Archaeology News Online

The world's most indestructible species, the tardigrade, an eight-legged micro-animal, also known as the water bear, will survive until the Sun dies, according to a new Oxford University collaboration. The tardigrade, also known as the water bear, is the toughest, most resilient, form of life on Earth  [Credit: Shutterstock] The new study published in Scientific Reports , has shown that the tiny creatures, will survive the risk of extinction from all astrophysical catastrophes, and be around for at least 10 billion years -- far longer than the human race. Although much attention has been given to the cataclysmic impact that an astrophysical event would have on human life, very little has been published around what it would take to kill the tardigrade, and wipe out life on this planet. The research implies that life on Earth in general, will extend as long as the Sun keeps shining. It also reveals that once life emerges, it is surprisingly resilient and difficult to destroy, opening...

Two separate teams of scientists have identified major challenges for the development of life in what has recently become one of the most famous exoplanet systems, TRAPPIST-1. Two separate teams of scientists from the CfA have identified major challenges for the development of life  in TRAPPIST-1. The TRAPPIST-1 system, depicted here in an artist's conception, contains seven roughly  Earth-sized planets orbiting a red dwarf, which is a faint, low-mass star. This star spins rapidly and generates  energetic flares of ultraviolet radiation and a strong wind of particles. The research teams say the behavior  of this red dwarf makes it much less likely than generally thought that the three planets orbiting well within  the habitable zone could support life [Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt] The teams, both led by researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge, Mass., say the behavior of the star in the TRAPPIST-1 system makes it muc...

Hopes of finding life on Mars, at least on the surface, were dealt a blow Thursday by a study revealing that salt minerals present on the Red Planet kill bacteria. Latest lab tests show salt minerals on Mars kill basic life form bacteria, implying the 'Red Planet'  is more uninhabitable than previously thought [Credit: AFP] In lab tests on Earth, the compounds known as perchlorates killed cultures of the bacteria Bacillus subtilis, a basic life form, a research duo from the University of Edinburgh’s School of Physics and Astronomy reported. Perchlorates, stable at room temperature, become active at high heat. Mars is very cold. In the new study, Jennifer Wadsworth and Charles Cockell showed the compound can also be activated by UV light, without heat, in conditions mimicking those on the martian surface. It killed bacteria within minutes, said the team, implying the planet was "more uninhabitable than previously thought." "If we want to find life on Mars, we hav...

The world's most indestructible species, the tardigrade, an eight-legged micro-animal, also known as the water bear, will survive until the Sun dies, according to a new Oxford University collaboration. The tardigrade, also known as the water bear, is the toughest, most resilient, form of life on Earth  [Credit: Shutterstock] The new study published in Scientific Reports , has shown that the tiny creatures, will survive the risk of extinction from all astrophysical catastrophes, and be around for at least 10 billion years -- far longer than the human race. Although much attention has been given to the cataclysmic impact that an astrophysical event would have on human life, very little has been published around what it would take to kill the tardigrade, and wipe out life on this planet. The research implies that life on Earth in general, will extend as long as the Sun keeps shining. It also reveals that once life emerges, it is surprisingly resilient and difficult to destroy, opening...

Two separate teams of scientists have identified major challenges for the development of life in what has recently become one of the most famous exoplanet systems, TRAPPIST-1. Two separate teams of scientists from the CfA have identified major challenges for the development of life  in TRAPPIST-1. The TRAPPIST-1 system, depicted here in an artist's conception, contains seven roughly  Earth-sized planets orbiting a red dwarf, which is a faint, low-mass star. This star spins rapidly and generates  energetic flares of ultraviolet radiation and a strong wind of particles. The research teams say the behavior  of this red dwarf makes it much less likely than generally thought that the three planets orbiting well within  the habitable zone could support life [Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/R. Hurt] The teams, both led by researchers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA) in Cambridge, Mass., say the behavior of the star in the TRAPPIST-1 system makes it muc...