Frozen DNA Survives After 8 Million Years

Synthetic life close to becoming a reality

(NEWSER) - Alien life may appear in a test tube on Earth long before it's found elsewhere—and by some standards, it's already here, researchers say. Multiple teams of scientists around the world are experimenting with genetic tools in an effort to create synthetic life, the New York Times finds. Having a completely new example of life will give a much better picture of what other kinds of life exist in the universe and how common extraterrestrial life is, researchers say. More»

Antarctica jet filling in for dying satellite

(NEWSER) - NASA has begun a mission much closer to home than usual. The agency is flying a DC-8 over Antarctica to track melting glaciers and any subsequent rise in sea levels. Operation Ice Bridge is designed to buttress the work of a fading satellite, ICESat, which is just about spent after 7 years of service. Its replacement won't be in orbit until 2015 at the earliest, reports NPR . More»

Prehistoric glacier's rapid meltdown could happen again: researchers

(NEWSER) - New data about a prehistoric Canadian glacier that rapidly vanished is giving scientists a stronger model to predict the radical effects of climate change. It's very possible that the same conditions could quickly shrink today's larger ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica, prompting sea levels to soar in a "geographic instant," LiveScience reports. Greenland's Jakobshavn glacier so far is behaving most like the ancient glacier. More»

(NEWSER) - Scientists have discovered an Antarctic ecosystem of microorganisms cut off from light and oxygen for as many as 2 million years, the Guardian reports. The microbes, living under one-third of a mile of ice, in a 14-degree lake four times as salty as seawater, give researchers clues to how life could exist on other planets, and how it survived on Earth during extreme conditions in the past. More»

Rock-dwelling microorganisms would make it back from space

(NEWSER) - If a comet ever obliterates life on Earth, don't worry—space rocks could later fall in and reseed a few basic life forms. A new study shows that organisms can survive being hit by a meteor, ejected into space, and hurtled back to Earth on the face of a rock—which is good news should we ever go the way of the dinosaurs, Astrobiology reports. More»