The Daily Galaxy: Great Discoveries Channel

Unmasking Jupiter's Europa: The Search for an Alien Biosphere (VIDEO)

"There's nothing saying there is life there now.  But we do know there are the physical conditions to support it."

Richard Greenberg, University of Arizona. world's leading expert on Europa.

Do Cosmic Rays Affect Growth of Life on Earth?

A new study shows that cosmic radiation could be accelerating the growth of our Earth forests, though - as with most cosmic radiation effects - we don't know how it's happening or what the effects are.  But in accordance with standard "Science From Fantastical Space Radiation" practice, the results were only discovered by accident.

A new study shows that cosmic radiation could be accelerating the growth of our Earth forests, though - as with most cosmic radiation effects - we don't know how it's happening or what the effects are.  But in accordance with standard "Science From Fantastical Space Radiation" practice, the results were only discovered by accident.

A new study shows that cosmic radiation could be accelerating the growth of our Earth forests, though - as with most cosmic radiation effects - we don't know how it's happening or what the effects are.  But in accordance with standard "Science From Fantastical Space Radiation" practice, the results were only discovered by accident.

Alien Oxygen Atmosphere Discovered (on Stars!)

Our planetary surveys are nowhere near Star Trek's strike rate - they keep finding worlds stuffed with green-skinned females, humanoid societies, and thinly veiled metaphors for the situations they left behind a few hundred light (and regular) years ago.  We find rocks which could freeze, explode and crush organic life just by looking at it.  Now we've found a couple of Earth-sized oxygen atmosphered bodies, which would be all the way M-Class except for one thing: they're stars.

Specifically, they're "white dwarfs": old stars who've burned all their hydrogen fuel, gone through the red giant stages where they fuse their way up to heavier elements, but lack the mass to supernova and collapse into neutron stars or black holes.  This is actually what'll happen to most stars, a relatively calm and cold fate, but there's no explosion so you don't hear about it much.

The Vatican -Embracing the Probability of Extraterrestrial Life?

This week the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences is holding its first major conference on astrobiology, convened on private Vatican grounds in the elegant Casina Pio IV, formerly the pope's villa. The gathering of prominent scientists and religious leaders from around the world suggests that some of the most tradition-bound faiths are seriously contemplating the possibility that life exists in many forms beyond Earth. 

Life Beyond Earth? NASA Examines Hints from Europa and Titan

Are We Alone in the Milky Way? - The 'Multi or Rare' Earth Debate

"There are maybe 30 million species on the planet today—10 to 30 million. If we look at the fossils, there are hundreds of millions of species in the past. And one time on Earth has intelligence arisen to the point where we can build a radio telescope (which is the definition of intelligence to a radio astronomer). One time out of hundreds of millions of possibilities. That's an astronomically small number of intelligences that have arisen—just one."

Peter Ward -paleontologist and professor of Biology and of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington.

"There are maybe 30 million species on the planet today—10 to 30 million. If we look at the fossils, there are hundreds of millions of species in the past. And one time on Earth has intelligence arisen to the point where we can build a radio telescope (which is the definition of intelligence to a radio astronomer). One time out of hundreds of millions of possibilities. That's an astronomically small number of intelligences that have arisen—just one."

Peter Ward -paleontologist and professor of Biology and of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington.

"Life's Chemistry Set" Found in Remote Reaches of Universe

While some have been scanning our nearest neighbors for signs of life, excited by the existence of ice and methane plumes on Mars, others have been looking farther afield. Much farther afield. Twenty-five thousand light years afield, in fact, which is a bit more afield than the human brain can actually picture without popping, and in the far flung locale of HMC G31.41+0.31 one of the basic components of life has been found.

The Paleo-Lakes of Mars (Can Fossil Fish Be Far Behind?)

This time we've seen shorelines for sure: early reports of Red planet irrigation might have been greatly overstated, created by optical illusions and an intense desire for neighbors, but we're working with much better equipment and we can now absolutely say that Mars had water.  Loads of it.  That noise you hear is the "Looking for Martian Life" group having an awesome party.

NASA's NextGen Astronauts - Bacteria With the Ability to Survive Radiation & Rapidly Repair Its Own DNA

A plot for the next Ridley Scott space thriller? The eye of the next generation HAL 9000? Guess again. NASA is experimenting was an extremeophile bacteria that could survive on another planet. In an Earth lab, Deinococcus radiodurans (D. rad) survive extreme levels of radiation, extreme temperatures, dehydration, and exposure to toxic chemicals.

"The Black Cloud" - Could Non-Carbon Life Exist in Cold Clouds of Interstellar Dust?

In 1964, astrophysicists in Fred Hoyle's scifi novel, The Black Cloud, become aware of an immense black cloud of gas that enters the solar system. The cloud, moving to interpose itself between the sun and the earth, could wipe out most of the life on earth by blocking solar radiation and ending photosynthesis. Astronomers and other scientists gather in England, where they discover that the cloud is a super-organism, many times more intelligent than our human species.

