Researchers at the Centre of Astrobiology have positively identified microorganisms living inside salt deposits in the acidic and ferrous environment of the Tinto River in Huelva, Spain.
Making the jump to lightspeed in the Millennium Falcon wouldn't look anything like the way it's depicted in the Star Wars movies, say University of Leicester students.
Astronomers using NASA's Spitzer and Hubble space telescopes have managed to probe the stormy atmosphere of a brown dwarf, creating the most detailed "weather map" yet for this class of cool, star-like orbs.
Mingus - or more formally, SN SCP-0401 - is a Type Ia supernova with a redshift of 1.71, dating back 10 billion years. It's exceptional for its detailed spectrum and precision color measurement, unprecedented in a supernova so distant, says the team.
Another crucial instrument on the Curiosity Mars rover has had its first test: the Dust Removal Tool, used to sweep dust from the rover's target rocks.
The data's in from the simulated Mars mission in which six trained astronauts were shut up for a year and a half. And it seems that long-term missions of this kind do indeed lead to problems for the crew.
