Researchers Develop New Technique to Search for Chemical Evidence of Life on Mars

By Paul Scott Anderson, on May 18th, 2015

Despite decades of searching, definitive evidence for life on Mars, past or present, has still remained elusive and controversial. Confirmation of such a finding would need to be thoroughly tested and documented, and now researchers at the University of Kansas have developed a new technique that they hope would help to do just that, […]

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Dark Material in Fractures on Europa's Surface Is Sea Salt, New Research Suggests

By Paul Scott Anderson, on May 13th, 2015

The darker-colored material within the fractures and elsewhere on Europa’s surface might be sea salt brought up from the ocean below. Image Credit: NASA/JPL/Ted Stryk

For over a decade, scientists have been curious about the long fractures on Europa’s icy surface and the darker-colored material they contain, as well as other relatively young […]

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'Life Not As We Know It': New Research Shows How Exotic Biology May Be Possible on Titan

By Paul Scott Anderson, on March 4th, 2015

Illustration of methane rainfall and lake on Titan. New research suggests exotic forms of life could be possible in this alien environment. Image Credit: Mark Garlick (Space-art.co.uk)/APOD

The search for life elsewhere has long focused on what we are most familiar with on Earth—in other words, “life as we know it,” or organisms […]

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Giant Cloud at Titan's South Pole Is Toxic and Freezing Cold

By Paul Scott Anderson, on October 7th, 2014

View from Cassini of the huge polar vortex cloud over Titan’s south pole. Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/ASI/University of Arizona/SSI/Leiden Observatory and SRON

Titan is the only moon in the Solar System known to have a dense atmosphere, and while similar to Earth’s atmosphere in some ways, such as being rich in nitrogen, it also […]

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