Researchers studied the rocky soil samples from the volcanoes in the Atacama region in South American that have conditions similar to Mars. A team of researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder has found a type of organism that can survive the most inhospitable conditions on Earth. “We haven’t formally identified or characterized the species. But these are very different than anything... 

False color image of the galaxy LAEJ095950.99+021219.1. Astronomers at Arizona State University have located a remote and faint galaxy, which is one of the ten most distant known objects in the space. The team used the IMACS instrument on the Magellan Telescopes in Chile and identified the galaxy ‘LAEJ095950.99+021219.1’ that is about 13 billion light-years away from the Earth. “This galaxy... 

NASA’s Kepler space telescope has recorded the number of superflares or enormous releases of magnetic energy that can damage a nearby orbiting planet. According to the report published in the journal Nature, superflares are much less frequent on slow-rotating stars like our Sun. The biggest recorded flare on the Sun happened on September 1, 1859 and according to English astronomer Richard Carrington... 

Aztec Calendar, an adaptation of the Mayan calendar, consisted of a 365-day agricultural calendar, as well as a 260-day sacred calendar. (This is a digital composite. Color added for visibility.) The discovery in a Guatemala jungle of a previously unknown version of the Mayan calendar offers humankind a ray of hope: the world is not going to end on December 21, 2012 and could most probably last for... 

Stargazers will be treated to a rare glimpse of a “Supermoon” this weekend when our celestial neighbor strays closest to Earth. During the annual display, the moon appears to swell larger in size and wax in brightness. Scientists say that the moon will look 14 per cent bigger and 30 per cent brighter than all the other full moons of 2012 and will be visible at its peak from 03:00 GMT on Sunday... 

The Princeton scientists suggest that it's likely that Earth is a one-off - and that life may not have evolved anywhere else NASA has said there are ‘billions’ of planets in our own Milky Way galaxy – but a new study suggests that the idea that they are teeming with alien lifeforms may just be wishful thinking. Two Princeton scientists used what’s known as ‘Bayesian... 

Kuipers inside the Space Station. The Dutch astronaut is one of the most prolific photographers on the ISS An astronaut on the International Space Station has designed a ‘tripod’ for taking spectacular night-time pictures of Earth – quite a technical feat when you’re on board an orbiting craft that moves at more than four miles a second. Andre Kuipers installed ‘Nightpod’... 

The spotted atmosphere contains a very thin layer of oxygen ions equivalent to conditions 480 kilometers above Earth. Scientists say they have discovered a faint oxygen atmosphere around Saturn’s icy moon Dione which is 5 trillion times less dense than the air at Earth’s surface. Dione’s atmosphere was detected by NASA’s Cassini spacecraft, which has been orbiting Saturn since... 

A metal object of unknown origin fell down on Earth in the Brazilian state of Maranhao. The unusual event caused panic among the local population. The ball-shaped, 30-50 kilograms object about one meter in diameter was found on Feb. 22. In December 2011, a similar incident happened in Namibia, where a metal “Teletubby head” weighing 5.9 kilograms and measuring 35 centimeters in diameter hit the... 

The interdepartmental committee, which investigates the reasons of the breakdown of Russia’s Phobos Ground spacecraft, presented the basic version of the accident. Sources at the space industry told Interfax said that, most likely, the spacecraft did not enter the departure trajectory to Mars due to the influence of plasma formation in the magnetosphere of the Earth. Scientists doubt, though,... 

A new international project is scheduled to be launched to assess the threat posed by asteroids or comets and look for solutions to protect Earth from an impact. The new European-led NEOShield project will calculate any threat posed by Near Earth Objects (NEO) and figure the best possible way to shield the Earth. The project initiated by the German space agency’s (DLR) Institute of Planetary... 

The baffling metal sphere, pictured made a crater 12 inches deep where it fell It is a mysterious ball that looks like a prop from a science fiction film – and nobody can explain where it came from. Police have been left baffled after a strange metal sphere fell to the ground in a remote area of northern Namibia, Africa. It weighs around 13lbs, has a diameter of 14 inches and its rough surface... 

Researchers have spotted a gas cloud about three times the mass of Earth speeding up into the massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way Galaxy. Scientists expect to see outbursts of X-rays and radio waves as the cloud gas gets hotter and is finally torn asunder in 2013. They believe the phenomenon will help them learn more about how a black hole gulps gas, dust and stars as it grows bigger. Studies... 

More than three decades after launching, NASA’s workhorse spacecraft is inching closer to leaving the solar system behind. Currently 11 billion miles away from the sun, Voyager 1 has been exploring the fringes of the solar system since 2004. On Monday, the spacecraft entered a new region, known as the ‘stagnation zone’ – an area close to the very edge of our solar system, affording... 

Planet Earth viewed from space The search for Earth-like planets has finally borne fruit. Or at least that is what NASA claims, raising hopes among inhabitants of an exhausted Earth of a back-up planet for humanity. ­Space and extra-terrestrial life have always been a source of wild flights of imagination and inspiration for humanity. Now there is a fresh reason to be excited. NASA says it has discovered...