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  • Department Of Earth Sciences

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many planets

Using Earth’s history to inform the search for life on exoplanets

UC Riverside is leading one of the NASA Astrobiology Program’s eight new research teams tackling questions about the evolution and origins of life on Earth and the possibility of life beyond our solar system.

By Jules Bernstein | December 8, 2020 | Science / Technology
nanoplankton fossils

To survive asteroid impact, algae learned to hunt

Tiny, seemingly harmless ocean plants survived the darkness of the asteroid strike that killed the dinosaurs by learning a ghoulish behavior — eating other living creatures.

By Jules Bernstein | October 30, 2020 | Science / Technology
WD1856b, a jupiter-sized planet orbiting a white dwarf star

Newly discovered planet survived the death of its star

Astronomers report what may be the first example of an intact planet closely orbiting a white dwarf

By Holly Ober | September 16, 2020 | Science / Technology
Trappist-1 system

Surprising number of exoplanets could host life

A new UC Riverside study shows other stars could have as many as seven Earth-like planets in the absence of a gas giant like Jupiter.

By Jules Bernstein | July 31, 2020 | Science / Technology
An artist's rendering of the planet Au Mic b

Newly discovered planet zips around baby star in a week

The discovery gives scientists a front seat to the earliest stages of planet formation

By Holly Ober | June 24, 2020 | Science / Technology
artists rendering of ikaria wariootia

Ancestor of all animals identified in Australian fossils

A wormlike creature that lived more than 555 million years ago is the earliest bilaterian

By Holly Ober | March 23, 2020 | Science / Technology
suevite core

Ancient meteorite site on Earth could reveal new clues about Mars’ past

UC Riverside scientists have devised new analytical tools to break down the enigmatic history of Mars’ atmosphere — and whether life was once possible there.

By Jules Bernstein | February 26, 2020 | Science / Technology

Scientists develop new method to detect oxygen on exoplanets

UC Riverside scientists have developed a new method for detecting oxygen in exoplanet atmospheres that may accelerate the search for life.

By Jules Bernstein | January 6, 2020 | Science / Technology
Seismograph recording

Earthquakes, chickens, and bugs, oh my!

New big data algorithms improve earthquake detection; monitor livestock health and agricultural pests

By Holly Ober | November 26, 2019 | Science / Technology
UCR seismologist Abhijit Ghosh in Nepal

The thrust of the problem

A new understanding of a fault that caused a deadly 7.8 magnitude earthquake can help scientists better predict where and when the next big one will hit. For decades, scientists have debated the structure of the Main Himalayan Thrust — the fault responsible for a 2015 earthquake that killed nearly...

By Jules Bernstein | November 11, 2019 | Science / Technology

The most spectacular celestial vision you’ll never see

Contrary to previous thought, a gigantic planet in wild orbit does not preclude the presence of an Earth-like planet in the same solar system – or life on that planet. What’s more, the view from that Earth-like planet as its giant neighbor moves past would be unlike anything it is...

By Jules Bernstein | November 4, 2019 | Science / Technology
Abhijit Ghosh, UCR associate professor of geophysics

Making sense of a ‘7.1’

Abhijit Ghosh, UCR associate professor of geophysics, is racing to understand everything he can about the fault that was unknown until it produced a 7.1 magnitude earthquake on July 5. Ghosh's work could help officials prepare for the next big shake.

By Jules Bernstein | August 14, 2019 | Science / Technology
NASA's TESS exoplanet discovery satellite

NASA’s TESS mission finds ‘missing link’ planets

NASA’s newest planet-hunting satellite has discovered a type of planet missing from our own solar system. Launched in 2018, the Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite, or TESS, has found three new worlds around a neighboring star. Stephen Kane, a UC Riverside associate professor of planetary astrophysics, says the new star system...

By Jules Bernstein | July 29, 2019 | Science / Technology

Australia enables UCR to dig into Earth’s wild past

Australian officials signed an agreement last night allowing UC Riverside to continue its pioneering research on a government-owned goldmine for unusual fossils. Nilpena Station is a city-sized plot of land in the Australian Outback. It harbors the richest collection on Earth of animal species around 550 million years old. Some...

By Jules Bernstein | July 23, 2019 | Science / Technology

Star tours

Astronomers have a new tool in their search for extraterrestrial life – a sophisticated bot that helps identify stars hosting planets similar to Jupiter and Saturn.

By Jules Bernstein | June 25, 2019 | Science / Technology

Slime travelers

New UC Riverside research settles a longstanding debate about whether the most ancient animal communities were deliberately mobile. It turns out they were, because they were hungry.

By Jules Bernstein | June 19, 2019 | Science / Technology

New study dramatically narrows the search for advanced life in the universe

In a new study, a UC Riverside–led team discovered that a buildup of toxic gases in the atmospheres of most planets makes them unfit for complex life as we know it.

By Jules Bernstein | June 10, 2019 | Science / Technology

Meteor magnets in outer space

Astronomers believe planets like Jupiter shield us from space objects that would otherwise slam into Earth. Now they’re closer to learning whether giant planets act as guardians of solar systems elsewhere in the galaxy. A UCR-led team has discovered two Jupiter-sized planets about 150 light years away from Earth that...

By Jules Bernstein | May 24, 2019 | Science / Technology
UCR professor Marilyn Fogel

Pioneering UC Riverside geoecologist elected to the National Academy of Sciences

Marilyn Fogel, a University of California, Riverside endowed geoecology professor, received one of the highest honors in science this week with her election to the National Academy of Sciences, or NAS. Membership in the NAS is rare. According to the Congressional Research Service, there are 6.9 million scientists in the...

By Jules Bernstein | May 2, 2019 | Science / Technology
proxima centauri seen from the hubble telescope

Carbon monoxide detectors could warn of extraterrestrial life

For some distant worlds, carbon monoxide may actually be compatible with a robust microbial biosphere

By Sarah Simpson | March 18, 2019 | Science / Technology
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