Did you know that many bacteria -- some of the oldest lifeforms on Earth -- can talk? Really. And not only between the same kind of single-cell bacteria, but back and forth with members of other species, too. Okay, they don't talk in words or with sounds at all. But they definitely communicate in …
Curiosity Rover as Seen From High Above by Mars Orbiter
This is Apollo memory month, when the 50th anniversary arrives of the first landing of astronauts on the moon. It was a very big deal and certainly deserves attention and applause. But there's something unsettling about the anniversary as well, a sense that the human exploration side of NASA's mission has disappointed and that its …
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Methane on Mars. Here Today, Gone Tomorrow
The presence -- and absence -- of methane gas on Mars has been both very intriguing and very confusing for years. And news coming out last week and then on Monday adds to this scientific mystery. To the great surprise of the Curiosity rover team, their Sample Analysis on Mars instrument sent back a measurement …
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A Significant Advance: Primitive Earth Life Survives an 18-Month Exposure to Mars-Like Conditions in Space
The question of whether simple life can survive in space is hardly new, but it has lately taken on a new urgency. It is not only a pressing scientific question -- might life from Mars or another body have seeded life on Earth? Might organisms similar to extreme Earth life survive Mars-like conditions? -- but …
Ancient Mars Water. Ever More of It, and Flowing Ever Longer on the Surface
Rather like a swollen river overflowing its banks, the story of water on Mars keeps on rising and spreading in quite unpredictable ways. While the planet is now inarguable parched -- though with lots of polar and subsurface ice and, perhaps, some seasonal surface trickles -- data from the Curiosity rover, the Mars Reconnaissance …
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How Creatures End Up Miles Below the Surface of Earth, and Maybe Mars Too
When scientists speculate about possible life on Mars, they generally speak of microbial or other simple creatures living deep below the irradiated and desiccated surface. While Mars long ago had a substantial period that was wetter and warmer when it also had a far more protective atmosphere, the surface now is considered to be …
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InSight Lands on Mars For Unique Mission
NASA's InSight lander touched down at 11:54 Pacific Time and followed a seven-month, 300 million-mile (485 million kilometer) journey from Southern California that started back in May. InSight will spend the next few hours cleaning its camera lens and unfurling its solar arrays. Once NASA confirms that the solar arrays have been properly deployed, engineers …
Probing The Insides of Mars to Learn How Rocky Planets Are Formed
In the known history of our 4.5-billion-year-old solar system, the insides of but one planet have been explored and studied. While there's a lot left to know about the crust, the mantle and the core of the Earth, there is a large and vibrant field dedicated to that learning. Sometime next month, an extensive survey …
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What Would Happen If Mars And Venus Swapped Places?
What would happen if you switched the orbits of Mars and Venus? Would our solar system have more habitable worlds? It was a question raised at the “Comparative Climatology of Terrestrial Planets III”; a meeting held in Houston at the end of August. It brought together scientists from disciplines that included astronomers, climate science, …
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Human Space Travel, Health and Risk
We all know that human space travel is risky. Always has been and always will be. Imagine, for a second, that you're an astronaut about to be sent on a journey to Mars and back, and you're in a capsule on top of NASA's second-generation Space Launch System designed for that task. You will …
Many Worlds 