Sep 12, 2006 | SCIENCE
Exploring Europa by Way of the Arctic
(NASA - JPL) - This summer, scientists spent two weeks performing research in the arctic as an analog site for Europa.

Jun 21, 2006 | EDUCATION
NASA Sends Explorer School Teachers 'Spaceward Bound'
(NASA - ARC) - NASA is taking teachers to Chile's Atacama desert, an Earth-based research site used as an analog for Mars.

Oct 11, 2005 | SCIENCE
NASA Scientists Confirm Toxic Seas During Earth's Evolution
(NASA) - Earth's oceans were once rich in sulfides that would prevent advanced life forms from thriving.

Sep 23, 2005 | SCIENCE
Marine Microorganism Suspected to Play Role in Global Carbon and Nitrogen Cycles
(NSF) - Scientists successfully culture the first Archaea known to oxidize ammonia for energy and metabolize carbon dioxide.

Apr 23, 2005 | SCIENCE
Yellowstone Discovery Bodes Well for Finding Evidence of Life on Mars
(NSF) - Research concerning organisms in Yellowstone's geothermal springs may help in the search for life on Mars.

Mar 17, 2005 | MISSIONS
Robotic Astrobiology Expedition Yields Significant Science Findings
(NASA - ARC) - Scientists identified habitats and microbial life using a rover in Chile's arid Atacama desert, and their findings may bode well for future missions to Mars.

Dec 15, 2004 | SCIENCE
Research Team Discovers First Evidence of Microbes Living in a Rock Glacier
(NSF) - Scientists discover microbial life in an environment previously thought to be devoid of life.

Nov 19, 2004 | SCIENCE
Ocean Rendezvous
(NASA) - Thirty-five years ago this week, Apollo 12 landed in the Moon's Ocean of Storms.

Sep 27, 2004 | MISSIONS
Atacama Rover Helps NASA Learn to Search for Life on Mars
(NASA - ARC) - Scientists in the Atacama Desert are helping NASA learn more about the potential for primitive life on Mars.

Sep 15, 2004 | SCIENCE
Secrets of a Salty Survivor
(NASA) - A microbe from the Dead Sea may hold the key to protecting astronauts from space radiation.

Sep 10, 2004 | SCIENCE
Complex Cells Likely Arose from Combination of Bacterial and Extreme-Microbe Genomes
(NSF) - A new report shows that complex cells were the result of the fusion of genomes from an ancient bacterium and a simpler microbe - Archaea.

May 14, 2004 | SCIENCE
Extreme Ecosystem
(NASA) - Extreme environments are inhabited by an abundance of life, not just a few brave organisms.

Apr 21, 2004 | SCIENCE
Oldest Hemoglobin Ancestors Offer Clues to Earliest Oxygen-Based Life
(NSF) - Scientists are a step closer to identifying the earliest oxygen-utilizing life on Earth.

Nov 11, 2003 | SCIENCE, MISSIONS
Mars-Like Atacama Desert Could Explain Viking 'No Life' Results
(NASA – ARC) - By studying Earth's driest desert, Scientists have learned why past missions to Mars may have failed to detect life even if it was present.

Oct 23, 2003 | MISSIONS
NASA Scientists to Study Lake's Primitive Life to Learn About Mars
(NASA - ARC) - Some of Earth's highest-altitude lakes may show us what life could have been like on early Mars.

Oct 08, 2003 | SCIENCE
The Goldilocks Zone
(NASA) - California's Mono Lake continues to expand our knowledge of environments suitable for life.

Aug 04, 2003 | SCIENCE
A New Form of Life
(NASA) - NASA scientists have discovered a new extreme-loving microorganism in California's exotic Mono Lake.

Dec 12, 2002 | SCIENCE
Goldmine yields clues for life on Mars
(Nature) - Bacteria that live on radiation exist deep within the Earth—and maybe elsewhere.

