astrobiology
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Scientists Can Detect Life in Single Grain of Alien Ice
Icy moons like Europa and Enceladus are exciting venues for the prospect of life beyond Earth, because they are thought to contain oceans of water beneath their frigid surfaces. Now, a team of scientists has concluded that a single grain of material spewed up by the outgassing moons could contain biosignatures—signs of life—if there are…
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Bennu Asteroid Samples Expected to ‘Fundamentally’ Shift Our Perspective on Cosmic Life
If NASA ever manages to pry open the sample canister, that is.
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Webb Telescope Spots Carbon on Jupiter’s Moon Europa, Boosting Prospects for Alien Life
The Webb Space Telescope has made its latest significant discovery: the observation of carbon dioxide coming from a part of Europa, the frozen moon orbiting Jupiter which harbors a salty water ocean under its icy surface. The finding is a boost for astrobiology, or the search for life beyond Earth. Carbon is critical for life…
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Saturn’s Moon Enceladus Is Belching Up a Key Life Ingredient
Scientists have found traces of phosphorus, a fundamental ingredient for life, in ice grains spewed into space by Enceladus, one of Saturn’s moons.