Dark Fires / Topics
Search for Life
Follow the scientific search for life beyond Earth, from habitable worlds and biosignatures to SETI and technosignatures, with evidence, uncertainty, and original research in view.
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Carbon Dioxide and Clouds Complicate the Search for Habitable Worlds
New climate simulations examine how carbon dioxide and clouds shape potentially habitable planets, and the signals future telescopes might see.
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Early Earth’s Cooling May Have Opened a Window for RNA-World Chemistry
A new model identifies a favorable window around 4.33 billion years ago for persistent prebiotic chemistry, without establishing when life began.
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A Tiny Electrical Sensor Reads the Handedness of Life’s Building Blocks
A new nanogap sensor distinguishes mirror-image amino acids in meteorite and desert samples, advancing a promising tool for the search for life.
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A Heat-Loving Amoeba Raises the Temperature Limit for Complex Cells
A September Cell study shows Incendiamoeba cascadensis dividing at 63°C. The result expands the known limits of eukaryotic growth and gives astrobiologists a more precise question about what makes an…
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Could Life Remain Aloft? A Research Agenda for Habitable Skies
A paper in Astrobiology’s October issue asks whether microbes could maintain entire generations in the air. Earth’s active cloud microbes offer a starting point, while Venus shows why temperature alone…
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LoFreq-SETI Prepares a Search for Technology in Low-Frequency Radio
An October 2 preprint tests a new way to search Long Wavelength Array observations for narrow radio signals. The demonstration found no plausible technosignature, but establishes tools for a future…
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Could Lunar Dust Preserve Microscopic Traces of Ancient Technology?
A proposed search would examine lunar material for engineered grains. Its value depends on testable transport models and rigorous checks against natural material.
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A Nearby Two-Star System Still Has Room for Smaller, Potentially Habitable Worlds
A sensitive search found no convincing giant-planet signal in 70 Ophiuchi. Orbital modelling leaves open the possibility of smaller planets around its primary star.
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Enceladus’s Ice Grains Could Concentrate the Clues Future Life Searches Need
A new analysis of Cassini measurements suggests freezing and fragmentation separate ocean chemicals into individual grains, with important consequences for future sampling.
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Scientists Update the Ground Rules for Announcing Extraterrestrial Intelligence
How should researchers handle a possible discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence? Updated international guidelines put independent checking ahead of a public announcement, while a separate preparedness report considers how people might…