Nov 21, 2002 | SCIENCE
Where on Earth is Mars?
(Astrobiology Magazine) - Scientists gather at the volcano Mt. Etna to discuss regions of Earth that resemble Mars

Nov 13, 2002 | SCIENCE
Lake Mysteries from the World's Roof
(Astrobiology Magazine) - The Licancabur Expedition has taken samples from world's highest lake to find out what's living in it.

Nov 04, 2002 | SCIENCE
Hot Springs High in the Andes
(Astrobiology Magazine) - Two members of the Licancabur expedition describe pockets of rich microbial life in the harsh desert.

Oct 30, 2002 | SCIENCE
The Tree of Life: Cold Start?
(Astrobiology Magazine) - A pair of scientists claim the earliest forms of life evolved in moderate temperatures, not high temperatures.

Oct 21, 2002 | SCIENCE
What's Living in the World's Highest Lake?
(Astrobiology Magazine) - Astrobiologists have begun an expedition to a pond at the tip of a volcano.

Sep 24, 2002 | SCIENCE, EDUCATION
Search for Life at the Top of the World
(Space.com) - Scientists who study life in extreme environments prepare to take students on a virtual fieldtrip to the world’s highest lake.

Aug 20, 2002 | SCIENCE
Microorganisms Grow at Low Pressures, Implying Possible Life on Mars
(Univ. of Arkansas) - Researchers have shown that microorganisms can grow at pressures similar to those found at the Martian surface.

Aug 12, 2002 | SCIENCE
Prospecting for Viruses
(Astrobiology Magazine) - Scientists are prospecting for viruses in the hot springs of Yellowstone National Park to investigate how some organisms can endure extreme heat and acidity.

Jul 11, 2002 | SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGIES
Ice Cube of Exotic Microbes
(Astrobiology Magazine) - A pocket of permafrost deep beneath Antarctica offers a chance to test sterile drilling techniques before exploring elsewhere for exotic microbes.

Jul 11, 2002 | SCIENCE
Antarctic Microbes Colonize under Mars-like Conditions
(Astrobiology Magazine) - In Antarctica's Dry Valleys, microbes and fungi survive in extremely cold, arid soils.

Apr 03, 2002 | SCIENCE
Hydrogen-Fed Bacteria May Exist beyond Earth
(NASA) - The rocky crusts of Earth and other planets may produce enough hydrogen to support plenty of hydrogen-eaters.

Feb 21, 2002 | SCIENCE
From Lightbulbs to Life
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - A deep-sea microbe lives on tungsten—an element popularly used to make lightbulb filaments.

Feb 19, 2002 | SCIENCE
Bugs from Hell
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - Miles below Earth's surface, a community of microbes thrives.

Feb 04, 2002 | SCIENCE
Life without Volcanic Heat
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - Spires on the ocean floor hint that habitats for life may be more common that previously thought.

Jan 29, 2002 | SCIENCE
Explorers to Study Ice Worms
(JASON Project) - Worms that thrive in glaciers and disintegrate at room temperature may be a model for life on Europa.

Jan 16, 2002 | SCIENCE
Living on Fool’s Gold
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - Reseachers study chemolithotrophy bacteria that survive by getting its energy by oxidizing pyrite, also known as ‘fool’s gold'.

Jan 13, 2002 | SCIENCE
Evidence of Bacteria on Europa?
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - Reddish streaks criss-crossing this icy moon of Jupiter might be a sign of life.

Jan 07, 2002 | SCIENCE, MISSIONS, TECHNOLOGIES
Signs of Life: On the Lookout for Extraterrestrial Sweet Spots
(Space.com) - A new report reviews methods for detecting extraterrestrial life, and for preventing cross-contamination of planets.

Dec 11, 2001 | SCIENCE
Café Methane
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - Scientists have found life thriving at methane seeps on the cold, dark ocean floor. Similar environments on other planets might also provide a home for life.

Dec 10, 2001 | SCIENCE
Eating Kerogen
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - Researchers have discovered a microbe that survives by eating a plastic-like material.

