Identifying Hydrothermal Activity on Icy Ocean Worlds Nov. 1, 2023 NASA-supported scientists have developed a new technique that could help astrobiologists determine whether or not hydrothermal activity is occurring on icy, ocean worlds. Read more Image
Astrophysicists Scan the Galaxy for Signs of Life Oct. 31, 2023 Astrophysicists are scanning the universe for “technosignatures” emanating from distant planets that would provide support for the existence of intelligent, alien life. Read more Image
Lipid Biosignatures in Hypersaline Lakes Oct. 30, 2023 NASA-supported researchers have studied the production of organic matter in hypersaline lakes that share some similarities with lakes thought to be present on ancient Mars in the area of Jezero Crater. Read more Image
UArizona launches Arizona Astrobiology Center to unlock the mysteries of life in the universe Oct. 17, 2023 The center will bring together students and faculty from across campus and disciplines to unravel the enigma of life's beginnings and our place in the cosmos. Read more Image
NASA’s Bennu Asteroid Sample Contains Carbon, Water Oct. 11, 2023 Initial studies of the 4.5-billion-year-old asteroid Bennu sample collected in space and brought to Earth by NASA show evidence of high-carbon content and water, which together could indicate the building blocks of life on Earth may be found in the rock. Read more Image
Webb Discovers Methane, Carbon Dioxide in Atmosphere of K2-18 b Sept. 25, 2023 A new investigation with NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope into K2-18 b, an exoplanet 8.6 times as massive as Earth, has revealed the presence of carbon-bearing molecules including methane and carbon dioxide. Read more Image
Bennu Sample Delivery Marks the Start of Extended OSIRIS-APEX Mission Sept. 24, 2023 After dropping off its historic sample from asteroid Bennu, the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft is headed to its next target: another potentially hazardous near-Earth asteroid, called Apophis. Read more Image
UArizona-Led OSIRIS-REx Mission Delivers Largest-Ever Asteroid Sample to Earth Sept. 23, 2023 The delivery from the asteroid Bennu, seven years after the spacecraft launched, marks the end of the space-voyaging phase of the mission. Scientists will now study the rocks and dust to better understand the origins of life on Earth. Read more Image
What It Would Take to Discover Life on Saturn's Icy Moon Enceladus Dec. 20, 2022 Surrounded by a vast ocean underneath a thick ice shell, Enceladus is a hot candidate for potentially harboring alien life. A team of researchers led by the University of Arizona concluded that a future mission could provide answers even without landing on the tiny world. Read more Image
Life May Have Thrived on Early Mars, Until it Drove Climate Change That Caused its Demise Oct. 10, 2022 Early in its history, the red planet likely would have been habitable to methanogens, microbes that make a living in extreme habitats on Earth, according to a study that simulated the conditions on a young Mars. Read more Image