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Scientists have expanded our understanding of potentially habitable planets orbiting distant stars by including a critical climate component - the presence of airborne dust.

Researchers have shown that bacteria can survive on an 'extraterrestrial diet', which affected their pathogenic potential.

New research could shed light on how complex extraterrestrial life might evolve in alien worlds.

Cosmic rays may have left indelible imprint on early life, Stanford physicist says

Using advanced techniques, scientists have detected organic compounds containing nitrogen in Martian meteorites which were ejected from Mars' surface ~ 15 million years ago, proving that evidence for early life can be preserved and detected today

The next generation of powerful Earth- and space-based telescopes will be able to hunt distant solar systems for evidence of life on Earth-like exoplanets – particularly those that chaperone burned-out stars known as white dwarfs.

Every rock tells a story, and so does each fatty acid called a lipid. Your cholesterol, which is part lipid and part protein, could last for billions of years, and contains the information that you are a mammal. Could we find lipids beyond Earth? NASA

To study the history of life on Earth and look for it beyond our planet, scientists in the field of astrobiology look for signs called “biosignatures". By looking at what life on Earth was like millions and even billions of years ago, astrobiologists can make

By mimicking rocky seafloor chimneys in the lab, scientists have produced new evidence that these features could have provided the right ingredients to kick-start life.

Because of the importance of water to sustain life, the question of the origin of water on Earth is primordial. A major challenge in investigating this question is that Earth has lost all the traces of its formation since it is an active planet.