Panspermia

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.…

2 months ago

Cosmic Dust Could Spread Life from World to World Across the Galaxy

Does life appear independently on different planets in the galaxy? Or does it spread from world to world? Or does…

8 months ago

Since Interstellar Objects Crashed Into Earth in the Past, Could They Have Brought Life?

On October 19th, 2017, astronomers with the Pan-STARRS survey detected an interstellar object (ISO) passing through our Solar System for…

9 months ago

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,…

10 months ago

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…

2 years ago

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.

2 years ago

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…

3 years ago

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…

3 years ago

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,…

4 years ago

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…

5 years ago