Category: Search for Life

Harvard astrophysicist Avi Loeb has been appointed as the head of a new White House group to study unidentified anomalous phenomena or UAP, a new catch-all term for UFOs that might appear not just in the air but also in space or underwater. Loeb says the group is focused on evidence, instrumentation, data analysis and collection standards.

The move follows recent Trump administration initiatives to bring more transparency to the topic of UFOs, or UAP. The UAP Science Advisory Council, Loeb explains, was established by the White House, the Pentagon's All-Domain Anomaly Resolution Office (AARO), the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and other members of the Intelligence Community.

Loeb co-founded and leads the Galileo Project, designed to bring the search for extraterrestrial technological signatures of extraterrestrial technological civilizations "from accidental or anecdotal observations and legends to the mainstream of transparent, validated and systematic scientific research."

As chair of the just-formed UAP Science Advisory Council, Loeb has built a team of researchers that he describes as "an amazing A-team of exceptional scientists and experts."

Members of the group come from a wide range of disciplines from data science and instrumentation to biology, oceanography, anthropology and psychology.

The council's stated purpose is to help government agencies study the nature of UAP through rigorous scientific methods, with an emphasis on collecting and analyzing higher-quality data rather than relitigating older material that cannot be independently verified.

Meet the team

But first things first.

What is the current membership makeup of Loeb's Council? It's quite a mix of talent to undertake a new look at UAP:

• Liberty Capito is a professor of practice in data science at the Olin Business School at the Washington University in St. Louis.
• Carol Cleland is a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Colorado Boulder.
• Richard Cloete is a computer scientist at Harvard University and a member of Loeb's Galileo Project.
• Omer Eldadi is in the department of psychology at Reichman University, Herzliya, Israel.
• Tim Gallaudet is a retired Navy admiral and oceanographer.
• Robin Hanson is an associate professor of economics at George Mason University statistics and economics.
• Ross Howard is producer of John Michael Godier's Event Horizon podcast that explores the technosignatures of alien technology. He is also with the Sol Foundation aimed at addressing the UAP issue and preparing society for its social implications.
• Kevin Knuth is a professor of physics at the University at Albany.
• Ravi Kopparapu is a NASA Goddard Space Flight Center expert having research interests in extrasolar planet habitability, atmosphere modeling and characterization.
• Ben Lamm is the co-founder and CEO Of Colossal Biosciences, the world's first de-extinction company.
• Jacob Haqq Misra, of Blue Marble Space, is a meteorology and astrobiology specialist.
• Devesh Nandal is a Swiss National Science Foundation postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Astrophysics at Harvard and Smithsonian.
• Garry Nolan is professor in the Department of Pathology at Stanford University School of Medicine and is executive director of the board of the Sol Foundation.
• Michael Shermer is the founding publisher of Skeptic magazine and an educator on critical thinking.
• Peter Skafish is a sociocultural anthropologist and secretary of the Sol Foundation.
• Matthew Szydagis is an associate professor in the Department of Physics at the University at Albany.
• Jennice Vilhauer is a clinical psychologist with expertise in quantitative psychology and the psychological dimensions of potential disclosure.

Data-driven, physics-based

Space.com reached out to several of the UAP Council members to get their personal views on this new study approach.

"I expect the council and myself to follow methods and techniques deeply rooted in the scientific principles," said Devesh Nandal.

"The UAP Science council in particular is focused on a data-driven and physics-based approach on the topic of UAP," said Nandal. "We approach this topic with the same rigor we apply in our respective scientific fields and we hope to provide an unbiased analysis on this topic."

Nandal said his role is to help with quantitative data analysis and apply his expertise in astrophysics to help the council decipher the origin of UAPs.

"My first and foremost passion is in stellar astrophysics where I study the life and death of massive and supermassive stars," Nandal said. "I also find the anomalous nature of UAP sightings to be quite intriguing, and whether these events are of terrestrial or extraterrestrial origin, I am excited to apply my understanding of physics to decipher their true nature," he said.

If such events can be explained using known principles, "that's excellent," Nandal advised, as this gives him a chance to test the laws of physics to explain a phenomenon that is captivating fellow humans.

