What Came First: Viruses or Cells?
A new computational method for tracing the evolution of proteins may help scientists determine how life on Earth began…and solve the question of whether or not viruses developed before living cells.

A Warm Breath of Carbon Dioxide
When the sun was young, it didn't produce enough heat to unfreeze ice on our planet. So why was the early Earth covered in liquid water and not ice?

Lukewarm Supervolcano
Yellowstone is known for its hot springs and geysers, and the unique forms of life that inhabit them. Scientists are now learning more about the mysterious 'supervolcano' that powers these environments, and whether or not the giant could erupt again.

Earth's Leaky Atmosphere
Using satellite observations, scientists have discovered why the Earth is constantly leaking oxygen into space. The finding provides insight into the mechanisms behind oxygen loss on our planet.

Mars Research in Polar Bear Country
New from the Nordic issue of Astrobiology Magazine, European Edition: An interview with Hans Amundsen, the expedition leader of AMASE (Arctic Mars Analog Svalbard Expedition). AMASE scientists travel to a group of islands in the High Arctic in order to conduct Mars-related field research.

Climbing Out of a Crater
A year after descending into Victoria crater, NASA's Mars Exploration rover Opportunity is heading back out. Opportunity will now continue making important scientific observations on the martian plains.

Primitive Pancake
In sequencing the genome of a primitive animal, scientists are gaining new insights into the tree of life. Even though it’s a simple animal, Trichoplax adhaerens has a complex set of genes and may signify a branching point in animal evolution.

Mapping Planets, Moons and Asteroids
Researchers are using images of solar system bodies in different lighting conditions to produce high-resolution topographical maps of locations like asteroids. The maps could help in exploration and the search for life in the solar system.

Drilling Down to Alien Oceans
A new method of exploring thick icy sheets and what lies below them has been devised. Combining a drill and a melting tip, this probe is particularly useful for exploring icy locations such as the polar caps of Mars and Jupiter’s moon Europa.

Tracing Tiger Stripes
NASA's Cassini spacecraft has pinpointed where Enceladus' icy jets erupt from at the moon's surface. The new images may help reveal what type of environment exists on the moon, and whether or not Enceladus could be a habitat for life.