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Close Encounters from Outer Space

Scientists across the globe are scrambling to learn more about the behavior and composition of asteroids. Peering into the borderlands of space, they ask: What can we learn from these flying rocks? Can we stop one from hitting Earth? Can we mine them for precious resources? » More …

Moons of ExoPlanet Gas Giants

Dirk Schulze-Makuch
Dirk Schulze-Makuch

With plumes of matter rising up to 186 miles (300 km) above the surface, Io is considered a prime candidate as a hotspot for extreme extraterrestrial life.

“Everyone right away tends to categorically exclude the possibility of life on Io,” said astrobiologist Dirk Schulze-Makuch at Washington State University. Conditions on Io might have made it a friendlier habitat in the distant past. If life did ever develop on Io, there is a chance it might have survived to the present day, Schulze-Makuch suggested. » More …

The Puzzle of Planetary Protection

Dirk Schulze-Makuch
Dirk Schulze-Makuch

In the paper, called The Overprotection of Mars, co-authors Alberto G. Fairén of the Department of Astronomy, Cornell University and Dirk Schulze-Makuch of the School of the Environment, Washington State University argue that the level of planetary protection needed to go to ‘sensitive areas’ would be prohibitively expensive to achieve. » More …