March 05, 2026

EXO WORLDS Einstein effect clears planets from tight double star systems Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 04, 2026 Of the more than 4,500 stars known to have planets, one puzzling statistic stands out. Even though nearly all stars are expected to have planets and most stars form in pairs, planets that orbit both stars in a pair are rare. Of the more than 6,000 extrasolar planets, or exoplanets, confirmed to date - most of them found by NASA's Kepler Space Telescope and the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite (TESS) - only 14 are observed to orbit binary stars. There should be hundreds. Where are all the plan ... read more

Frozen hydrogen cyanide crystals may have helped spark early chemistry for life Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 04, 2026 Hydrogen cyanide is highly poisonous to humans, yet new work suggests it could have played a constructive role in the emergence of life on early Earth and in other cold environments in the solar sys ... more Engineered microbes use light to build new molecules Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 04, 2026 Researchers are developing new ways to reprogram the cellular machinery of microbes such as yeast and bacteria so they can manufacture useful products for medicine and industry. A team at the Carl R ... more Cosmic dust chemistry forges peptide building blocks in deep space Berlin, Germany (SPX) Mar 03, 2026 New experiments show that key molecular building blocks for life can form spontaneously on icy dust grains in deep space long before planets emerge from collapsing gas clouds. In a laboratory ... more Survey of 80 near Earth asteroids sharpens view of their origins and risks Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Mar 02, 2026 Near Earth asteroids are small bodies whose orbits cross or come close to Earth, making them key tracers of Solar System formation and evolution as well as potential impact hazards for our planet. ... more

Pressure driven leakage from marine snow feeds deep ocean microbes Paris, France (SPX) Mar 02, 2026 Sydney, Australia (SPX) Feb 10, 2026 For many years, scientists viewed the deep ocean as a nutrient poor realm where microbes in the water column scraped by on scarce resources. New research from t ... more JWST study links sulfur rich gas giants to core growth in distant HR 8799 system Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 02, 2026 Gas giants are large planets composed mainly of hydrogen and helium with dense cores but no solid surfaces. Astronomers have long debated how the most massive of these worlds form and where the boun ... more Debris disc oddities point to hidden outer planets Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 03, 2026 Astronomers have obtained some of the most detailed images yet of debris discs around fully formed, so called teenage planetary systems, and say the irregular structures they see could reveal the pr ... more Hidden magma oceans could shield rocky exoplanets from harmful radiation Rochester NY (SPX) Mar 02, 2026 Deep beneath the surface of distant exoplanets known as super-earths, oceans of molten rock may be doing something extraordinary: powering magnetic fields strong enough to shield entire planets from ... more Hydrogen sulfide detected in distant gas giant exoplanets for the first time Los Angeles CA (SPX) Mar 02, 2026 Hydrogen sulfide is what makes rotten eggs stink. But the discovery of this gas in the atmospheres of four distant, Jupiter-like planets is turning heads for a pleasant reason: It solves the mystery ... more

Icy cycles may have driven early protocell evolution Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Mar 02, 2026 Modern cells rely on intricate molecular machinery and genetic programs to grow and divide, but the earliest protocells were likely simple lipid-bound compartments whose behavior depended mainly on ... more Lab made cosmic dust experiment reveals paths to life chemistry Sydney, Australia (SPX) Mar 02, 2026 A PhD candidate at the University of Sydney has recreated a small slice of cosmic chemistry in the laboratory by manufacturing carbon rich dust under conditions that mimic space. Working in the Scho ... more Study revisits chances of detecting alien technosignatures Sydney, Australia (SPX) Mar 02, 2026 For more than sixty years, astronomers have searched the sky for signs of advanced extraterrestrial technology, scanning the Milky Way for artificial radio transmissions, optical flashes and excess ... more Study questions assumptions about hidden alien technosignals Berlin, Germany (SPX) Feb 20, 2026 For more than sixty years, astronomers have conducted systematic searches for technosignatures, looking for artificial radio emissions, laser flashes, or excess heat that could reveal advanced civil ... more Cheops spots inside out exoplanet quartet Paris, France (SPX) Feb 16, 2026 Many students learn memory tricks to remember the order of the Solar System's planets, with rocky worlds close to the Sun and gas giants farther out. Astronomers have now found a nearby planet ... more

Scientist wins 'Environment Nobel' for shedding light on hidden fungal networks Washington, US (AFP) Jan 14, 2026 Beneath the surface of forests, grasslands and farms across the world, vast fungal webs form underground trading systems to exchange nutrients with plant roots, acting as critical climate regulators as they draw down 13 billion tons of carbon annually. Yet until recently, these "mycorrhizal networks" were greatly underestimated: seen as merely helpful companions to plants rather than one of Earth's vital circulatory systems. American evolutionary biologist Toby Kiers has now been awarded the Tyl ... read more Metal rich winds detected in giant dusty cloud around distant star Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 26, 2026 Sweeping winds of vaporized metals have been detected in a massive cloud of gas and dust that dimmed the light of a distant star for nearly nine months, offering a rare view of late stage planetary ... more

ALMA survey maps turbulent youth of distant planetary systems Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jan 21, 2026 Astronomers have assembled the most detailed view so far of planetary systems in a long elusive stage between their birth and maturity, using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) ... more Hidden magma oceans could shield rocky exoplanets from harmful radiation Rochester NY (SPX) Jan 19, 2026 Deep beneath the surface of distant exoplanets known as super-earths, oceans of molten rock may be doing something extraordinary: powering magnetic fields strong enough to shield entire planets from ... more Berkeley Scientists set to home in on 100 signals from Seti at Home Berkeley, United States (SPX) Jan 12, 2026 For 21 years, between 1999 and 2020, millions of people worldwide loaned UC Berkeley scientists their computers to search for signs of advanced civilizations in our galaxy. The project - calle ... more Mixed crystal phase of superionic water mapped inside giant planets Berlin, Germany (SPX) Jan 13, 2026 Temperatures of several thousand degrees Celsius and pressures of millions of atmospheres drive water into a superionic state in which hydrogen ions move freely through a solid lattice of oxygen ato ... more Pandora exoplanet mission checks in after launch Los Angeles CA (SPX) Jan 13, 2026 NASA mission controllers have acquired full signal from the agency's Pandora small satellite, confirming the health and initial operations of the exoplanet observatory following launch from Vandenbe ... more

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