Chasing Alien Worlds with a Flying Telescope
The airborne Stratospheric Observatory for Infrared Astronomy (SOFIA) is a flying observatory aboard a modified Boeing 747 that takes…
Category: Astrobiology & Space Science
Writing the Alphabet of Life
When studying the origin of life on Earth, scientists must rely on past data, physical laws, and models instead of direct observations.…
The Genetic Origins of the Water Bear, Earth’s Most Resilient Organism
No living organism can survive in the dead of space, right? The unlikely exception: water bears. Also known by their scientific name,…
What Makes a Universe Habitable?
If there are multiple universes, which of them are capable of harboring life and why? A physicist comes up with a number, and that number is…
Was it inevitable that humans would develop math?
Have you ever thought about why is it possible to understand the universe and why are we even here to understand it? Sarah Imari Walker…
What Could Have Created the Ancient Martian Rivers?
Water is essential for life. When searching for life in the universe, the first thing researchers do is “follow the water”. Mars is no…
Why is the Sun Yellow?
Jacob Haqq-Misra, Ravi Kopparapu, and Eric Wolf attempt to address this question in a recent paper titled "Why do we find ourselves around a…
Does genetic information evolve like technology does?
From chemistry to biology to social networks, specific shared principles should guide how information is organized and how it cycles through…
Mysterious, Unusual Intergalactic Radio Signal Found
Radio astronomers working with a radio dish telescope detected something a bit unusual. They were seeing a very fast radio burst, faster and…
Saturn’s Moon Enceladus May Have Conditions For Life
In a last scientific hurrah, the Cassini spacecraft has detected that hydrogen is being ejected from the moon’s ice-covered ocean.