28 June 2019
NASA drone to search for signs of early life on Titan
... certain, but perhaps somewhere you wouldn’t want to go for a swim. Also like Earth, Titan is encased by a thick nitrogen atmosphere, but unlike our temperate planet, given the enormous distance separating it from the Sun – some...
01 July 2019
Earliest known galaxy merger detected by ALMA
..., so naturally many astronomers are eager to trace back the history of mergers. "Our next step is to search for nitrogen, another major chemical element, and even the carbon monoxide molecule," said Akio Inoue, a professor at Waseda...
17 January 2020
SpaceX's last critical test before crewed flights begin
... spacecraft will separate and the eight SuperDraco thrusters, which burn a high-pressure mix of hydrazine and nitrogen tetroxide propellants, will burn to completion. The spacecraft is planned to splash down under its upgraded Mark 3 parachutes...
24 January 2020
New study suggests Enceladus' oceans more habitable than previously thought
... for life, but last year, a new analysis of data collected by the mission revealed the presence of silica, nitrogen and oxygen in the plumes – the latter two being organic compounds that play a key role in producing...
06 March 2020
Life in the Universe could be common, but not near us says study
... of monomers called nucleotides and each nucleotide is made up of three components: a pentose (five-carbon) sugar called ribose, a nitrogenous base and a phosphate group. To get life kick-started, some researchers believe that RNA needs at least...
27 March 2020
Mercury's crust could have had episodic habitable conditions, new study says
... of volatile materials escaping Mercury’s subsurface. These volatiles, or volatile-rich compounds, include chemicals such as nitrogen, water, hydrogen, carbon dioxide and sulphates, stretched as far down as at least 2.5 kilometres, if not further...
