NASA has selected 16 cool new futuristic space technology concepts for further study. Four of them are from NASA’s own Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), including a railway system on the moon to move cargo. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/futuristic-space-technology-concepts-nasa-jpl-niac…
Tag: origin of life
Landing on the origin of life
Imagine you’re way out in the middle of the Pilbara. There’s no one around you, but you may be surprised to learn you’re close to the origin of life. Source: https://phys.org/news/2021-02-life.html…
6 space missions to look forward to in 2021
Here are some of the space missions to keep an eye out for in 2021. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/6-space-missions-2021-artemis-chandrayaa3-jameswebb…
Dust From Japan’s Asteroid-Blasting Probe Returns to Earth
Long-time Slashdot reader reminds us that in 1999 scientists discovered the asteroid Ryugu flying 300 million kilometres (or 186,411,357 miles) from earth. In 2014, Japan launched a probe to collect samples from it. Today those samples returned to earth. The International Business Times shares pictures and report:
In a streak of light across the night sky, samples collected from a distant asteroid…
Ancient life signs under dinosaur-killing Chicxulub crater
Researchers have found evidence for an ancient microbial ecosystem in a hydrothermal system beneath Mexico’s Chicxulub Crater, thought to be the site of the impact that killed the dinosaurs 66 million years ago. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/dinosaur-killing-chicxulub-impact-crater-hydrothermal-microbial…
The search for the origin of life: From panspermia to primordial soup
Did life begin suddenly in a chemical big bang, or did the ingredients come together slowly, bit by bit from a primordial soup? Science with sam explores Source: https://www.newscientist.com/article/2256271-the-search-for-the-origin-of-life-from-panspermia-to-primordial-soup/?utm_campaign=RSS%7CNSNS&utm_source=NSNS&utm_medium=RSS&utm_content=home…
If there is life on Venus, how could it have got there? Origin of life experts explain
The recent discovery of phosphine in the atmosphere of Venus is exciting, as it may serve as a potential sign of life (among other possible explanations). Source: https://phys.org/news/2020-09-life-venus-experts.html…
Tracing the cosmic origin of complex organic molecules with their radiofrequency footprint
The origin of life on Earth is a topic that has piqued human curiosity since probably before recorded history began. But how did the organic matter that constitutes lifeforms even arrive at our planet? Though this is still a subject of debate among scholars and practitioners in related fields, one approach to answering this question involves finding and studying complex organic…
Was This Life’s First Meal?
sciencehabit shares a report from Science Magazine: Studies of the origin of life are replete with paradoxes. Take this doozy: Every known organism on Earth uses a suite of proteins — and the DNA that helps build it — to construct the building blocks of our cells. But those very building blocks are also needed to make DNA and proteins. The…
Cosmic rays and Titan’s organic molecules
A new study from researchers in Tokyo helps explain how cosmic rays affect prebiotic organic chemistry in the atmosphere of Saturn’s moon Titan. Source: https://earthsky.org/space/titan-cosmic-rays-atmosphere-prebiotic-organic-chemistry…