https://phys.org/space-news/astrobiology en-us Astrobiology news stories about origin and evolution of life in the Universe Aliens are big in the news recently, fueled by congressional hearings about unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAPs), formally known as UFOs. But while the idea of aliens visiting Earth may be exciting, the better bet is still the idea that aliens might exist on distant worlds. We already know potentially habitable planets are common and intelligent life has arisen on at least one world, so why not many? But after 60 years of searching for evidence of extraterrestrials "out there," we've found nothing. So what does that tell us? https://phys.org/news/2023-08-years-silence-extraterrestrials.html Astrobiology Wed, 02 Aug 2023 10:27:34 EDT news610190852 Congressional testimony this week about reverse engineering from crashed UFOs and the recovery of non-human "biologics" sounds like science fiction. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-ufos-non-human-biologics-professor-evidence.html Astrobiology Mon, 31 Jul 2023 15:22:36 EDT news610035752 At one time, astronomers believed that the planets formed in their current orbits, which remained stable over time. But more recent observations, theory, and calculations have shown that planetary systems are subject to shake-ups and change. Periodically, planets are kicked out of their star systems to become "rogue planets," bodies that are no longer gravitationally bound to any star and are adrift in the interstellar medium (ISM). Some of these planets may be gas giants with tightly bound icy moons orbiting them, which they could bring with them into the ISM. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-rogue-planets-explore.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 31 Jul 2023 12:47:05 EDT news610026421 As the next generation of giant, high-powered observatories begin to come online, a new study suggests that their instruments may offer scientists an unparalleled opportunity to discern what weather may be like on far-away exoplanets. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-cosmic-weather-worlds-life.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 27 Jul 2023 14:55:17 EDT news609688513 We're only halfway through 2023, and it feels already like the year of alien contact. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-contact-aliens-colonization-genocide-dont.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Thu, 20 Jul 2023 11:00:01 EDT news609069331 In radio astronomy, there are lots of natural radio signals to observe. The glow of hydrogen gas, the swirl of electrons along a magnetic field, or the pop-pop-pop of pulsars. These signals usually have a very natural character to them, so astronomers can distinguish them from the artificial chirps and chatters of terrestrial sources. But when you're looking for the signals of alien civilizations, things can get more tricky. They should have an artificial character similar to the radio signals of humans. So how can astronomers distinguish between the distant artificial signal and the local ones? https://phys.org/news/2023-07-message-earth-space-seti.html Astronomy Astrobiology Thu, 20 Jul 2023 10:49:49 EDT news609068979 Scientists have devised a new technique for finding and vetting possible radio signals from other civilizations in our galaxy—a major advance in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) that will significantly boost confidence in any future detection of alien life. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-spoofed.html Astronomy Astrobiology Mon, 17 Jul 2023 14:47:04 EDT news608824021 A new study featuring data from the NASA Mars Perseverance rover reports on an instrumental detection potentially consistent with organic molecules on the Martian surface, hinting toward past habitability of the Red Planet. The research, led by a team of scientists that includes UF astrobiologist Amy Williams, was recently published in the journal Nature. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-reveals-evidence-diverse-material-mars.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 13 Jul 2023 13:25:04 EDT news608473501 A new analysis shows that there are probably many more Earth-like exoplanets with liquid water than had been thought, significantly increasing the chance of finding life. The work finds that even where the conditions are not ideal for liquid water to exist at the surface of a planet, many stars will harbor geological conditions suitable for liquid water under the planet's surface. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-probability-worlds-fold.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 10 Jul 2023 18:00:25 EDT news608198158 Avi Loeb, a physicist from Harvard University in the US, has recovered 50 tiny spherical iron fragments from the bottom of the Pacific Ocean that he claims may be material from an interstellar alien spaceship. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-physicist-spherical-meteor-fragments-alien.