We May Have Already Detected Signs of Alien Microbes on Saturn’s Moon Enceladus

According to a new study, microbes like those found in Earth’s deep ocean could potentially thrive in the underground ocean of Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus. Both molecular hydrogen (H2) and methane (CH4) already have been detected in the plume. Researchers have shown that Methanothermococcus okinawensis, a methanogenic archaeon first isolated from a deep-sea hydrothermal vent …

The oldest fossils suggest that life should be common in the Universe

Are we alone in the Universe? Or do any other life forms exist out there? A new study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America (PNAS, see notes 1) suggests that life emerged so early on Earth, so it should be widespread. In other words, the …

How to tell if a planet harbors life?

Are we alone in the universe? Or are there any other “living planets” other than Earth? How to tell if a planet harbors life? Until 1992, we even don’t know if there are any other planets around the other stars or not. In 1992, two Swiss astrophysicists, Michel Mayor and Didier Queloz the first “exoplanet” …

New Study Suggests 92% of Earth-Like Planets Have Yet to Be Born

A recent study led by Peter Behroozi of the Space Telescope Science Institute (STScI) in Baltimore, Maryland suggests that the vast majority of Earth-like planets in the universe have yet to be born. Using computer simulations to model planet formation around stars in the Milky Way galaxy, Behroozi and his team found that only 8% …

Kepler-452b: The Earth’s Twin?

NASA’s space observatory Kepler may have discovered a possibly Earth-like planet, named Kepler-452b, a rocky world orbiting a Sun-like star at almost the exact same distance Earth orbits our own Sun. “The new Earth” is located 1,400 light-years from us. It orbits a Sun-like star that is 4% more massive and 10% brighter than our …