SCIENCE IN THE NEWS WEEKLY
Space: Habitability and the Search for Life
The Viking mission to Mars was ambiguous when it came to determining the existence of life on the planet. Ever since, NASA policy has been to search for habitability—how comfortable an environment would be to Earth organisms—before actually looking for life.
Speaking of which, researchers believe an ocean beneath the icy crust of Jupiter's moon Europa could be more hospitable to life than previously thought. New research indicates the ocean may be much more oxygen-rich than previous models have suggested.
In other news from space, a NASA mission called Stardust sent a spacecraft to Comet Wild 2 on a seven-year journey that ended in 2006. It brought back the only material—other than moon rocks—taken directly from an extraterrestrial body. Smithsonian Magazine looked at what we've learned from it.
And, finally, analysis of more than 1,000 galaxy clusters at the edge of the universe streaming in one direction at great speeds may be a sign of other universes next door, according to a research team.
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