"If such events are beyond our current understanding, I see this as a brilliant opportunity to learn all that I can about the Universe and share my findings with everyone," Nandal concluded.

Public trust in science

Council member Liberty Capito said she's honored to be a part of the study group.

"Avi is one of the most brilliant scientists of our time and what he has put together, is what I believe to be a blueprint for re-establishing the public's trust in science by having people with vastly different views, beliefs and science on it," Capito said.

From Council member, Robin Hanson: "It's an honor to be invited, and it's a great cause. I worried at first if we could find much useful to do, but it seems that we do have some promising ideas."

Another member of the UAP Council is Carol Cleland, a professor in the Department of Philosophy at the University of Colorado Boulder. She is a Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute Affiliate and a member of CU Boulder's Center for Astrobiology.

"I anticipate having a council of outside experts will pressure the government to be more open about releasing information and allowing members of the council to interview UAP witnesses," Cleland told Space.com.

Potential positive

Identifying the unidentified deserves a high priority within the U.S. government and the scientific community, explains Loeb.

Nevertheless, for organizations that also continue to diligently sort out what's behind unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in the past and the current UAP tag line, they are taking a cautiously optimistic attitude.

"The involvement of serious, independent scientists is a potential positive development, and the government requires that for any thorough and credible investigation of UAP," said Mark Rodeghier, president and scientific director of the J. Allen Hynek Center for UFO Studies since 1986.

The key issue is not the credentials of the people involved, Rodeghier said, but the structure they are working within.

"If the Council lacks a clear mandate, access to relevant data, a collaborative relationship with those actually grappling with the UAP problem in the government, and then a path for public reporting, its practical value may be quite limited," Rodeghier told Space.com.

Wait and see

Robert Powell, an executive board member of the Scientific Coalition for UAP Studies, said he's adopting a "wait and see" attitude regarding the UAP Council at this point in time.

"Since the UAP Council seems to have the ear of some in Congress," Powell told Space.com, "I hope that they will spend some of their time advocating that Congress appropriate funding specific to the study of UAP through the National Science Foundation."

In SCU board meetings, Powell added, they are a strong proponent of making funding available to the scientific community and academia.

"We never know from where a breakthrough may occur in the study of UAP," Powell said, "and the more scientists involved from all areas of research, the better."

Is there life on Mars … in clay? Scientists think that the minerals in clay could be the key to finding signs of ancient life on the Red Planet.

The European Space Agency is still working toward launching its ExoMars Rosalind Franklin rover to Mars to search for signs of life. And, according to a statement from the space agency, the rover is now aiming to land at Oxia Planum, a depression on the Martian surface where it's thought that water was once plentiful. There, scientists think that they might find major clues in the hunt for life in the basin's clay, according to a new paper.

"We will use the instruments on board to ground truth the discoveries made from orbit, learn about the ancient environment in which they formed, and if they preserve any evidence of Martian life. Warmth and nutrients on an early martian seabed could have provided habitats for early life," ExoMars deputy project scientist Elliot Sefton-Nash added in the statement.

Scientists have spent years searching for signs that life once existed on Mars. It's thought that water on Mars evaporated around three billion years ago, but before then the planet likely had a more substantial atmosphere and water flowing in rivers and into lakes all across its surface. Because of the planet's history, many scientists think that it's most likely that at some point in the ancient past, the planet must have supported life. While this has yet to be confirmed, last year scientists found what is currently thought of as the strongest possible biosignature, or physical evidence of life, on Mars.

In a new study, researchers have found extensive clay deposits at Rosalind Franklin's proposed landing site. They found this clay to reach roughly 186 miles (300 kilometers) outward from Oxia Planum, stretching as far as a Martian valley called Mawrth Vallis. To spot the clay, they first studied the planet from orbit.

Researchers used the OMEGA instrument on ESA's Mars Express orbiter and NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter to explore the minerals and rock layers on Mars between Oxia Planum and Mawrth Vallid, finding mineral layers at both sites as well as markers showing changes in water chemistry over time. These observations add to other studies pointing to water on ancient Mars.

With ESA's upcoming rover, some scientists think that the clues to life on Mars could be hiding in this clay in the Oxia Planum region.

