The search for life in the universe
A new study reveals that Jezero Craterâs enigmatic âMargin Unitâ was shaped by a complex sequence of ancient lakes, groundwater systems, and hydrothermal fluids.
Scientists have known for a while that meteorites contain the âbuilding blocksâ of life - complex organic molecules such as amino acids, simple sugars, or even the chemical rungs of DNA. But anyone who has taken an organic chemistry class knows there are plenty of other carbon-based molecules out there, and a new study from Joseph W. Frye-Jones of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory and Florida State, which was published in The Planetary Science Journal, found tens of thousands of types of previously unseen organic compounds in two of the worldâs most famous meteorites.
Most of our experience with the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) has been focused on capturing radio signals that alien species have sent out, whether intentionally or unintentionally. That creates a huge âsynchronicityâ problem - what if there arenât any alien civilizations broadcasting radio signals now, but there were a billion years ago? The Milky Way is around 13 billion years old - hoping that we exist at the same time as an alien civilization that happens to be actively messaging is a huge leap of faith. But, according to a new paper available in pre-print on arXiv and submitted to the International Journal of Astrobiology by Lewis J Pinault, as associated researcher at the SETI Institute, and his co-authors, we could take a completely alternative approach to trying to find alien civilizations - by looking for evidence of them in lunar dirt.
Astronomers have long searched for Dyson spheres as a sign of advanced alien civilizations. But if an alien civilization is dependent on advanced computing, we may be better served by looking for a Slysh halo.
Weâve been searching for life on Mars for a long time now, but so far weâve come up empty. The fundamental problem is a Catch-22 of two of the key ingredients for life. Life as we know it needs liquid water and reasonable temperatures, both of which are available on Mars, but hardly ever at the same time. But a new paper from lead author Anna Bognar and her team at ELTE Eötvös LorĂĄnd University and the Konkoly Observatory describes a way for life to have access to both requirements at the same time - by hiding away in salt crystals.
The planet Venus is arguably the most mischievous planetary body in the solar system. This is because like Saturnâs largest moon, Titan, Venus is shrouded in a thick atmosphere that canât be viewed with optical telescopes and require radar images to see the surface. Unlike Titan, whose atmosphere looks quite dull, Venusâs swirling and awe-inspiring clouds give observers the impression that its surface is covered in wonderous features. However, the truth is far from ideal, as Venusâs surface is a living hell with searing temperatures and crushing pressures. But, unlike its surface and Titan, Venusâs atmosphere provides many more ideal conditions, even Earth-like conditions. But while life would be hard to exist on its surface, could we find life in the atmospheric clouds of Venus?
As any amateur astronomer can tell you, Venus is famous for its yellow coloration in visible light. But, ask a professional planetary scientist and they will tell you the strangest thing about Venus is how it appears in ultraviolet. In this spectrum, stark, high-contrast streaks are splattered across the planetâs cloud cover, and rotate on its four-day atmospheric rotation period. For over 100 years, scientists have wondered what could be causing those patterns, referring to an unknown âUV absorberâ. A new paper, published in Astrobiology from Jan Spacek and an international team of researchers, hopes to answer that long-standing question by answering a simpler one - if you scooped Venusâ clouds into a test tube, how dark would they be?
Nitrous oxide (otherwise known as laughing gas) is likely a key atmospheric component of life in the cosmos.
A Tokyo-based astrobiologist is using an ingenious new way to garner insight into Earthâs 3.5-billion-year-old biosphere.
The search for extrasolar rocky planets circling other stars is more than mere science. It offers researchers a chance to gain crucial insight into how our own planet functions.
One of the challenges of searching for âtechnosignaturesâ (i.e. signs that intelligent life somewhere in the universe has created technology) is understanding what to look for. Technology is a very broad area, and different types would show up as different features. One of the most commonly cited is a Dyson sphere, which attempts to encapsulate a star and capture itâs outgoing light to produce energy. But while weâve looked for the mid-infrared waste heat these structures would produce for decades, we havenât found a definitive instance of one. According to a new paper, available in pre-print on arXiv by Turkish high school student Sahin Torlakcik, that might be because we are looking for the wrong type of energy all together.