Unmasking Jupiter's Europa: The Search for an Alien Biosphere (VIDEO)

"There's nothing saying there is life there now.  But we do know there are the physical conditions to support it."

Richard Greenberg, University of Arizona. world's leading expert on Europa.

Do Cosmic Rays Affect Growth of Life on Earth?

A new study shows that cosmic radiation could be accelerating the growth of our Earth forests, though - as with most cosmic radiation effects - we don't know how it's happening or what the effects are.  But in accordance with standard "Science From Fantastical Space Radiation" practice, the results were only discovered by accident.

A new study shows that cosmic radiation could be accelerating the growth of our Earth forests, though - as with most cosmic radiation effects - we don't know how it's happening or what the effects are.  But in accordance with standard "Science From Fantastical Space Radiation" practice, the results were only discovered by accident.

A new study shows that cosmic radiation could be accelerating the growth of our Earth forests, though - as with most cosmic radiation effects - we don't know how it's happening or what the effects are.  But in accordance with standard "Science From Fantastical Space Radiation" practice, the results were only discovered by accident.

Alien Oxygen Atmosphere Discovered (on Stars!)

Our planetary surveys are nowhere near Star Trek's strike rate - they keep finding worlds stuffed with green-skinned females, humanoid societies, and thinly veiled metaphors for the situations they left behind a few hundred light (and regular) years ago.  We find rocks which could freeze, explode and crush organic life just by looking at it.  Now we've found a couple of Earth-sized oxygen atmosphered bodies, which would be all the way M-Class except for one thing: they're stars.

Specifically, they're "white dwarfs": old stars who've burned all their hydrogen fuel, gone through the red giant stages where they fuse their way up to heavier elements, but lack the mass to supernova and collapse into neutron stars or black holes.  This is actually what'll happen to most stars, a relatively calm and cold fate, but there's no explosion so you don't hear about it much.

The Vatican -Embracing the Probability of Extraterrestrial Life?

This week the Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences is holding its first major conference on astrobiology, convened on private Vatican grounds in the elegant Casina Pio IV, formerly the pope's villa. The gathering of prominent scientists and religious leaders from around the world suggests that some of the most tradition-bound faiths are seriously contemplating the possibility that life exists in many forms beyond Earth. 

Life Beyond Earth? NASA Examines Hints from Europa and Titan

Are We Alone in the Milky Way? - The 'Multi or Rare' Earth Debate

"There are maybe 30 million species on the planet today—10 to 30 million. If we look at the fossils, there are hundreds of millions of species in the past. And one time on Earth has intelligence arisen to the point where we can build a radio telescope (which is the definition of intelligence to a radio astronomer). One time out of hundreds of millions of possibilities. That's an astronomically small number of intelligences that have arisen—just one."

Peter Ward -paleontologist and professor of Biology and of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington.

"There are maybe 30 million species on the planet today—10 to 30 million. If we look at the fossils, there are hundreds of millions of species in the past. And one time on Earth has intelligence arisen to the point where we can build a radio telescope (which is the definition of intelligence to a radio astronomer). One time out of hundreds of millions of possibilities. That's an astronomically small number of intelligences that have arisen—just one."

Peter Ward -paleontologist and professor of Biology and of Earth and Space Sciences at the University of Washington.

"Life's Chemistry Set" Found in Remote Reaches of Universe

While some have been scanning our nearest neighbors for signs of life, excited by the existence of ice and methane plumes on Mars, others have been looking farther afield. Much farther afield. Twenty-five thousand light years afield, in fact, which is a bit more afield than the human brain can actually picture without popping, and in the far flung locale of HMC G31.41+0.31 one of the basic components of life has been found.

The Paleo-Lakes of Mars (Can Fossil Fish Be Far Behind?)

This time we've seen shorelines for sure: early reports of Red planet irrigation might have been greatly overstated, created by optical illusions and an intense desire for neighbors, but we're working with much better equipment and we can now absolutely say that Mars had water.  Loads of it.  That noise you hear is the "Looking for Martian Life" group having an awesome party.

NASA's NextGen Astronauts - Bacteria With the Ability to Survive Radiation & Rapidly Repair Its Own DNA

A plot for the next Ridley Scott space thriller? The eye of the next generation HAL 9000? Guess again. NASA is experimenting was an extremeophile bacteria that could survive on another planet. In an Earth lab, Deinococcus radiodurans (D. rad) survive extreme levels of radiation, extreme temperatures, dehydration, and exposure to toxic chemicals.

"The Black Cloud" - Could Non-Carbon Life Exist in Cold Clouds of Interstellar Dust?

In 1964, astrophysicists in Fred Hoyle's scifi novel, The Black Cloud, become aware of an immense black cloud of gas that enters the solar system. The cloud, moving to interpose itself between the sun and the earth, could wipe out most of the life on earth by blocking solar radiation and ending photosynthesis. Astronomers and other scientists gather in England, where they discover that the cloud is a super-organism, many times more intelligent than our human species.