Mars
Ancient Mars Was Warm with Occasional Rain, Turning Cold 
Scientists have long known that water was abundant on ancient Mars, but there has been no consensus on whether liquid water was common, or whether it was largely frozen in ice.
Habitable Zones & Global Climate
The Search for Living Worlds and the Connection to Our Cosmic Origins
One of the most exciting scientific challenges is to detect Earth-like planets in the habitable zones of other stars in the galaxy and search for evidence of life.
Habitable Zones & Global Climate
Habitability of Galaxies and Application of Merger Trees in Astrobiology
Galaxies represent the main form of organization of matter in our universe. Therefore, they are of obvious interest for the new multidisciplinary field of astrobiology.
Habitable Zones & Global Climate
Inner Edge of Habitable Zones for Earth-sized Planets with Various Surface Water Distributions
When planets receive insolation above a certain critical value called the runaway threshold, liquid surface water vaporizes completely, which forms the inner edge of the habitable zone.
Extrasolar Planets
How Many Earth-like Planets Are Around Sun-like Stars?
A new study provides the most accurate estimate of the frequency that planets that are similar to Earth in size and in distance from their host star occur around stars similar to our Sun.
Astrochemistry
Key Phosphorus-based Molecule For Life On Earth May Have Come From Space
The answer to "How did the first organisms on Earth incorporate the critical element phosphorus?" has been a quandary for researchers, but, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa physical chemists believe a meteoric visitor could be the critical link.
Biosignatures & Paleobiology
Earth As An Exoplanet: A Two-dimensional Alien Map
Resolving spatially-varying exoplanet features from single-point light curves is essential for determining whether Earth-like worlds harbor geological features and/or climate systems that influence habitability.
Biosignatures & Paleobiology
Fluorescent Glow May Reveal Hidden Life In The Cosmos
Astronomers have uncovered a new way of searching for life in the cosmos. Harsh ultraviolet radiation flares from red suns, once thought to destroy surface life on planets, might help uncover hidden biospheres. Their radiation could trigger a protective glow from life on exoplanets called biofluorescence, according to new Cornell University research.
Extrasolar Planets
Red Dots: A Temperate 1.5 Earth-mass Planet In A Compact Multi-terrestrial Planet System Around GJ1061
Small low-mass stars are favourable targets for the detection of rocky habitable planets. In particular, planetary systems in the solar neighbourhood are interesting and suitable for precise characterisation. The Red Dots campaigns seek to discover rocky planets orbiting nearby low-mass stars.
TRAPPIST-1
James Webb Space Telescope Will Study TRAPPIST-1 Planet Atmospheres
The study, led by Jacob Lustig-Yaeger, a UW doctoral student in astronomy, finds that the James Webb telescope, set to launch in 2021, might be able to learn key information about the atmospheres of the TRAPPIST-1 worlds even in its first year of operation, unless -- as an old song goes -- clouds get in the way.
Astrochemistry
The Photolysis of Aromatic Hydrocarbons Adsorbed on the Surfaces of Cosmic Dust Grains
The work is devoted to the adaptation of the results of laboratory studies of the laser-induced dissociation of molecules of benzene adsorbed on a quartz substrate to the conditions of the interstellar medium.
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