Free Republic

Complex organic molecules have been discovered for the first time coming from the depths of Saturn's moon Enceladus, a new study reported. Spacecraft scheduled to launch soon could explore what this new discovery says about the chances of life within icy moons like Enceladus, the study's researchers said. The sixth largest of Saturn's moons, Enceladus is only about 314 miles (505 kilometers) in diameter. This makes the moon small enough to fit inside the borders of Arizona. In 2005, NASA's Cassini spacecraft detected plumes of water vapor and icy particles erupting from Enceladus, revealing the existence of a giant...

Historic Mars Launch: NASA Giant Rover 'Curiosity' Blasts Off YouTube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-LudR2pQyU

NASA Live Launch Coverage

Flying skywhales brought down by giant hornetlike creatures hunting through a shared intelligence ... trees stretching upward of half a mile and 40-foot fan-shaped plants that undulate toward the never-setting sun. Science fiction or science fact? Well, a little of both, according to the National Geographic Channel's captivating special Extraterrestrial, airing at 8 p.m. Sunday. This show has nothing to do with movies by Steven Spielberg or with studying possible clues that aliens are visiting planet Earth. It is far more fascinating. The show informs us that within a few years, in the lifetime of most of us now living,...

Astronomers Find Life on Earth PRESS RELEASE Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Wednesday, October 30, 2002 Cambridge, MA -- Now that the discovery of extrasolar planets, or planets around distant stars, has become relatively routine, scientists are now tackling the next step: finding life-bearing worlds. To do this, observers must know what signs to look for in the feeble light from these faraway planets. Astronomers at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics (CfA), in collaboration with researchers at the University of Arizona's Steward Observatory, have identified key signatures of life by studying Earthshine-the light of the Earth reflected off the dark side...