Edward Schwieterman

Signs of alien life may be hiding in these gases

Anonymous — Wed, 04 Jun 2025 20:55:55 +0000

Signs of alien life may be hiding in these gases Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 06/04/2025 - 13:55 More News Jules Bernstein March 13, 2025

Scientists have identified a promising new way to detect life on faraway planets, hinging on worlds that look nothing like Earth and gases rarely considered in the search for extraterrestrials.

In a new Astrophysical Journal Letters paper, researchers from the University of California, Riverside, describe these gases, which could be detected in the atmospheres of exoplanets — planets outside our solar system — with the James Webb Space Telescope, or JWST.

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Edward Schwieterman

Telltale greenhouse gases could signal alien activity

Tracie Ventimiglia — Thu, 27 Jun 2024 20:54:44 +0000

Telltale greenhouse gases could signal alien activity Tracie Ventimiglia Thu, 06/27/2024 - 13:54 More News Jules Bernstein June 25, 2024

If aliens modified a planet in their solar system to make it warmer, we’d be able to tell. A new UC Riverside study identifies the artificial greenhouse gases that would be giveaways of a terraformed planet.

A terraformed planet has been artificially made hospitable for life. The gases described in the study would be detectable even at relatively low concentrations in the atmospheres of planets outside our solar system using existing technology. This could include the James Webb Space Telescope, or a future European-led space telescope concept.

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Edward Schwieterman

Webb telescope probably didn’t find life on an exoplanet — yet

Tracie Ventimiglia — Thu, 02 May 2024 17:51:53 +0000

Webb telescope probably didn’t find life on an exoplanet — yet Tracie Ventimiglia Thu, 05/02/2024 - 10:51 More News Jules Bernstein May 02, 2024

Recent reports of NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope finding signs of life on a distant planet understandably sparked excitement. A new study challenges this finding, but also outlines how the telescope might verify the presence of the life-produced gas.

The UC Riverside study, published in the Astrophysical Journal Letters, may be a disappointment to extraterrestrial enthusiasts but does not rule out the near-future possibility of discovery.

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Edward Schwieterman

Broccoli gas: a better way to find life in space

Mayra Gandarilla — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 18:34:35 +0000

Broccoli gas: a better way to find life in space Mayra Gandarilla Fri, 10/21/2022 - 11:34 More News Jules Bernstein October 10, 2022

"Broccoli, along with other plants and microorganisms, emit gases to help them expel toxins. Scientists believe these gases could provide compelling evidence of life on other planets.

These types of gases are made when organisms add a carbon and three hydrogen atoms to an undesirable chemical element. This process, called methylation, can turn potential toxins into gases that float safely away into the atmosphere. If these gases were to be detected in the atmosphere of another planet using telescopes, they would be suggestive of life somewhere on that planet."

Astrobiology

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Astrobiology

Edward Schwieterman

Laughing gas in space could mean life

Mayra Gandarilla — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 18:18:45 +0000

Laughing gas in space could mean life Mayra Gandarilla Fri, 10/21/2022 - 11:18 More News Jules Bernstein October 04, 2022

"Scientists at UC Riverside are suggesting something is missing from the typical roster of chemicals that astrobiologists use to search for life on planets around other stars — laughing gas.

Chemical compounds in a planet’s atmosphere that could indicate life, called biosignatures, typically include gases found in abundance in Earth’s atmosphere today."

Astrobiology

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Edward Schwieterman

Astrobiology

Ancient microbes may help us find extraterrestrial life forms

Mayra Gandarilla — Wed, 29 Jun 2022 17:07:07 +0000

Ancient microbes may help us find extraterrestrial life forms Mayra Gandarilla Wed, 06/29/2022 - 10:07 More News June 27, 2022

"Using light-capturing proteins in living microbes, scientists have reconstructed what life was like for some of Earth’s earliest organisms. These efforts could help us recognize signs of life on other planets, whose atmospheres may more closely resemble our pre-oxygen planet.

The earliest living things, including bacteria and single-celled organisms called archaea, inhabited a primarily oceanic planet without an ozone layer to protect them from the sun’s radiation. These microbes evolved rhodopsins — proteins with the ability to turn sunlight into energy, using them to power cellular processes."

Astrobiology

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Edward Schwieterman

Investigating the potential for life around the galaxy’s smallest stars

Anonymous — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 20:04:45 +0000

Investigating the potential for life around the galaxy’s smallest stars Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 09/29/2021 - 13:04 More News September 29, 2021

"When the world’s most powerful telescope launches into space this year, scientists will learn whether Earth-sized planets in our ‘solar neighborhood’ have a key prerequisite for life — an atmosphere.

These planets orbit an M-dwarf, the smallest and most common type of star in the galaxy. Scientists do not currently know how common it is for Earth-like planets around this type of star to have characteristics that would make them habitable."

Astrobiology

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Edward Schwieterman

Carbon monoxide detectors could warn of extraterrestrial life

Anonymous — Wed, 08 May 2019 16:51:20 +0000

Carbon monoxide detectors could warn of extraterrestrial life Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 05/08/2019 - 09:51 More News March 18, 2019 Riverside, Ca

Carbon monoxide detectors in our homes warn of a dangerous buildup of that colorless, odorless gas we normally associate with death. Astronomers, too, have generally assumed that a build-up of carbon monoxide in a planet’s atmosphere would be a sure sign of lifelessness. Now, a UC Riverside-led research team is arguing the opposite: celestial carbon monoxide detectors may actually alert us to a distant world teeming with simple life forms.

“With the launch of the James Webb Space Telescope two years from now, astronomers will be able to analyze the atmospheres of some rocky exoplanets,” said Edward Schwieterman, the study’s lead author and a NASA Postdoctoral Program fellow in UCR’s Department of Earth Sciences. “It would be a shame to overlook an inhabited world because we did not consider all the possibilities.”

Astrobiology

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Edward Schwieterman

UCR Team Among Scientists Developing Guidebook for Finding Life Beyond Earth

Anonymous — Mon, 13 Aug 2018 22:08:20 +0000

UCR Team Among Scientists Developing Guidebook for Finding Life Beyond Earth Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 08/13/2018 - 15:08 More News June 25, 2018 Riverside, Ca

"If you’re looking for a manual on the hunt for alien life, you’re in luck.

Some of the leading experts in the field, including a UC Riverside team of researchers, have written a major series of review papers on the past, present, and future of the search for life on other planets. Published in Astrobiology, the papers represent two years of work by the Nexus for Exoplanet Systems Science (NExSS), a NASA-coordinated research network dedicated to the study of planetary habitability, and by NASA’s Astrobiology Institute."

Astrobiology, Exoplanets and Planetary Science

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Edward Schwieterman

Timothy Lyons