extremophiles
Plants Would Still Grow Well Under Alien Skies
Photosynthesis changed Earth in powerful ways. When photosynthetic organisms appeared, it led to the Great Oxygenation Event. That allowed multicellular…
How Oumuamua Changes Our Perspective on Galactic Panspermia
Panspermia is an innately attractive idea that's gained prominence in recent decades. Yet, among working scientists, it gets little attention.…
Toxic Perchlorate on Mars Could Make Life More Interesting
The search for life in the Universe has fascinated humans for centuries. Mars has of course been high on the…
Extremophiles: Why study them? What can they teach us about finding life beyond Earth?
Universe Today has conducted some incredible examinations regarding a plethora of scientific fields, including impact craters, planetary surfaces, exoplanets, astrobiology, solar physics, comets, planetary atmospheres, planetary geophysics, cosmochemistry,…
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…
Could Life Exist in Molecular Clouds?
Our search for life beyond Earth is still in its infancy. We're focused on Mars and, to a lesser extent,…
There’s a Vast Microbial Ecosystem Underneath the Crater that Wiped Out the Dinosaurs
How did life arise on Earth? How did it survive the Hadean eon, a time when repeated massive impacts excavated…
Seriously, Life Really Does Get Around. It was Found in Rocks Deep Beneath the Seafloor
After a lot of hard work spanning many years, a team of scientists have discovered something surprising. They've found abundant…
Nutrient-Poor and Energy-Starved. How Life Might Survive at the Extremes in the Solar System
Our growing understanding of extremophiles here on Earth has opened up new possibilities in astrobiology. Scientists are taking another look…
A Microorganism With a Taste for Meteorites Could Help us Understand the Formation of Life on Earth
A new study by a team astrobiologists shows how certain types of extreme bacteria thrive on meteors, which could reveal…