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 10 Jul 2023 12:52:30 EDT news608212344 In 2015, Russian-Israeli billionaire Yuri Milner and his non-profit organization, Breakthrough Initiatives, launched the largest Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) project. Known as Breakthrough Listen, this SETI effort relies on the most powerful radio telescopes in the world and advanced analytics to search for potential evidence of technological activity (aka. "technosignatures"). The ten-year project will survey the one million stars closest to Earth, the center of our galaxy, the entire galactic plane, and the 100 galaxies closest to the Milky Way. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-astronomers-scan-skies-nanosecond-pulses.html Astronomy Astrobiology Mon, 10 Jul 2023 12:22:04 EDT news608210521 A study led by Brown University researchers offers new insights into how water from melting ice could have played a recent role in the formation of ravine-like channels that cut down the sides of impact craters on Mars. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-gullies-mars-periods-liquid-meltwater.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 29 Jun 2023 14:00:02 EDT news607252305 Although technically challenging, space experiments are a scientifically important aspect of astrobiology and astrochemistry investigations. The international space station (ISS) offers an excellent example of a long-term research platform orbiting the Earth, with highly successful advances to implement experiments in space, which has contributed to a wealth of scientific data in the past few decades. Future space platforms present additional opportunities for experiments in astrobiology and astrochemistry. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-future-space-platforms-astrobiology-astrochemistry.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Thu, 29 Jun 2023 09:43:10 EDT news607250585 From 1967 to 1972, the American space agency NASA conducted a series of space missions to the moon. Nearly 400 kilograms of soil samples were transported back to Earth. NGI—The Norwegian Geotechnical Institute is now using CT-scans of 10,000 lunar particles from the Apollo expeditions to study how lunar soils will behave when humans start engineering structures for the lunar surface. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-ground-conditions-moon.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Mon, 26 Jun 2023 13:11:55 EDT news607003912 A team of international scientists has used NASA's James Webb Space Telescope to detect a new carbon compound in space for the first time. Known as methyl cation (pronounced cat-eye-on) (CH3+), the molecule is important because it aids the formation of more complex carbon-based molecules. Methyl cation was detected in a young star system, with a protoplanetary disk, known as d203-506, which is located about 1,350 light-years away in the Orion Nebula. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-webb-crucial-carbon-molecule.html Astronomy Astrobiology Mon, 26 Jun 2023 13:02:03 EDT news607003321 How close can a rocky planet be to a star, and still sustain water and life? https://phys.org/news/2023-06-exoplanet-reveal-secrets-edge-habitability.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 21 Jun 2023 10:43:54 EDT news606562997 Using data from the Spitzer space observatory, Dr. Susana Iglesias-Groth, a researcher from The Instituto de Astrofísica de Canarias (IAC), has found evidence for the existence of the amino acid tryptophan in the interstellar material in a nearby star-forming region. The research is published in Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-evidence-amino-acid-tryptophan-space.html Astronomy Astrobiology Tue, 20 Jun 2023 09:33:29 EDT news606472407 How large would an extraterrestrial city have to be for current telescopes to see it? Would it need to be a planet-sized metropolis like Star Wars' Coruscant? Or could we see an alien equivalent of Earth's own largest urban areas, like New York City or Tokyo? https://phys.org/news/2023-06-glint-giant-cities-alien-worlds.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 19 Jun 2023 13:06:46 EDT news606398803 The best hope for finding life on another world isn't listening for coded messages or traveling to distant stars, it's detecting the chemical signs of life in exoplanet atmospheres. This long hoped-for achievement is often thought to be beyond our current observatories, but a new study argues that the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) could pull it off. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-webb-telescope-powerful-variety-biosignatures.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Mon, 19 Jun 2023 13:02:52 EDT news606398569 The long hunt for extraterrestrials just got a big boost. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-nasa-key-block-life-moon.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Sun, 18 Jun 2023 09:10:01 EDT news605970070 Enceladus is the tiny moon of Saturn that seems to have it all. Its icy surface is intricately carved by ongoing geological processes. Its icy shell overlies an internal, liquid ocean. There, chemically charged warm water seeps out of the rocky core onto the ocean floor—potentially providing nourishment for microbial life. