Planetary Science
Future Martians will need to breathe. It won’t be easy
Asteroid impacts, microbes, mining: These are a few tactics engineers might one day use to create an Earthlike atmosphere on Mars.
Planetary Science
More Stories in Planetary Science
- Planetary Science
NASA’s Webb telescope spotted a new moon orbiting Uranus
Like Uranus's other 28 moons, the newfound object spotted by JWST will be named after a William Shakespeare or Alexander Pope character.
- Planetary Science
How alien ‘canals’ sparked debate over life on Mars
In The Martians, journalist David Baron recounts scientific and public debate over purported intelligent life on the Red Planet.
- Planetary Science
Cosmic rays could, in theory, sustain life on other worlds
The hypothesis could extend the search for extraterrestrial life to include frigid planets with thin atmospheres and underground water.
- Planetary Science
A giant planet may orbit our closest sunlike neighbor
Alpha Centauri A, four light-years from Earth, may host a gas giant. If confirmed, no Earthlike planets orbit in the star’s habitable zone.
- Planetary Science
This star offers the earliest peek at the birth of a planetary system like ours
A young sunlike star called HOPS 315 seems to host a swirling disk of gas giving rise to minerals that kick-start the planet formation process.
- Planetary Science
New Horizons visited Pluto 10 years ago. We’re still learning from it
Over the past decade, researchers have been puzzling through Pluto’s mysteries. Meanwhile, the New Horizons probe heads for interstellar space.
- Earth
An ancient Earth impact could help in the search for Martian life
Strange cone-shaped rocks led scientists to the hidden remains of one of Earth’s oldest asteroid impacts. It could help us find fossil life on Mars.
- Life
A barrage of radiation couldn’t kill this hardy life-form
A type of lichen was able to survive extreme UV radiation in the lab, suggesting that ozone protection might not be required for life on exoplanets.
- Planetary Science
In a first, the Webb telescope found a planet by actually ‘seeing’ it
Finding a Saturn-sized world around the young star TWA 7 could pave the way for the Webb space telescope’s direct observation of other exoplanets.
