Astronomy
A Small Step Toward Discovering Habitable Earths 
University of Arizona researchers snapped images of a planet outside our solar system with an Earth-based telescope using essentially the same type of imaging sensor found in digital cameras instead of an infrared detector.
Mars
Evidence of Water in a Martian Meteorite
A team of scientists at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has found evidence of past water movement throughout a Martian meteorite, reviving debate in the scientific community over life on Mars.
Astrochemistry
Dimer Molecules Aid Study of Exoplanet Pressure, Hunt for Life
Astronomers at the University of Washington have developed a new method of gauging the atmospheric pressure of exoplanets, or worlds beyond the solar system, by looking for a certain type of molecule.
Extrasolar Planets
Every Red Dwarf Star Has at Least One Planet
Three new planets classified as habitable-zone super-Earths are amongst eight new planets discovered orbiting nearby red dwarf stars by an international team of astronomers from the UK and Chile.
Mars
Fresh water may flow just below the surface during Martian summers
Mysterious dark finger-like features on steep Martian slopes that lengthen downhill during the Red Planet's warm season could be caused by flowing water, scientists at Southwest Research Institute and the SETI Institute reported.
Habitable Zones & Global Climate
Global Warming Felt to Deepest Reaches of Ocean
In the mid-1970s, the first available satellite images of Antarctica during the polar winter revealed a huge ice-free region within the ice pack of the Weddell Sea. This ice-free region, or polynya, stayed open for three full winters before it closed.
Geobiology
How Deep Inside Our Planet Can Life Exist?
The Sun was once thought to provide energy for all life on Earth - meaning that life could not survive without it. In the 20th century, as astrobiologists began to explore the Earth's most remote and harsh environments, scientists began to question that assumption.
Astrobiology (general)
Michael Meyer Selected as Interim Director of NASA Astrobiology Institute
Effective April 7, 2014, Michael Meyer will serve on a one-year detail assignment as the interim director of the NASA Astrobiology Institute (NAI) at NASA's Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, Calif.
Origin & Evolution of Life
Pinwheel 'Living' Crystals and the Origin of Life
Simply making nanoparticles spin coaxes them to arrange themselves into what University of Michigan researchers call 'living rotating crystals' that could serve as a nanopump. They may also, incidentally, shed light on the origin of life itself.
Genomics and Cell Biology
New DNA-based Naming System for All Earth Life
All living organisms on Earth could soon have a new name if a Virginia Tech professor has his way. Boris Vinatzer has developed a system that classifies and names organisms based on their genome sequence.
Geobiology
Oldest Piece Of Earth's Crust Suggests A Cool Early History
With the help of a tiny fragment of zircon extracted from a remote rock outcrop in Australia, the picture of how our planet became habitable to life about 4.4 billion years ago is coming into sharper focus.
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