Extraterrestrial Life

Rock is among the oldest known from the Red Planet and matches findings from NASA rovers

The newly detected planet is one of five found circling the star Tau Ceti, which sits 12 light-years away

NASA has plans for another Mars rover, but no trips scheduled for exotic places like Titan or Europa. John Matson reports

Global 3-D climate simulations for plausible Martian atmospheres show that even with a much thicker CO2 layer, the greenhouse effect could not have warmed Mars above freezing. John Matson reports.

On the heels of a Russian drilling effort that reached Lake Vostok, British and American teams also aim to penetrate ancient subglacial lakes

A planet at least seven times as massive as Earth orbits comfortably in the habitable zone of the star HD 40307. John Matson reports

The planet is only 42 light-years from Earth and may contain liquid water, but scientists do not know whether the world is rocky or gaseous

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson helped DC Comics choose the planet, which is 27.1 light-years from Earth

Curiosity's analysis of soil from the Gale Crater is consistent with a time of transition from a wet to a dry environment

The small planet orbiting Alpha Centauri B, just four light-years away, is too hot for life but may have habitable neighbors

New work explains how a microbe can thrive in the high-arsenic conditions of California's Mono Lake

NASA's Curiosity rover has located geologic signs of ancient water flows on Mars, mission scientists announced in a September 27 news conference.