Earth plants could thrive under the light of an alien sun, according to a recent experiment. A team of astrobiologists planted garden cress seeds and cultured dishes of photosynthetic bacteria under ...

Astrobiologists in Germany are developing a new testing device that could help tease dormant alien microbes into revealing themselves — and its key ingredient is a common amino acid that’s found in ...

Bacteria that thrive on Earth may not make it in the alien lands of Mars. A potential deterrent is perchlorate, a toxic ...

It’s one small step for man, one potential giant leap for Martiankind. Scientists have identified a region on Mars that could support living organisms, potentially bringing us a step closer to ...

Finding bacteria in extreme environments, like at thermal ocean vents or in the sulfur pools at Yellowstone, isn't all that novel. In 1991, remote-control robots brought out samples of pitch-black ...

Researchers investigated how bacteria, used to create bricks from Martian soil, react to perchlorate, a chemical found on Mars. While perchlorate slowed bacterial growth, it surprisingly resulted in ...