Extrasolar Planets
Implications of Tides for Life on Exoplanets 
As evident from the nearby examples of Proxima Centauri and TRAPPIST-1, Earth-sized planets in the habitable zone of low-mass stars are common. Here, we focus on such planetary systems and argue that their (oceanic) tides could be more prominent due to stronger tidal forces.
Europa
Pebble Accretion at the Origin of Water in Europa
Despite the fact that the observed gradient in water content among the Galilean satellites is globally consistent with a formation in a circum-Jovian disk on both sides of the snowline, the mechanisms that led to a low water mass fraction in Europa (∼8%) are not yet understood.
Origin & Evolution of Life
Did Life Begin On Land Rather Than In The Sea?
A paradigm-shifting hypothesis laid out by UC Santa Cruz astrobiologists David Deamer and Bruce Damer could reshape our idea about the origin of life
Astrobiology (general)
The Resilience of Life to Astrophysical Events
Much attention has been given in the literature to the effects of astrophysical events on human and land-based life. However, little has been discussed on the resilience of life itself.
Oceanic Research
Fossil Site Shows Impact of Early Jurassic's Low Oxygen Oceans
Using a combination of fossils and chemical markers, scientists have tracked how a period of globally low ocean-oxygen turned an Early Jurassic marine ecosystem into a stressed community inhabited by only a few species.
Fossils
Prior Indigenous Technological Species
One of the primary open questions of astrobiology is whether there is extant or extinct life elsewhere the Solar System.
Fossils
Ancient Plankton-like Microfossils Span Two Continents
Large, robust, lens-shaped microfossils from the approximately 3.4 billion-year-old Kromberg Formation of the Kaapvaal Craton in eastern South Africa are not only among the oldest elaborate microorganisms known.
Astronomy
A New Search for Extrasolar Planets Around Barnard's Star
The National Science Foundation's Arecibo Observatory and the Planetary Habitability Laboratory of the University of Puerto Rico at Arecibo joined the Red Dots project in the search for new planets around our nearest stars.
Habitable Zones & Global Climate
There's More To Life Than The Habitable Zone
Two separate teams of scientists have identified major challenges for the development of life in what has recently become one of the most famous exoplanet systems, TRAPPIST-1.
SETI
Exoplanet Transits as the Foundation of an Interstellar Communications Network
Two fundamental problems for extraterrestrial intelligences (ETIs) attempting to establish interstellar communication are timing and energy consumption.
Habitable Zones & Global Climate
Physical Constraints on the Likelihood of Life on Exoplanets
One of the most fundamental questions in exoplanetology is to determine whether a given planet is habitable.
More top stories from July.
Recent Releases
Recent Status Reports
Calendar
- 21 Jul: NSF/NASA/NCAR press conference: What will scientists learn from the August 21 total solar eclipse?
- 24 Jul: NASA Advisory Council; Human Exploration and Operations Committee Meeting
- 24 Jul: NASA Advisory Council Science Committee Meeting
- 25 Jul: NASA Advisory Council Technology, Innovation and Engineering Committee Meeting
- 25 Jul: NASA Advisory Council Ad Hoc Task Force on STEM Education Meeting
- 25 Jul: NASA Advisory Council Institutional Committee Meeting
- 25 Jul: NASA Advisory Council Aeronautics Committee Meeting
- 27 Jul: NASA Advisory Council Meeting
- 28 Jul: 5th IAA Interstellar and Circumstellar Medium workshop
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