The search for life on Mars may have become much more complicated. As rovers such as Curiosity and Perseverance scour the surface for traces of ancient life, new evidence reveals we may have to dig much deeper to find them. Any evidence of amino acids left over from a time when Mars might have been … Read more
Pluto’s life partner, Charon, has a disarmingly red “cap.” Ever since New Horizons broke the moonfrom the rust-tinged North Pole during its 2015 flyby, scientists have been looking into the planetary processes responsible for the departure of such a bold landmark. Scientists first suspected that the iron-colored smear (dubbed Mordor Macula) was methane captured on … Read more
If you wanted to do some forensic study of the solar system, you could head to the main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. This is where you can find ancient rocks dating back to the early days of the solar system. Out there, in the cold vacuum of space, far from the Sun, the … Read more
Comparatively, not much happens on the Moon. There is dust. There is rock. There are basalt plains, the product of extensive volcanism for much of the Moon’s history. And, as we recently discovered, there is water. Lots of water. Encased in lunar regolith. Trapped in volcanic glass. Perhaps even in patches of ice on or … Read more
The oceans around us are changing. As our climate changes, so does the world’s waters, with anomalies evident not only in ocean temperature, but also in its structure, currents, and even color. As these changes unfold, the generally stable environment of the ocean becomes increasingly unpredictable and erratic, and in some ways the phenomenon is … Read more
Although we still have many mysteries to solve, Mars is brightening up for us every day, thanks to the dozen or so working robots we currently have either on the Red Planet’s surface or in its orbit. In this latest version of the European Space Agency’s (ESA) Mars Express orbiter, a unique feature of Mars’ … Read more