we detect a strong carbon signature somewhere like…