Someday, a catalog of molecular fragments might help scientists identify extraterrestrial life on our solar system’s icy moons.
life as we know it
Posted inNews
Chance the Hacker: How Earth Stayed Habitable
New analysis indicates that planetary feedbacks alone don’t make habitability an inevitability.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
The Cosmic Timeline of Heliophysics
Thom Moore began his career after the start of the space age. This is the story of how he converted his interests in evolution, philosophy, and psychology and writing into the study of heliophysics.
Posted inScience Updates
Habitability and the Evolution of Life Under Our Magnetic Shield
Earth’s global magnetic field likely dates back billions of years and is a barrier against cosmic radiation. What roles has it played in the planet’s biosphere?
Posted inNews
An Ice Probe on Earth Could Help Us Find Life in Space
An instrument called WATSON can help find biosignatures on icy ocean worlds.
Posted inScience Updates
Life Teems Below the Surface
Scientists are resolving how plants, microbes, and lithology sculpt the structure of the critical zone.
Posted inFeatures
Mars 2020 Team Using Australian Rocks in Search for Life on Mars
Scientists are investigating evidence of ancient terrestrial microbes preserved in Australia as well as mineral maps derived from Mars orbiter data to shed light on how to search for life on Mars.
Posted inNews
Chicxulub Impact Crater Hosted a Long-Lived Hydrothermal System
Chemical and mineralogical evidence of fluid flow—potentially conducive to microscopic life—was revealed in rock cores extracted from the crater’s “peak ring.”
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Long Was Venus Habitable?
Climate simulations of Venus’s history could provide insights into the habitability of Earth and of exoplanets.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
The Freshest Mineral Water in the Solar System
The water-rich plumes erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus show the chemical signs of water-rock interactions deep within the moon, further implicating Enceladus as a potential habitat for life.