Tag Archives: habitability

Dwarf Planet Ceres Might Have Hosted a Lasting Source of Chemical Energy to Support Habitability

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While there is no conclusive evidence of microorganisms on Ceres, recent research bolsters the theory that this dwarf planet may have once harbored conditions conducive to single-cell life.

An illustration of Ceres’ interior, highlighting the movement of water and gas from the rocky core to the saltwater reservoir. Carbon dioxide and methane are chemical energy carriers beneath Ceres’ surface. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

Previous scientific data from NASA’s Dawn Mission indicated that bright reflective areas on Ceres’ surface were formed from salt left behind by liquid that seeped from below ground.

A subsequent 2020 analysis identified that this liquid originated from a vast reservoir of subsurface brine.

Additional studies found organic materials in the form of carbon molecules on Ceres. While this alone doesn’t confirm the existence of microbial life, it is a crucial component.

Water and carbon molecules are two fundamental aspects of the habitability puzzle for this distant world.

The latest findings suggest that ancient chemical energy on Ceres could have supported the survival of microorganisms.

This does not imply that Ceres currently hosts life, but if it did, “food” sources are likely to have been available.

In a new study led by Dr. Sam Courville from Arizona State University and NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, a thermal and chemical model was developed to simulate the temperature and composition within Ceres over time.

They discovered that approximately 2.5 billion years ago, Ceres’ underground oceans possibly maintained a stable supply of warm water with dissolved gases emanating from metamorphic rocks in the rocky core.

The heat originated from the decay of radioactive elements within the planet’s rocky interior, a process typical in our solar system.

“On Earth, when hot water from deep underground interacts with ocean water, it frequently creates a fertility hotspot for microorganisms, releasing a wealth of chemical energy,” stated Dr. Courville.

“Therefore, if Ceres’ oceans experienced hydrothermal activity in the past, it would align well with our findings.”

As it stands, Ceres is not likely to be habitable today, being cooler and having less ice and water than it once did.

At present, the heat from radioactive decay in Ceres is inadequate to prevent water from freezing, resulting in highly concentrated saltwater.

The timeframe during which Ceres was likely habitable ranges from 5 billion to 2 billion years ago, coinciding with when its rocky core peaked in temperature.

This is when warm liquid water would have been introduced into Ceres’ groundwater.

Dwarf planets generally lack the benefit of ongoing internal heating due to tidal interactions with larger planets, unlike Enceladus and Europa, moons of Saturn and Jupiter, respectively.

Thus, the highest potential for a habitable Ceres existed in its past.

“Since then, Ceres’ oceans are likely to be cold, concentrated saltwater with minimal energy sources, making current habitability unlikely,” the authors concluded.

A paper detailing these findings was published today in the journal Advances in Science.

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Samuel W. Courville et al. 2025. Core metamorphosis controls the dynamic habitability of the medium-sized marine world – the case of Ceres. Advances in Science 11 (34); doi: 10.1126/sciadv.adt3283

Source: www.sci.news

Is Terraforming Mars a Path to Habitability?

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In their recent study, planetary scientist Nina Lanza and her team at the Los Alamos National Laboratory explored the necessary steps to transform Mars’ surface into a more Earthlike environment, and what actions are required now if we aspire to make the Red Planet capable of sustaining human life in the future.

Impressions of terraformed Mars artists. Image credits: Daein Ballard/CC by-sa 3.0.

“Believe it or not, since 1991, there has been no comprehensive examination of Mars’ viability for terraforming,” stated Dr. Lanza.

“Since that time, we have made remarkable progress in Mars science, geoengineering, launch capabilities, and bioscience.”

Terraforming Mars involves warming its atmosphere and enabling engineered microorganisms to generate oxygen through photosynthesis.

“We need to confront the actual requirements, costs, and potential risks before determining whether the effort to warm Mars is worthwhile, as opposed to the alternative of preserving it as a pristine wilderness,” the researchers noted.

The research paper discusses current understanding of Mars’ water, carbon dioxide, soil composition, and potential strategies to raise Mars’ surface temperature, enhance atmospheric pressure, and increase oxygen levels.

Innovative methods have been developed that could elevate Mars’ average global temperature by several tens of degrees.

Research priorities should focus on understanding the fundamental physical, chemical, and biological limitations that will influence future decisions regarding Mars. This research could drive advancements in Mars exploration, biological sciences, and atmospheric engineering.

