Posts by

Paul Scott Anderson

Could salt-loving microbes explain Mars’ methane?

New laboratory studies - simulating conditions on the planet Mars and using salt-loving microbes - suggest that similar organisms could be producing Mars' mysterious methane.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 26, 2020

Goldilocks stars best for alien life?

A new research study suggests that K-type dwarf stars (smaller and cooler than our sun) are the best place to search for alien life. These stars are not too hot, not too cool, and not too violent for life to evolve.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 23, 2020

Ancient stardust in meteorite is older than Earth

Grains of stardust - particles left behind by star explosions - in an Australian meteorite are now the oldest known material on Earth. A new study suggests this stardust came to be long before our sun ever existed.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 20, 2020

A new way to detect oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres

In recent years, astronomers have pondered the search for biosignatures, or signs of life, in the atmospheres of distant exoplanets. Will the James Webb Space Telescope - due to launch in 2021 - be able to detect them? A new technique says yes.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 17, 2020

Did phosphorus-rich lakes help kickstart life on Earth?

The building blocks of life as we know it require chemical reactions involving phosphorus. But phosphorus is scarce on Earth. Where did enough of it come from to fuel life's start? Carbonate-rich lakes, like Mono Lake in California, might hold a clue.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 17, 2020

Tyrannosaurus rex: the teen years

Growing up Tyrannosaurus rex: A new study from Oklahoma State University provides details about what life was like for the famous dinosaurs during their juvenile teenage years.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 12, 2020

‘Super-puff’ exoplanets are like cosmic cotton candy

New observations of "super-puff" exoplanets by the Hubble Space Telescope have provided scientists with more clues about these enigmatic and strange worlds.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 7, 2020

Wow! More evidence for active volcanoes on Venus

We've known for some time that Venus has vast lava plains, fields of small lava domes, and large shield volcanoes. But does it still have active volcanoes? A new study involving lava flows on Venus suggests that, yes, it does.

Paul Scott Anderson

January 5, 2020

Europe’s CHEOPS mission will shed light on strange new worlds

The European Space Agency has successfully launched its CHEOPS space telescope, the 1st of 3 planned missions to study distant exoplanets in greater detail than ever before.

Paul Scott Anderson

December 22, 2019

Scientists map a pulsar for the 1st time

Using a revolutionary X-ray telescope aboard the International Space Station, scientists have finally created the 1st pulsar surface "map." It shows odd hot spots and suggests that pulsar magnetic fields are more complicated than anyone had assumed.

Paul Scott Anderson

December 18, 2019

Paul Scott Anderson

Paul Scott Anderson has had a passion for space exploration that began when he was a child when he watched Carl Sagan’s Cosmos. He studied English, writing, art and computer/publication design in high school and college. He later started his blog The Meridiani Journal in 2005, which was later renamed Planetaria. He also later started the blog Fermi Paradoxica, about the search for life elsewhere in the universe. While interested in all aspects of space exploration, his primary passion is planetary science and SETI. In 2011, he started writing about space on a freelance basis with Universe Today. He has also written for SpaceFlight Insider and AmericaSpace and has also been published in The Mars Quarterly. He also did some supplementary writing for the iOS app Exoplanet. He has been writing for EarthSky since 2018, and also assists with proofing and social media.