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Posts by
Paul Scott Anderson
Breakthrough Listen and TESS team up for SETI
Will we ever hear from an alien civilization? Will we hear from one in our lifetimes? Now 2 powerhouses in the world of astronomy have teamed up to optimize the chances of a successful search for extraterrestrial intelligence.
November 3, 2019
How unique is Earth?
Scientists studying white dwarf stars have found that some contain traces of rocky debris very similar in composition to rocks found on Earth. The finding suggests that worlds similar to Earth might be common in our Milky Way galaxy.
November 1, 2019
An update on that ‘gel’ on the moon
China's Yutu-2 rover has sent back a new image of the unusual "gel-like" material it found last July, which seems to confirm that it's not gel at all. Instead, it now appears it's probably impact glass from a meteorite impact.
October 27, 2019
How small is the smallest habitable exoplanet?
Where can we expect to find life beyond Earth? A new study has redefined the lower limit in mass for habitable exoworlds. It suggests that low-mass waterworlds might exist and might be a place to look.
October 25, 2019
Did the Viking landers find life on Mars in 1976?
For a brief time in 1976, it seemed as if NASA's Viking landers had found microbes on Mars! Those results have been vigorously disputed in the years since, but the original experiment's principal investigator, Gilbert Levin, still maintains they really did detect Martian microbes.
October 22, 2019
What’s the source of the ice at the moon’s south pole?
A new study from Brown University suggests that different deposits of ice at the moon's south pole not only originated from different sources, but also vary greatly in age.
October 19, 2019
New telescope to ‘see inside’ hot Jupiter exoplanets
Exoplanets - worlds orbiting distant suns - are very, very far away. Astronomers are learning what some might look like, and what's in their atmospheres. Soon - for the first time - a new telescope will be able to "see inside" some exoplanets.
October 16, 2019
These alien geysers spew life’s building blocks
The Cassini mission to Saturn is over, but scientists still pore over its data. The newest discovery is of organic compounds - the ingredients of amino acids, the building blocks of life - in water vapor plumes from Saturn's moon Enceladus.
October 10, 2019
‘Impossible’ exoplanet and an alternate planet-formation theory
The discovery of exoplanet GJ 3512b - a planet "too big for its star" - adds fuel to the competition between 2 theoretical models of how planets form. It suggests many more Jupiter-like planets are waiting to be found, orbiting nearby sunlike stars.
October 8, 2019
This giant exoplanet shouldn’t exist, but it does
As the number of newly discovered exoplanets - planets orbiting distant suns - continues to rise, so do unexpected surprises. Scientists say that giant exoplanet GJ 3512b shouldn't even exist around its tiny star, but it does.
October 1, 2019