Searching for extraterrestrial intelligence has so far meant primarily focusing on one particular type of signal - and that signal has normally been based on what our own current cutting edge technology is. But what if thatâs the wrong way to look for signs of an alien intelligence? What if a resource-conscious civilization decided it was too complicated to send femto-second lasers in high energy bursts out across the universe. A new paper, available in pre-print on arXiv, from researchers DĂĄniel Apai, Chia-Lung Lin, and Kevin Wagner, suggest that might actually be what happens, and that we should start looking for long-duration pulsing interstellar beacons.
Finding microfossils of Earthâs oldest complex life is a bit like chasing an astrobiological rainbow. The eukaryotic pot of gold at rainbowâs end always seems just a bit out of reach.
Astrobiology has long been split into two camps: a search for "biosignatures" and a search for "intelligence." These look for very different things, but they also leave a huge gap in between. It took 3.5 billion years for us to go from the first microbe to a civilization that sent radio waves out into the cosmos. Detecting life in between those stages is a relatively untouched aspect of astrobiologyâwhich is also the focal point of a new paper, "Signs and Signatures of Intelligence", available in pre-print on arXiv, by astrobiologist Julia DeMarines.
With new technologies come new opportunities. And that is especially true in astronomy - with every new advanced telescope we have the potential to see (or in some cases, listen) further and more clearly than we ever have before. That is certainly the case for the new Square Kilometre Array (SKA), which is currently undergoing a multi-year roll out phase. Despite that drawn out process, astronomers are already excited about its potential, and a new book chapter from Dr. Chenoa Tremblay and her co-authors details how this new technology could be used to answer one of the most fundamental questions - are we alone?
Hopefully, weâre about to travel back to the Moon relatively soon. And while the original âgiant leap for mankindâ was taken by a human, Neil Armstrong brought a plethora of other forms of life along with him. Humans themselves are essentially walking ecosystems, and understanding how our microbial companions survive in the harsh environments of space will be critical to ensure the health and safety of future astronauts, no matter where their giant leaps might be. A new PhD thesis from Tommaso Zaccaria at Radboud University showcases just how well-suited to some of these harsh environments terrestrial pathogens actually are.
Jezero Crater on Mars is a 45-kilometer-wide (28-mile) crater that once hosted a lake billions of years ago fed by two distinct river valleys with Jezero eventually forming an exit channel over time. One of Jezeroâs most prominent features is the massive river delta that consists of sediments that were deposited as the inflow slowed down. Researchers hypothesize that the delta and lake were formed under freshwater conditions, indicating the potential for life as we know it, also called biosignatures.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is continuing to have a disruptive impact on ever more parts of humanity. But what does it mean in the long run? A new paper, available in pre-print on arXiv from Austrian researcher Sergey Ivliev, extrapolates what the wide scale adoption of AI means for the future of humanity in space - and in particular what it means for the ultimate question of whether weâre truly alone in the galaxy or not.
Even at this early stage in our space faring age, humanity has already begun sending probes that will eventually reach other solar systems, even if that was not their original intention. Five robotic explorers - Pioneer 10 and 11, Voyager 1 and 2, and New Horizons - are all on escape velocities out of the solar system, and might someday enter another one. They will no longer be operational at that point, but they serve as a proof of concept that spacefaring civilizations do indeed build interstellar probes. Which raises the obvious question - has anyone else sent their own robotic explorers to ours? In a recent paper, published in the Proceedings of the IAU Centenary Symposium, astronomer T. Joseph W. Lazio, points out a painful truth - we still have no idea, and our technology will need to get much better if we plan to find out.
Our search for technosignatures - clear signs of advanced civilizations beyond Earth - takes many forms. Many are driven by the famous Drake equation, which attempts to estimate how many technological civilizations there are in the Milky Way. However, thereâs a big fat question mark at the end of that equation in the form of a variable intended to account for the âlongevityâ of a civilization. And to be clear, that doesnât mean how long the civilization itself survives. It simply means how long it actively creates a signature that is detectable by our current technology. A new paper, available in pre-print on arXiv from Oxford astrophysicist Brian C. Lacki, argues that, since the chances of us overlapping in time with any such civilization are miniscule, weâre much more likely to find the ruins of a âdeadâ civilization - and, surprisingly, the best place to do so might be in our own solar system.
Universe Today