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-element-essential-life-saturn-moons.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Sun, 18 Jun 2023 07:00:01 EDT news606055875 In a new report now published in npj Microgravity, Zachary Estlack and a research team in mechanical engineering and space sciences at the University of Utah and the University of California, Berkeley, developed a microfluidic organic analyzer to detect life signatures beyond Earth and to clinically monitor astronaut health. The team performed extensive environmental tests across diverse gravitational atmospheres to confirm the functionality of the analyzer and its level of technology readiness. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-microfluidics-space-extraterrestrial-life-signatures.html Space Exploration Astrobiology Thu, 15 Jun 2023 11:30:01 EDT news606040770 Harvard University led research may have solved the puzzle of how life became molecularly right-handed. In the paper, "Origin of biological homochirality by crystallization of an RNA precursor on a magnetic surface," published in Science Advances, the researchers explain how it all might have started with the right kind of rocks. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-right-handed-blocks-life-rocky.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Thu, 15 Jun 2023 10:30:01 EDT news606040739 Scientists have taken a journey back in time to unlock the mysteries of Earth's early history, using tiny mineral crystals called zircons to study plate tectonics billions of years ago. The research sheds light on the conditions that existed in early Earth, revealing a complex interplay between Earth's crust, core, and the emergence of life. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-plate-tectonics-required-emergence-life.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:40:54 EDT news605965248 A team of astronomers from the University of Washington, the SETI Institute, Yale University and Smith College is searching the vicinity of a new supernova in the spiral arms of the Pinwheel Galaxy hoping to find a signal from an alien civilization. In their paper posted on the arXiv preprint server, the research team suggests that because of its brightness and proximity, if aliens live in the vicinity, they might use it as a signal to get our attention. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-nearby-supernova-aliens-attention.html Astronomy Astrobiology Wed, 14 Jun 2023 12:37:35 EDT news605965050 The search for extraterrestrial life in our solar system just got more exciting. A team of scientists including Southwest Research Institute's Dr. Christopher Glein has discovered new evidence that the subsurface ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus contains a key building block for life. The team directly detected phosphorus in the form of phosphates originating from the moon's ice-covered global ocean using data from NASA's Cassini mission. Cassini explored Saturn and its system of rings and moons for over 13 years. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-key-block-life-saturn-moon.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 14 Jun 2023 11:55:49 EDT news605962545 When we walk around in our everyday life, we might not think of the Earth itself very often. But this planet is the foundation of our life. The air we breathe, the water we drink and the gravity that pins us to the ground. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-earth-faster-thought.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 14 Jun 2023 11:55:25 EDT news605962521 A team of chemists, biologists and planetary scientists from MIT, Nanoplanet Consulting, Harvard University and the University of Alberta has found via lab experimentation that conditions in Venus' clouds are possibly conducive to hosting life. In their paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the group describes experiments they conducted in their lab and their results. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-venus-sulfuric-acid-clouds-cool.html Astrobiology Planetary Sciences Wed, 14 Jun 2023 10:11:28 EDT news605956282 Imagine the possibility of life forms on other planets that don't resemble any on Earth. What might they look like, and why would they be so different? https://phys.org/news/2023-06-synthetic-species-biochemistry-darwinian-evolutionary.html Astrobiology Wed, 07 Jun 2023 09:49:05 EDT news605350136 Researchers have detected complex organic molecules in a galaxy more than 12 billion light-years away from Earth—the most distant galaxy in which these molecules are now known to exist. Thanks to the capabilities of the recently launched James Webb Space Telescope and careful analyses from the research team, a new study lends critical insight into the complex chemical interactions that occur in the first galaxies in the early universe. https://phys.org/news/2023-06-webb-space-telescope-universe-distant.html Astronomy Astrobiology Mon, 05 Jun 2023 12:26:04 EDT news605186761