Life
What Can Europa’s Surface Tell Us About the Thickness of Its Ice?
You can tell a lot about a planetary body just by looking at its surface, especially if it has craters.…
Could Earth Life Survive on a Red Dwarf Planet?
Even though exoplanet science has advanced significantly in the last decade or two, we're still in an unfortunate situation. Scientists…
Cyborg Jellyfish Could Help Explore Oceans Autonomously
Earth's oceans are—like space—a largely unexplored frontier. Relatively few humans have explored either place, using specialized life-support equipment. Unlike space,…
Juno Measures How Much Oxygen is Being Produced by Europa
If the periodic table listed the elements in order of their importance to life, then oxygen might bully its way…
Cosmic Dust Could Have Helped Get Life Going on Earth
The early Earth didn't have many chemicals needed for life on its surface, but they were present in asteroids and…
Dying Stars Could Have Completely New Habitable Zones
Aging stars that become red giants increase their luminosity and can wreak havoc on planets that were once in the…
Cosmic Dust Could Spread Life from World to World Across the Galaxy
Does life appear independently on different planets in the galaxy? Or does it spread from world to world? Or does…
Could We Live Without Kilonovae?
It’s a classic statement shared at many public outreach events…’we are made of stardust’. It is true enough that the…
The Seeming Impossibility of Life
The number of near misses, false starts, and legitimate disasters that have befallen our species since the day we took…
The Improbable Origins of Life on Earth
We do not yet know how, where, or why life first appeared on our planet. Part of the difficulty is…