“This work could ultimately aid in maintaining the ‘Oasis Earth’,” the scientist mentioned.

“Technologies developed for Mars habitation, such as drought-resistant crops, efficient soil enhancements, and advanced ecosystem modeling, could also benefit our home planet.”

“Terraforming research on Mars serves as a crucial testbed for planetary science, probing theoretical frameworks and revealing knowledge gaps.”

“Ongoing research promises significant scientific breakthroughs, regardless of whether large-scale terraforming takes place.”

“Until that study is completed, we cannot ascertain what is physically or biologically feasible.”

“If humanity can learn to terraform a planet like Mars, it may pave the way for future exploration beyond our solar system.”

The team’s paper was published in the journal Natural Astronomy on May 13th.

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ea debenedictis et al. 2025. A case study of terraforming on Mars. Nut Athlon 9, 634-639; doi:10.1038/s41550-025-02548-0

Source: www.sci.news

What if astronomers discover no signs of habitability or biosignatures on future exoplanets?

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Using advanced statistical modeling, a team of researchers from ETH Zurich, Seti Institute, and University ‘Tor Vergata’ Yonversity investigated how many exoplanets should be observed and understood before declaring that life beyond Earth is common or rare.

Future telescopes will investigate mild terrestrial exoplanets to estimate the frequency of habitable or inhabited worlds. Angerhausen et al. It aims to determine the minimum number of exoplanets required to draw statistically significant conclusions. Particularly for null results (i.e., no detection). Image credit: Sci.News.

In science, not being able to find anything can bring important insights.

When scientists look for life on exoplanets, they often focus on certain characteristics, such as water, gases like oxygen and methane, which may exhibit biological activity.

But what if scientists can’t find these features? Can we learn meaningful things about how ordinary life exists in the universe?

“Even one positive detection changes everything, but up until then we need to make sure we are learning as much as possible from what we can’t find,” said Dr. Daniel Angerhausen, researcher at ETH Zurich and SETI Institute.

New research shows that if scientists look at 40-80 planets and can’t find any signs of life, they can confidently conclude that less than 10-20% of similar planets have life.

However, this depends heavily on how certain we are for each observation.

These discoveries allow scientists to set meaningful caps on the prevalence of living in the universe.

Furthermore, if there is only 10% of planets in the Milky Way alone that have some form of life, it could still be more than 10 billion planets.

“This kind of outcome would be a turning point,” Dr. Angerhausen said.

“Even if life is not found, ultimately we can quantify planets that are truly rare or common with planets with detectable biosignatures.”

The findings will have a direct impact on future missions such as NASA’s Habitable World Observatory (HWO) and European-led large-scale interferometers on exoplanets searching for life.

These missions will study dozens of Earth-like planets by analyzing the planet’s atmosphere for water, oxygen, and even more complex biosignature signs.

Research shows that the number of observed planets is large enough to draw critical conclusions about the likelihood and prevalence of life in the galaxy.

However, this study points out that even with advanced equipment, these studies should carefully account for uncertainty and bias, and develop frameworks to ensure statistically meaningful results.

One important insight from this study is that uncertainty in individual observations, such as false negatives, can significantly impact conclusions.

“It’s not just the number of planets we observe. It’s about how confident we are to see what we’re looking for or not,” Dr. Angerhausen said.

“If we are not careful and confident in our ability to identify life, even large-scale research can lead to misleading consequences.”

The study will be published in today’s Astronomy Journal.

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Daniel Engerhausen et al. 2025. What if nothing is found? Bayesian analysis of null statistics in future exoplanet habitability and biosignature investigations. AJ 169, 238; doi:10.3847/1538-3881/adb96d

Source: www.sci.news

Advancements in Research Shed Light on Habitability of Oceanic Worlds in Our Solar System and Beyond

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In a new paper, planetary researchers from Texas A&M University and the University of Washington introduce a new thermodynamic concept called centotectics to investigate the stability of liquids under extreme conditions. This is important information for determining the habitability of icy moons and oceanic exoplanets.

Europa's surface stands out in this newly reprocessed color view. Image scale is 1.6 km per pixel. North of Europe is on the right. Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech / SETI Institute.

Exploration of icy ocean worlds represents a new frontier in planetary science, with a focus on understanding the potential of these environments to support life.

