Hunting for fossilized microbes
We’ve all heard of hunting for fossils to learn about the Earth’s past, but what if you wanted to learn about the microbes that lived…
Category: Astrobiology & Space Science
A crater on Mars may be a future landing site
Here on Earth, scientists study layers of sediment like dirt and sand to better understand how rocks form. The same contextual clues…
What happens if we send signals into space?
For over a hundred years, humans on Earth have been using radio transmissions to communicate with each other. This ability to communicate…
Detecting Distant Planet Atmospheres From Afar
Humans have always been fascinated with the vastness of the universe and its hidden truths. For ages we have tried to explore and study the…
Using Gas Bubbles in Lava to Predict Ancient Air Pressure
What was the weather like in New York last week? You can look it up on weather.com. What was it like on March 7, 1953, in the pre-internet…
Lasers and Fool’s Gold Give a Glimpse Into Our Ocean’s Past
The amount of trace elements in ocean pyrite correspond to ocean oxygen concentrations at different points in geologic time.
Managing Mars: Who Has a Right To It’s Resources?
Humans have long been fascinated by the huge Cosmos above us. Perhaps this fascination has been best put to words by Carl Sagan in his…
Can you teach an old gene new tricks?
Evolution explains how living things change over successive generations, giving rise to diversity. Across the evolutionary history of Earth,…
What Protects Exoplanets from Damaging Solar Flares?
Thanks to NASA’s Kepler Mission, over one-thousand potentially habitable exoplanets have been discovered to-date, orbiting around their…
Life May Be Even Older Than We Thought!
How long has life been around on Earth? Is life an inevitable part of planet formation? The second question is tough to answer, but if life…