Dec 21, 2017 · Astronomers have taken a fresh look at the nearby Alpha Centauri star system and found new ways to narrow the search for habitable planets there.

Nov 17, 2011 · Pluto’s outer surface is composed of a thin shell of nitrogen ice, covering a shell of water ice. Planetary scientists Guillaume Robuchon and Francis Nimmo, both of the University of California at Santa Cruz, wanted to find out whether or not an ocean could exist underneath this icy shell, and what visible signs such an ocean might produce on the surface.

Jun 14, 2009 · The Timetree of Life project is now providing scientists with easy access to information about when living species and their ancestors originated. The resource could prove useful for astrobiologists studying the origin and evolution of life on Earth.

May 16, 2010 · Exceptionally preserved fossils are providing new information about life in the oceans between 480 million and 472 million years ago. This period, known as the Ordovician, marks a time of intense diversification of life on Earth.

Dec 16, 2012 · A new study has removed Ediacaran fossils from the ancestry of animals. Ediacaran fossils are the oldest large multicellular fossils and have long been a scientific mystery.

Oct 18, 2016 · Credit: NASA JPL and and Art B. Chmielewski Credible theories maintain that comets may have introduced the basic components of life to Earth. If that’s true, it’s likely that they have introduced life’s building blocks to other bodies in our solar system, such as Mars and the moons Enceladus and Europa.

This cosmic pillar of gas and dust is nearly 2 light-years wide. The structure lies within one of our galaxy’s largest star forming regions, the Carina Nebula, shining in southern skies at a distance of about 7,500 light-years. The pillar’s convoluted outlines are shaped by the winds and radiation of Carina’s young, hot, massive stars. But the interior of the cosmic pillar itself is home ...

Apr 7, 2013 · Most scientists believe that the extinction of the dinosaurs was brought about by an asteroid impact. However, a new study favors a different explanation. Instead, the impact may have been caused by a high-velocity comet.

Apr 28, 2004 · Precisamente por eu ser um “crente”, neste sentido, eu permaneço cautelosamente cético sobre alegações de OVNIs, abduções alienígenas e antigos astronautas. É muito fácil se apaixonar por histórias não embasadas que nos dizem o que queremos acreditar. Eu gostaria de ver algum fragmento de sólida, palpável evidência, talvez tanto quanto uma …

Nov 19, 2016 · Like Charon, Europa and Enceladus are very cold and very distant from the sun. In all three cases, the formation and maintenance of life would depend upon a reliable energy source as well as elements that can participate in the chemistry of life, such as carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus.