Future Martian explorers might not need to leave the Earth to prepare themselves for life on the Red Planet. The Mars Society have built an analogue research site in Utah, USA, which simulates the conditions on our neighbouring ...
Space Exploration
Jun 9, 2016
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10
The quest for evidence of life on Mars could be more difficult than scientists previously thought. A scientific paper published today details the investigation of a chemical in the Martian soil that interferes with the techniques ...
Space Exploration
Sep 26, 2013
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A novel, hybrid part-human, part-machine visual system that uses a simple mobile phone camera has been developed to search for evidence of past or present life in planetary analogue sites on Earth. Patrick McGuire from the ...
Space Exploration
Sep 10, 2013
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0
(Phys.org) —In 2 billion years' time, life on Earth will be confined to pockets of liquid water deep underground, according to PhD astrobiologist Jack O'Malley James of the University of St Andrews. The new research also ...
Earth Sciences
Jul 2, 2013
20
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(Phys.org) —Scientists may not know for certain whether life exists in outer space, but new research from a team of scientists led by a University of South Florida astrobiologist now shows that one key element that produced ...
Earth Sciences
Jun 4, 2013
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Alien worlds resembling giant eyeballs might exist around red dwarf stars, and researchers are now proposing experiments to simulate these distant planets and see how capable they are of supporting life.
Astronomy
May 3, 2013
4
0
For years, scientists have been tracking pollution that travels across the jet stream from Asia and measuring how much of it winds up in Northwest air. Now new work from University of Washington researchers shows it's not ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 7, 2013
2
0
Some people are not making plans for the New Year. From hiding in bomb shelters to sharpening their survival skills, doomsday theorists are preparing for judgment day, which the Mayan calendar predicts will ...
Other
Dec 21, 2012
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Hairspray might one day serve as the sign that aliens have reshaped distant worlds, researchers say. Such research to find signs of alien technology is now open to funding from the public.
Astronomy
Nov 22, 2012
4
1
As NASA's Curiosity rover scours the surface of Mars and beams pictures of the stark and desolate landscape back to Earth, we've begun to paint a picture of what living on the red planet might actually be like.
Space Exploration
Oct 1, 2012
0
0
Astrobiology is the study of the origin, evolution, distribution, and future of life in the universe. This interdisciplinary field encompasses the search for habitable environments in our Solar System and habitable planets outside our Solar System, the search for evidence of prebiotic chemistry, laboratory and field research into the origins and early evolution of life on Earth, and studies of the potential for life to adapt to challenges on Earth and in outer space. Astrobiology addresses the question of whether life exists beyond Earth, and how humans can detect it if it does. (The term exobiology is similar but more specific — it covers the search for life beyond Earth, and the effects of extraterrestrial environments on living things)
Astrobiology makes use of physics, chemistry, astronomy, biology, molecular biology, ecology, planetary science, geography, and geology to investigate the possibility of life on other worlds and help recognize biospheres that might be different from the biosphere on Earth. Astrobiology concerns itself with interpretation of existing scientific data; given more detailed and reliable data from other parts of the universe, the roots of astrobiology itself—physics, chemistry and biology—may have their theoretical bases challenged. Although speculation is entertained to give context, astrobiology concerns itself primarily with hypotheses that fit firmly into existing scientific theories.
Earth is the only place in the universe known to harbor life. However, recent advances in planetary science have changed fundamental assumptions about the possibility of life in the universe, raising the estimates of habitable zones around other stars and the search for extraterrestrial microbial life. The possibility of life on Mars, either currently or in the past, is an active area of research.
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