AI and nanotechnology to detect potential signs of life in space by analyzing single-molecule electrical patterns in meteorites. Researchers at the University of Osaka have unveiled a novel electrical sensing technique that could reshape how we detect...

the artifact. (Li et al., Archaeol. Res. Asia, 2026) Despite these preliminary findings, identifying the specific parent meteorite remains an ongoing challenge. Co-author Zishu Yang of Sichuan University noted that while current scanning electron...

Ancient meteorites contain organic matter that predates our asteroids, offering a rare glimpse into the chemical environment of the early solar system. New research from Harvard University has provided a clearer picture of how organic molecules in our...

New isotope evidence from meteorites shows that amino acids formed through more than one chemical route in the early solar system, revealing a complex pre-life chemistry long before Earth existed. Long before Earth formed oceans, air, or life,...

necessary ingredients for life were present in the Martian past. WATSON images of SHERLOC calibration target (SCT) SaU 008 meteorite showing dust accumulation over time.Yellow boxes indicate where SHERLOC scans were collected. Imagery on sols 704 and...

entry to the growing list of exotic substances born in high‑energy events. Earlier research on nuclear test sites and meteorite impacts has already demonstrated that violent energy releases can generate crystal arrangements unseen in normal geological...

suggests the impact occurred approximately 50,000 years ago. Researchers suggest the event was triggered by an iron-nickel meteorite, estimated to have been between 10 and 15 metres wide at the time of impact. Despite its modest size, the energy...

samples is unprecedented. It serves as a physical record of the high-energy, high-pressure environments created by ancient meteorite impacts on the lunar surface. Unearthing Magnetic Evidence from the Moon’s Far Side A research collective led by...

beyond purified samples to test natural, complex materials. They analyzed organic compounds extracted from the Murchison meteorite and soil samples gathered from the Atacama Desert, a location widely recognized as an Earth-based analogue for the Martian...

fault systems.” After reviewing Nature Communications data, the researchers ruled out alternative triggers, such as meteorite impacts or large-scale surface landslides, as no fresh crater or evidence of shifting terrain was detected. a Inferred focal...

the stars, yet a bona fide sugar had never been spotted floating in space. Earlier discoveries of ribose and glucose in meteorite fragments and samples from asteroid Bennu hinted at sugar‑like chemistry, but a direct detection in the void remained...

an 86‑kilometre‑wide circle. Researchers suspect the pattern sits within a massive impact crater, where the shock of a meteorite collision fractured the crust, allowing lava to intrude before later erosion exposed the more resistant material....

feature, CO2 only on Proteus, and no water‑ice overtones. (B) Continuum‑removed 2.72‑μm absorption band compared with meteorite laboratory spectra from the RELAB spectral library (purple). The band is a close match to CM2 carbonaceous chondrites. (C)...

has largely disappeared from our planet,” Jourdan noted. Comparison of lunar impact ages from Chang’e 6, Apollo, Luna and meteorite samples, alongside their locations across the Moon. Credit: Science Advances By studying these far‑side rocks, scientists...

the hypothesis suggesting that life might be distributed throughout the cosmos via celestial bodies like comets or meteorites. While the idea dates back to ancient thinkers like Anaxagoras and later scientists such as Svante Arrhenius, the Antarctic...

seismic data captured by NASA’s InSight lander, which touched down in 2018. By analyzing waves generated by marsquakes and meteorite impacts, the research team investigated a distinct, mysterious boundary located roughly 24 kilometers below the Martian...

known mass, shape, and velocity, scientists could study the resulting craters with a level of precision that natural meteorite strikes rarely afford. Spacecraft Debris as a Scientific Instrument The unexpected research opportunity began when the...

origin for a microscopic grain would be a daunting analytical feat. The lunar soil is already a complex mixture of meteorite fragments and native lunar soil, not to mention the legacy of contamination left behind by decades of human space exploration....

as a giant, accidental laboratory for material science, comparable to the extreme pressures found in lightning strikes, meteorite impacts, or hypervelocity planetary collisions. This is not the first time researchers have scoured nuclear fallout for...

only by recent impact craters. (Image credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona) By comparing Phobos’ samples to existing meteorite collections, researchers hope to better characterize the chaotic era of the early solar system. Although the MMX mission...