Connect with us

Published

on

A decades-old pursuit to explore for life beyond Earth has received new impetus with a recent discovery that promises to simplify and make routine the task of searching for life on distant planets where signs of life are hard to detect. A team of astrobiologists, chemists, and planetary scientists built the model to assess whether, based on what’s known about an alien environment but very little else, that environment could host certain kinds of life. It takes into account organism types, environmental variables, and the probability of survival in a harsh planetary climate. The idea is to inform future telescope missions and life-detection strategies throughout the cosmos.

NASA’s New Habitability Model Calculates Odds of Life on Alien Worlds with Limited Data

As per a report from The Conversation, the model, dubbed the “quantitative habitability framework”, was developed as part of NASA’s Alien Earths project. It throws out the usual “follow the water” guideline and rather compares the environmental conditions to the demands of organisms that inhabit Earth or even theoretical alien counterparts. This probabilistic approach quantifies the odds that life might be compatible with

a given habitat and provides realistic expectations for scientists regarding where and how to look for the presence of life in the universe.

The open-source tool, which was built to be adaptable, was further validated with organisms that live within extreme environments on Earth, such as insects that live in the Himalayas and microbes that live in Earth’s depths, to assess their chances of survival in alien environments such as in the Martian subsurface and beneath Europa’s oceans.

Researchers can calculate the likelihood of life on planets or moons using evidence-based approaches, without needing the full chemical and atmospheric data, to help interpret biosignatures and optimise telescope targeting.

The framework is designed to assess whether environments may be able to host known or hypothetical alien life. The framework is intended to grow over time to include extremophiles and simulations.

Continue Reading

Science

Chinese Astronauts Strengthen Tiangong’s Defenses Against Space Debris

Published

on

By

On Aug. 15, Chinese astronauts Chen Dong and Wang Jie completed a 6.5-hour spacewalk to strengthen the Tiangong space station’s defenses against orbital debris. Working outside the station, they installed new protective panels and inspected external systems. The mission marked Chen Dong’s sixth career EVA—the most by a Chinese astronaut—and the third for Shenz…

Continue Reading

Science

Hubble Discovers White Dwarf Merger Remnant with Unusual Carbon Signature

Published

on

By

An international team of astronomers has discovered WD 0525+526, an unusual white dwarf about 128 light-years away, using NASA’s Hubble Space Telescope. Unlike typical white dwarfs, this star formed through a stellar merger and shows an unexpectedly high carbon content. With a mass of 1.2 Suns and a scorching surface temperature of 21,000 K, the discovery suggests t…

Continue Reading

Science

New Battery Tech May Double EV Range and Safety, Researchers in China Claim

Published

on

By

A team in China has unveiled a lithium battery design with over 600 Wh/kg energy density—double that of Tesla’s best batteries. If scalable, the breakthrough could revolutionise electric vehicles, extend driving ranges, and improve safety. Researchers caution that it remains a proof-of-concept requiring more real-world testing before mass adoption.

Continue Reading

Trending