Panspermia
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,…
We Could Spread Life to the Milky Way With Comets. But Should We?
Here's a thorny problem: What if life doesn't always appear on planets that can support it? What if we find…
All Five of Life's Informational Components can Form in Space
A new analysis of meteorite samples has found the building blocks of life that have eluded scientists so far.
A Mars Meteorite Shows Evidence of a Massive Impact Billions of Years ago
Researchers at Australia’s Curtin University have discovered evidence of a massive impact on the Martian surface after 4.45 billion years…
Galactic Panspermia. How far Could Life Spread Naturally in a Galaxy Like the Milky Way?
Can life spread throughout a galaxy like the Milky Way without technological intervention? That question is largely unanswered. A new…
Earth’s toughest bacteria can survive unprotected in space for at least a year
A remarkable microbe named Deinococcus radiodurans (the name comes from the Greek deinos meaning terrible, kokkos meaning grain or berry,…
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…
The Milky Way Could Be Spreading Life From Star to Star
A new study from the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics addresses the possibility of panspermia on a galactic (and intergalactic) scale