Oct 31, 2001 | SCIENCE
Invasion of the Deep-sea Microbes
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - A team of scientists is presently using the deep-sea submersible "Alvin" to monitor how microbes colonize hydrothermal vents.

Oct 30, 2001 | SCIENCE
Glass Munchers under the Sea
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - A team of researchers recently announced that they have found the deepest-living microbes on the planet.

Oct 26, 2001 | SCIENCE
The Three Domains of Life
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - For many years, scientists divided life into five kingdoms: animals, plants, fungi, protists, and bacteria. But in recent years the discovery of a group of microbes called archaea has radically altered this view.

Oct 10, 2001 | SCIENCE
Bacteria with a 'Nose' for Water
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - Researchers have discovered that bacterial communities in extreme environments are able to follow water.

Aug 24, 2001 | SCIENCE
Guerrero Negro
(NASA Astrobiology) - Near the seaside town of Guerrero Negro in Mexico's Baja Peninsula, microbial mats could tell us about the early Earth, and about finding life on other planets.

Aug 23, 2001 | SCIENCE
Advances in Our Understanding of Life
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - Excerpts from testimony by astrobiologist Jack Farmer to the House Subcommiteee on Space and Aeronautics.

Aug 17, 2001 | SCIENCE
Life on Ice
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - Psychrophiles, organisms that are able to survive in extremely low temperatures, may serve as analogues for possible life on other planets.

Aug 01, 2001 | SCIENCE, MISSIONS, TECHNOLOGIES
Looking for Life at the Poles of Mars
(Space.com) - While most liquid water on Mars may lie deep underground, life might exist close to the surface of the polar ice caps.

Jul 17, 2001 | SCIENCE
New Kind of Hydrothermal Vent Discovered
(Nature) - Hydrothermal vents and the ecosystems they support may be more common than previously thought.

May 14, 2001 | SCIENCE
Raising Baby Tubeworms
(NASA Astrobiology Institute/WHOI) - For years scientists have wondered how giant tubeworms spread from one undersea hydrothermal vent to another. Now biologists are helping to answer those questions.

Apr 25, 2001 | SCIENCE
Life as we didn't know it
(NASA) - Biologists always thought life required the Sun's energy, until they found an ecosystem that thrives in complete darkness.

Apr 23, 2001 | SCIENCE, MISSIONS, TECHNOLOGIES
Keeping "Cool" at Deep-Sea Vents
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - Using a novel detector attached to a submarine, researchers study weird worms that inhabit deep-sea hydrothermal vent sites.

Apr 13, 2001 | SCIENCE, MISSIONS
Focus on Europa
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - Scientists from a variety of disciplines met recently to consider the possibility of life on Europa, and to plan how to look for it.

Apr 11, 2001 | SCIENCE
Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - An expedition to geysers on the floor of the Indian Ocean is studying how animals there evolve and disperse geographically.

Feb 08, 2001 | SCIENCE, MISSIONS
Possibilities for life on Europa
(Space.com) - Researchers met last week to consider the likelihood of life on Jupiter's moon Europa.

Jan 09, 2001 | SCIENCE
Terrestrial powerhouses
(NASA Astrobiology Institute) - Research has revealed the workings of a proton pump, a fundametal process that certain life forms use as a source of energy.

Oct 18, 2000 | SCIENCE
Survival skills: Life in the hot pools of Yellowstone
(ABC News) - NASA astrobiologist Lynn Rothschild studies organisms that not only survive in boiling water, but thrive in it.

Oct 18, 2000 | SCIENCE
Bacteria brought back to life after 250 million years
(BBC) - Microbes dormant for 250 million years have been revived. The findings may have implications for the search for life on Mars and for the origin of life on Earth.

Aug 31, 2000 | SCIENCE, MISSIONS
Life thrives at edge of glaciers
(space.com) - The findings indicate that polar ice caps of Mars may be a prime location to look for life.

