life
Alien Oceans May Conceal Signs of Life from Spacecraft
As the search for extraterrestrial life continues, scientists have identified the hidden oceans beneath icy moons as target locations for…
Dormancy Could Be One of the Keys to Life on Earth (and Beyond)
It’s easy to forget that, despite life having existed on Earth for billions of years and despite our relatively carefree…
Planets Without Plate Tectonics Could Still Be Habitable
It has been thought that the existence of plate tectonics has been a significant factor in the shaping of our…
Has the Universe Been Designed to Support Life? Now We Have a Way to Test it!
The anthropic principle states that the fundamental parameters of the Universe such as the strength of the fundamental forces, have…
Did Life Need Plate Tectonics to Emerge?
It's widely accepted that Earth's plate tectonics are a key factor in life's emergence. Plate tectonics allows heat to move…
A New Place to Search for Habitable Planets: “The Soot Line.”
The habitable zone is the region around a star where planets can maintain liquid water on their surface. It's axiomatic…
The Raw Materials for Life Form Early on in Stellar Nurseries
Life doesn't appear from nothing. Its origins are wrapped up in the same long, arduous process that creates the elements,…
Could Life Survive on Frigid Exo-Earths? Maybe Under Ice Sheets
Our understanding of habitability relies entirely on the availability of liquid water. All life on Earth needs it, and there's…
How Dangerous are Nearby Supernovae to Life on Earth?
Life and supernovae don't mix. From a distance, supernovae explosions are fascinating. A star more massive than our Sun runs…
Europa Could be Pulling Oxygen Down Below the Ice to Feed Life
Jupiter's moon Europa is a prime candidate in the search for life. The frozen moon has a subsurface ocean, and…