Microscopic animals glow in the dark to survive radiation Scientists found a new species of tardigrade that protects itself from UV radiation with the help of a naturally occurring fluorescence in its body.

January 18, 2021 by Anurup Mohanty Read More

What 600 days in space does to living cells The BIOlogy and Mars EXperiment (BIOMEX) project used Chroococcidiopsis sp., a rock-inhabiting microorganism found in sandstone from the Negev Desert, to study how life might survive on the Moon. Find out why.

December 10, 2020 by Ruth Estefany Quispe Pilco Read More

What underwater volcanoes can teach us about Saturn’s moon Studying underwater volcanoes called "hydrothermal vents" at the bottom of the ocean taught us that the hydrogen down there probably isn't a primary food source for life in this extreme environment.

December 3, 2020 by Serhat Sevgen Read More

Is there life on Venus? An international team of researchers claim that a molecule called phosphine is a potential marker for life, and also happens to be in the atmosphere of Venus, according to their measurements. Other scientists are re-analyzing the results.

December 2, 2020 by Nurbanu Erölmez Read More

Is humanity ready to live in space? To live in space, we will need inter-generational cooperation to pull it off, and perhaps a sense of altruism for the future. We may be up to the technical challenge, but what about the sociopolitical challenges?

December 1, 2020 by Andrew Bieler Read More

How water shaped the Earth Minerologists, geologists, astronomers, astrobiologists explain how water shaped our planet’s history by studying the types of chemical reactions where water plays a fundamental role.

November 21, 2020 by Romulo Cruz Read More

Students inspired to study science by participating in real NASA missions In Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, a group of scientists and teachers came together to create an exciting new educational resource, named Ad Astra Academy. The goal? To develop brief, intense programs to help encourage academically at-risk students to develop critical thinking skills.

November 16, 2020 by Sarah Treadwell Read More

Bread yeast can help humans explore space! Studying the effects of radiation on yeast cells can help us understand how astronauts’ bodies may be affected during long term space travel. This paper describes an experiment that will be conducted on board the satellite BioSentinel.

November 9, 2020 by Anurup Mohanty Read More

Chemicals on mineral surfaces may have jumpstarted life Researchers observed selected biological molecules multiplying and fueling their own chemistry across mineral surfaces, resembling the patterns of a living metabolism.

November 5, 2020 by Emily Felder Read More

Algae in space teaches us how life responds to harsh environments A species of blue-green algae that can live in rocks could resist radiation and extreme space weather, and returned to Earth still viable!

October 25, 2020 by Rabeea Rasheed Read More