Aug 21, 2000 | SCIENCE, MISSIONS
Liquid water on the surface of Mars?
(space.com) - A group of scientists disputes the consensus that liquid water can't exist on the Martian surface.

Aug 12, 2000 | SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGIES
Going to the Arctic to look for life on Mars
(space.com) - In the Canadian Arctic, a researcher with the Haughton-Mars expedition is testing technologies that may one day search for DNA on Mars.

Jul 26, 2000 | SCIENCE, MISSIONS
Yellowstone microbes ride on NASA rocket
(CNN) - The flight is testing whether meteorites could have spread life from one planet to another.

Jun 08, 2000 | SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGIES
Fossils of microbes found near undersea volcanoes
(SF Chronicle) - Scientists debate whether life began near vents of boiling water under the sea.

May 03, 2000 | SCIENCE, EDUCATION
Astronauts hunt microbes and meteorites at the South Pole
(Science@NASA) - Astrobiologists and astronauts -- including Jim Lovell of Apollo 13 -- traveled to Antarctica in January to study microbial life there. Their findings will shed light on whether life may exist on frozen bodies such as Mars and Europa.

Jan 13, 2000 | SCIENCE
Panspermia theoretically possible, say scientists
(Yahoo!/AP) - A team of scientists has concluded that single-celled organisms from Mars could theoretically have seeded the Earth with life, or vice versa.

Dec 14, 1999 | SCIENCE, MISSIONS, TECHNOLOGIES
Radiation-resistant microbe could play major role in Martian exploration
(Science@NASA) - The microbe can help scientists determine the best locations to seek life on Mars. Later, it may help keep astronauts healthy. Finally, it may reshape Mars for colonists.

Dec 13, 1999 | SCIENCE
Antarctic discovery supports possibility of life on Europa
(SpaceViews) - Scientists have found bacteria living in a lake three kilometers below the surface of Antarctica. The finding may shed light on whether life could exist on Jupiter's moon Europa.

Oct 04, 1999 | SCIENCE
Hardy Microbes appear able to survive in space
(Washington Post) - NASA astrobiologist Rocco Mancinelli's findings bolster the hypothesis that microbial life may have evovled elsewhere and spread to Earth, or vice versa. His research also underscores the need for planetary protection from exterrestrial organisms in sample-return missions.

Sep 27, 1999 | SCIENCE
Hidden Antarctic lake links to alien life
(BBC) - Scientists think undiscovered lifeforms may exist in a lake miles beneath the ice. NASA hopes to use Lake Vostok as a rehearsal for the search for life on Europa.

Sep 16, 1999 | SCIENCE, MISSIONS, TECHNOLOGIES
NASA seeks odd organisms at the heat limit of life
(NASA) - A team of NASA scientists travels to Yellowstone this week to search for mulitcellular life in its boiling springs. According to the team's leader, "By increasing our knowledge of the physical and chemical limits that are favorable to life, we'll expand the possibility of predicting where complex extraterrestrial life forms may exist."

Sep 09, 1999 | EDUCATION
Thursday's classroom: Life on the edge
(Science@NASA) - Can life exist in boiling water? Is the largest ocean in the solar system on one of Jupiter's moons? This week, Thursday's Classroom tackles these questions and more with lesson plans and activities about nature's extremophiles.

Jul 27, 1999 | SCIENCE
Astrobiologists to hunt for microbes in Siberia
(Science@NASA) - Cryophiles are single-celled organisms that thrive in cold conditions. They may hold clues to whether life could exist on other worlds, and to how to find it.

Jun 07, 1999 | SCIENCE
Complex Europan life unlikely
(SpaceViews) - A team of scientists claims that, because of the few sources of energy available, any life on Europa would be limited to single-celled organisms.

Oct 23, 1998 | SCIENCE, MISSIONS, TECHNOLOGIES
Signs of water on Callisto
(Science@NASA) - Scientists may have discovered a salty ocean and some ingredients for life on Jupiter's moon.