A new study challenges the traditional boundaries of the habitable zone, showing that liquid water could exist on the dark ...

A planet orbiting the star GJ 887 may be the closest object to Earth with good prospects for supporting life, although confirming that will not be easy. The newly discovered “super-Earth” with a mass ...

The wonders of life on Earth are endless, but all that may never have come to pass were it not for the planet having the ...

"Follow the water" has been a guiding mantra of astrobiology, and even space exploration more generally, for decades. If you want to find life, it makes sense to look for the universal solvent that ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The Goldilocks zone, or ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Some exoplanets, like the one shown in this illustration, may have atmospheres that could make them potentially suitable for life.

Anyone familiar with the search for alien life will have heard of the "Goldilocks Zone" around a star. This is defined as the orbital band where the temperature is just right for liquid water to pool ...

Life needs nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. But without the right balance of oxygen, these elements get locked away in planets’ cores.

It’s a force to be reckoned with. Gravity is what holds Earth in orbit around the sun and keeps us from floating off into space. Unfortunately, it can — quite literally — be a real downer. The ...

(The Conversation is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.) Morgan Underwood, Rice University (THE CONVERSATION) When astronomers search for ...