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sea life

Space

Was 2025 the year we found signs of past life on Mars?

Tantalising signs of past microbial life showed up on Mars this year, but to truly know whether they contain the answer to the biggest question in the universe, we will need to bring samples back to Earth

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The essential guide to proving we’ve found alien life

Space

The essential guide to proving we’ve found alien life

Features

Space

Hopes of finding aliens were raised in 2025 – but quickly faded

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SNR 0519, the remnant of a supernova that exploded about 600 years ago

Space

Earth and solar system may have been shaped by nearby exploding star

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The supernova remnant Cassiopeia A

Space

Odd elements in supernova blast might have implications for alien life

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A deep image of interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Space

Comet 3I/ATLAS from beyond solar system carries key molecule for life

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OSIRIS-REx Sample

Space

Asteroid Bennu carries all the ingredients for life as we know it

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A hand holding glowing prion proteins, from which fossils and microbes emerge.

Life

A sinister, deadly brain protein could reveal the origins of all life

Features

Physics

We may need a fourth law of thermodynamics for living systems

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seafloor covered with manganese nodules

Environment

Have we found a greener way to do deep-sea mining?

There are widespread concerns that deep-sea mining for metals will damage fragile ecosystems. But if mining ever goes ahead, hydrogen plasma could shrink the carbon footprint of smelting the metal ores

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Life

Moss spores survive and germinate after 283-day 'space walk'

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Space

Caves carved by water on Mars may hold signs of past life

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Space

Enceladus’s ocean may be even better for life than we realised

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Space

We may never figure out where interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS came from

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