life in the universe
What if we’re truly alone?
At least once, you’ve looked up at the night sky and asked the same longstanding question we’ve all asked at…
Will Triton finally answer, ‘Are we alone?’
We recently examined how and why Saturn’s icy moon, Enceladus, could answer the longstanding question: Are we alone? With its…
Searching for Life on Highly Eccentric Exoplanets
When we think about finding life beyond Earth, especially on exoplanets, we immediately want to search for the next Earth,…
Another Reason Red Dwarfs Might Be Bad for Life: No Asteroid Belts
In a recent study accepted to The Astrophysical Journal Letters, a team of researchers at the University of Nevada, Las…
Will Europa finally answer, ‘Are we alone?’
While NASA’s much-lauded Space Launch System stands ready for its maiden flight later this month with the goal of sending…
Mars Rovers Will Need to Dig Deeper If They Want to Find Evidence of Life
The search for life—even ancient life—on Mars is trickier than we thought. In a recent study published in the journal…
Life Could be Common Across the Universe, Just Not in Our Region
The building blocks of life can, and did, spontaneously assemble under the right conditions. That's called spontaneous generation, or abiogenesis.…
Galactic Panspermia: Interstellar Dust Could Transport Life from Star to Star
A new study by Arjun Berera, of the University of Edinburgh, has indicated that space dust may be a possible…
What Did Cassini Teach Us?
In just a few months, NASA's Cassini spacecraft is going to die, crashing into the planet Saturn. Let's look back…
Water-Trapped Worlds Possible Around Red Dwarf Stars?
Hunters of alien life may have a new and unsuspected niche to scout out. A recent paper submitted by Associate…