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Jupiter's Moon Europa Has Enough Oxygen For Life
Researchers theorize that if there is an ocean under Europa's ice then it is possible that it might have enough oxygen to support complex organisms.
Jupiter's Moon Europa Has Enough Oxygen For Life
Researchers theorize that if there is an ocean under Europa's ice then it is possible that it might have enough oxygen to support complex organisms.
Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: Sustainability: The Clue That Could Solve Fermi's Paradox
The Fermi paradox states that, given the size and age of the universe, would should be able to find many advanced civilizations but not one has been found. Two Pennsylvania State University researchers have postulated that the flaw in the Fermi paradox is that it assumes exponential population spread outward from the home world, something that would require an exponential expansion in the amount of resources available. Instead, they suggest that sustainable growth is limited because materials and energy are finite resources, so any advanced civilizations that do exist are those that have managed to curb the tendency toward exponential expansion.
Technology Review: Blogs: arXiv blog: How to spot oceans on alien Earths
Scientists have previously learned how to detect plants based on the "red edge" associate with photosynthesis, but now they believe that they may also be able to detect oceans from the change in reflected light. Studies of earthshine reflected from the moon show that more light is reflected from oceans so the rise and fall of reflected light intensity, combined with the "red edge" could indicate a transition between ocean and landmass.
SPACE.com -- Plate Tectonics Could Be Essential for Alien Life
Tilman Spohn of the German Space Research Centre postulates that a necessary precondition to life would be plate tectonics. For a planet to have plate tectonics, the near-surface rock must be weakened, indicating a likelihood that significant amounts of water are present. Plate tectonics are responsible for recycling carbon (helping to control atmospheric carbon dioxide levels) and are involved in the generation of a magnetic field like that which protects life on Earth. Finally, plate techtonics replenish the nutrients needed to support primitive life.
the physics arXiv blog » Blog Archive » How to spot vegetation on Earth-like planets
 Scientists have determined that life can be detected from space, using data collected from the Galileo spacecraft. it indicated that, no matter earth's orientation and distance, chlorophyll-based vegetation generated a spike at 700-nm that doesn't exist on planets that we know don't have vegetation (that is, every other planet and moon in our solar system). It should be possible to detect this spike on planets around other suns, but there are significant technical challenges to overcome. |
Martian Methane Reveals the Red Planet is not a Dead Planet
NASA has detected plumes of methane being emitted during the spring and summer, indicating that microoganisms may exist on Mars. The true test, other than finding the organisms, is to test for the level or deuterium in the methane. Living organisms prefer lighter isotopes so methane with less deuterium than the water released with it indicates it was formed through a biological process.
SPACE.com -- Discovery Indicates Mars Was Habitable
 The presence of large quantities of carbonates, which don't form in conditions hostile to life, indicate that Mars was once benign enough to support life. The green areas in the image are areas that contain carbonates. Much of the Martain surface was also once covered with salt-rich (acidic) water, but carbonates dissolve quickly in acids so extensive areas must have been far less salty, raising the possibility that such areas could have supported life. |
