Space & PhysicsNovember 24, 2011
NASA's Massive Curiosity Rover Nears Launch toward Mars
The rover formerly known as the Mars Science Laboratory should tackle some of the biggest questions about Mars—assuming it can survive an elaborate touchdown
Extraterrestrial Life
The SciencesNovember 21, 2011
What Is Life Like in Other Parts of the Multiverse? [Video]
In a clip from the NOVA miniseries "The Fabric of the Cosmos," Brian Greene and his fellow physicists ponder the implications of multiple universes
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Space & PhysicsNovember 15, 2011
Bright Exoplanet Lighting Could Indicate Intelligent Life
New telescopes could spot aliens on planets around distant stars, if they like their cities really brightly lit. John Matson reports
November 7, 2011
Life's Journey: 5 Tiny Organisms Hitch a Ride on Mission to a Martian Moon [Slide Show]
The Russian sample-return spacecraft will carry a zoo of microbes to Phobos and back to test whether life can survive the interplanetary journey
November 7, 2011
Planetary Scientists Hope to Bring Back Mars Moondust
The Phobos-Grunt mission, which could launch November 8th, will try to grab some Phobos soil and bring it back to Earth. John Matson reports
Space & PhysicsNovember 3, 2011
Wet Down: Warm, Wet Conditions on Ancient Mars May Have Been Confined to Subsurface
Mars has plenty of minerals that suggest a watery past, but that does not mean that the Red Planet once looked like Earth
Space & PhysicsNovember 1, 2011
The Smallest "Astronauts" Set for Launch November 8
Did space rocks seed Earth with life? To test that idea, a Russian probe is about to see whether microbes can survive a round-trip to Mars
Space & PhysicsNovember 1, 2011
Digging Mars: Mars Science Lab Set to Blast Off
The Mars Phoenix mission revived hopes that the Red Planet may be habitable, preparing the way for a new rover to be launched this month
Space & PhysicsOctober 24, 2011
Soggy Solar System: Exoplanet Nursery Holds Massive Amount of Water
A protoplanetary disk 175 light-years away looks to contain enough water to coat newborn planets with oceans thousands of times over
Space & PhysicsSeptember 15, 2011
My 2 Suns: Bounty of New Exoplanet Discoveries Includes a World Orbiting a Binary Star
Leading planet hunters from around the world announced the discovery of some 75 extrasolar planets, and hints of many more
The SciencesSeptember 9, 2011
Science Legend Christian de Duve
Christian de Duve, 1974 Nobel laureate for physiology or medicine, talks about going from a cell biologist to a theorist on evolution and the origin of life
August 22, 2011
Exoplanet Looks Potentially Lively
Newly discovered exoplanet HD 85512 b could be hospitable to life. John Matson reports