State-of-the-art instruments for detecting extraterrestrial life
... As we begin this new millennium the question of whether life exists beyond the Earth remains unanswered. However, there are reasons for optimism that in the not-too-distant future we may have an answer...

The missing organic molecules on Mars
GC-MS on the Viking 1976 Mars missions did not detect organic molecules on the Martian surface, even those expected from meteorite bombardment...

Magnetofossils from Ancient Mars: a Robust Biosignature in the Martian Meteorite ALH84001
Evidence of biogenic activity on Mars has profound scientific implications for our understanding of the origin of life on Earth and the presence and diversity of life within the Cosmos...

Island Universes With A Twist
ESO's Very Large Telescope has taken images of three different 'Island Universes' [1], each amazing in their own way, whose curious shapes testify of a troubled past, and for one, of a foreseeable doomed future.

Smashing Young Stars Leave Dwarfs In Their Wake
Astronomers have discovered that the large disks of gas and dust around young stars will fragment if two young stars pass close to each other and form smaller brown dwarfs stars with disks of their own.

Scientists Predict How To Detect A Fourth Dimension Of Space
Scientistshave developed a mathematical framework they say will enable astronomers to test a new five-dimensional theory of gravity that competes with Einstein's General Theory of Relativity.

Hubble Finds That Earth Is Safe From One Class Of Gamma-ray Burst
Homeowners may have to worry about floods, hurricanes, and tornadoes destroying their homes, but at least they can remove long-duration gamma-ray bursts from their list of potential natural disasters...

How Long Is A Day On Saturn?
Gaseous planets do not have a solid surface to track and are not as rigid as rocky planets. Thus, their periods may change more than those of rocky planets while being less easy to measure.

NASA's Chandra Finds Black Holes Are 'Green'
By making the first direct estimate of how efficient or "green" black holes are, this work gives insight into how black holes generate energy and affect their environment.

Cornell Study Finds That Galaxies Cluster Near Dark Matter
Try mixing caramel into vanilla ice cream -- you will always end up with globs and swirls of caramel. Scientists are finding that galaxies may distribute themselves in similar ways throughout the universe and in places where there is lots of so-called dar

Deadly Astronomical Event Not Likely To Happen In Our Galaxy, Study Finds
Some scientists have wondered whether a deadly astronomical event called a gamma ray burst could happen in a galaxy like ours, but a group of astronomers have determined that such an event would be nearly impossible.

Hubble Finds 'Tenth Planet' Is Slightly Larger Than Pluto
NASA's Hubble Space Telescope has resolved the "tenth planet," nicknamed "Xena" for the first time, and has found that it is only just a little larger than Pluto.

Stellar birth control in the early universe
Astronomers found that "old stars" dominated many large galaxies in the early universe, raising the new question of why these galaxies progressed into "adulthood" so early in the life of the universe.

Methane-belching Bugs Inspire A New Theory Of The Origin Of Life On Earth
Two laboratories at Penn State set out to show how an obscure undersea microbe metabolizes carbon monoxide into methane and vinegar. What they found was not merely a previously unknown biochemical process--their discovery also became the inspiration for a

Liquid water on Saturn moon could support life
Scientists have found evidence that cold, Yellowstone-like geysers of water are issuing from a moon of Saturn called Enceladus These geysers are apparently fueled by liquid reservoirs that may contain organic materials that could support life.

Watching how planets form
With the VISIR instrument on ESO's Very Large Telescope, astronomers have mapped the disc around a star more massive than the Sun.

Ancient rocks 'built by microbes'
The article describes the odd-shaped rocks in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Accordingly, there was compelling evidence that they were built by microbes 3.43 billion years ago.

Sterile surface of moon may contain clues to life on Earth
It is the moon's lack of life, atmosphere and geological activity, such as volcanoes or shifting continental plates, that makes it such a good place to look for signs of life. Since the Apollo missions did not scrape the moon surface, a return mission is

Scientists find the reason behind black holes' light shows
A team of astronomers led by the University of Michigan may know how black holes are lighting up the Universe. New data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory show, for the first time, that powerful magnetic fields are the key to these brilliant and startl