New research is addressing fundamental questions in this field. Under what conditions can liquid water remain stable on these distant frozen bodies?

The authors provide an important framework for interpreting data from planetary exploration activities by defining and measuring the cenotect, the absolute minimum temperature at which a liquid remains stable under various pressures and concentrations.

This research combines their expertise in cryobiology with their expertise in planetary science and high-pressure water ice systems.

Together, they developed a framework that bridges the disciplines to tackle one of the most fascinating challenges in planetary science.

2016 artist concept for the European Clipper spacecraft. As spacecraft development progresses, the design changes. Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech.

“The launch of NASA's Europa Clipper, the largest planetary exploration mission ever launched, ushered us into a decades-long era of exploration of the frigid ocean world,” said Dr. Baptiste Journeau, a planetary scientist at the University of Washington. It's coming in,” he said.

“Measurements from this and other missions will tell us the depth of the ocean and its composition.”

“Laboratory measurements of liquid stability, particularly the lowest possible temperature (a newly defined cenotect), combined with the mission results will help us determine how habitable the solar system's cold, deep oceans are, and how likely they will ultimately be. It will be possible to completely constrain what the temperature will be.''The fate would be when the moon or planet cools down completely. ”

“The study of icy worlds is a particular priority for both NASA and ESA, as evidenced by the spate of recent and upcoming spacecraft launches,” said Dr. Matt Powell-Palm, a planetary scientist at Texas A&M University. Ta.

“We hope to help Texas A&M provide intellectual leadership in this area.”

of paper Published in the Journal on December 18, 2024 nature communications.

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A. Zaris others. 2024. On the equilibrium limit of liquid stability in pressurized water systems. nut community15;doi: 10.1038/s41467-024-54625-z

Source: www.sci.news

Could the habitability of Mars be enhanced with the assistance of shiny steel bars?

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Terraforming Mars would make it more similar to Earth, creating an environment capable of supporting life as we know it.

Detlef van Ravensweig/Science Photo Library

Releasing iron rods the size of glitter particles into the Martian atmosphere could raise the planet's temperature enough to melt water and support microbial life.

Making the Red Planet's surface habitable for Earth-like life – a process known as “terraforming” – will be a complex one, but a key part of it will be raising the surface temperature above the current median freezing point of -65°C (-85°F).

Some have suggested placing mirrors on the Martian surface or pumping methane into the atmosphere, but these ideas are difficult to implement because the necessary raw materials would need to be shipped from Earth.

now, Edwin Kite Researchers at the University of Chicago in Illinois found that a relatively tiny dust cloud (about 9 micrometers long and 160 nanometers wide) made from iron or aluminum rods mined from Martian rocks could warm Mars by about 30 degrees Celsius over the course of a few months to more than a decade, depending on how quickly the particles are released.

These rods, each about 9 micrometers long and 160 nanometers wide, are carried by winds from the surface into Mars' upper atmosphere, where they will remain for about 10 years, trapping heat from the surface and transmitting sunlight.

Kite and his colleagues modeled how the rods respond to light and fed that information into climate simulations, which showed that the increased temperature and pressure would be enough to support liquid water and possibly oxygen-producing bacteria in parts of Mars.

They also found that to achieve this warming, it would be enough to release the fuel rods at a rate fast enough to power about 30 garden sprinklers — a total of 700,000 cubic meters of metal per year, or about 1% of Earth's metal production.

“When we did the math, we found that the amount of man-made dust we needed would be surprisingly small — much less than we would need to create the same amount of warming with man-made greenhouse gases,” Kyte says.

While mining the Martian surface would still be difficult, Kite says this would be 5,000 times more efficient than any warming method proposed so far.

One of the big uncertainties in the simulations is how the tiny bars interact with water in the Martian atmosphere, which could have unexpected effects such as causing the water to collect around the dust and rain down back to the surface, reducing global warming.

It's an intriguing idea that might work if the particles remain in the atmosphere long enough, he said. Manoj Joshi researcher at the University of East Anglia in the U.K. But even if the amount of metal needed is small, he says it would still be an enormous amount of work to produce.

Joshi said there are also ethical questions about whether it's OK to alter the atmosphere of another planet: “Mars is so unexplored and we don't know much about it. Is it OK to alter a planet in this way?”

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Source: www.newscientist.com