"By landing at Oxia Planum, we’ll uncover a large-scale process that shaped ancient clays across Mars," lead author Inés Torres Auré of the University of Lyon in France said in the statement.

Scientists think that it's possible that the area of Oxia Planum could have once been home to a body of water as big as an ocean or the region could possibly have experienced incredible flooding some four billion years ago, according to the statement.

"Because the area is so large, we are not talking about a localised occurrence, but rather a regional or global process that would have required immense amounts of water. We are targeting the oldest deposits in the sequence, which makes the potential implications for the geology and early climate of Mars very relevant for the Rosalind Franklin mission in its search for life," ExoMars project scientist Jorge Vago explained in the statement.

While we have never confirmed life off-Earth and it could be different from the life we know, as far as life on Earth is concerned, water is a necessary ingredient.

ESA's Rosalind Franklin rover is projected to launch to the Red Planet in 2028. The rover will be part of ESA's ExoMars program alongside the agency's Trace Gas Orbiter which is already traveling around Mars. Rosalind Franklin will have a drill, allowing it to explore below the planet's surface as the pair work together from orbit and on the Martian surface to hunt for signs of ancient life.

This work was described in a study published in the journal Science Direct.

A new planetary habitability model could make the search for aliens more efficient by quickly identifying rocky worlds unlikely to sustain the atmospheres needed for life as we know it.

The software, called the Smaller Than Earth Habitability Model (STEHM), allows astronomers to screen exoplanets before committing valuable telescope time to detailed observations. Developed by researchers at Stanford University, the model assesses whether a rocky planet can build and retain an atmosphere over billions of years — a prerequisite for life as we know it, according to a statement from the university.

Astronomers searching for life beyond Earth face a daunting challenge: thousands of exoplanets have already been discovered, and billions more are thought to exist throughout the Milky Way — roughly one for every star in the galaxy. As powerful new telescopes come online, researchers increasingly need ways to identify which worlds are worth closer study.

"The only way that we're going to ever find out if there are signatures of life out there is by observing the atmosphere of these planets," Michelle Hill, lead author of the study who developed STEHM, said in the statement.

Traditionally, scientists have focused on whether a planet lies within its star's habitable zone, the region where temperatures may allow liquid water to exist on the surface. But location alone does not guarantee habitability. A planet without a substantial atmosphere may be unable to maintain stable temperatures, shield itself from radiation or support surface water, the researchers said.

STEHM adds a second layer to this assessment by estimating whether small rocky planets can generate and retain atmospheres over geologic timescales. The model links a planet's size to its ability to hold onto atmospheric gases, helping identify a lower size threshold for potentially habitable worlds.

To build STEHM, Hill used the ExoPlex planetary simulation code to model six rocky worlds ranging from half Earth's size to Earth-size, testing how planetary structure, volcanic activity, internal heat and stellar radiation affect atmospheric survival. The model was validated using Venus and Mars, correctly reproducing Venus's thick carbon dioxide atmosphere and Mars's long-term atmospheric loss.

The results suggest that rocky planets at least 80% the size of Earth can retain atmospheres for 10 billion years or more when orbiting within habitable zones around sun-like stars. Smaller planets generally lose their atmospheres more quickly, though worlds around 70% of Earth's size may still be habitable under favorable conditions. Atmospheric longevity also depends strongly on initial carbon content and heat-producing elements that drive volcanic activity, allowing STEHM to serve as a size-based filter for identifying the most promising habitable worlds.

"Maybe there's life on other planets under the ground, but we are never going to be able to see it because we can't send something to those exoplanets," Hill said in the statement. "The best chance we've got is looking for signs of life by analyzing atmospheres from afar."

By narrowing the field of candidates, STEHM could help astronomers focus on the most promising planets for life while avoiding wasting resources on unlikely targets. The approach may be especially useful as next-generation missions, such as the European Space Agency's PLATO space telescope, expand the catalog of rocky exoplanets around nearby stars. Researchers hope the model will help prioritize which of these planets merit follow-up observations.

STEHM not only addresses where life beyond Earth could occur, but when it might, by modeling whether exoplanets can actually hold onto atmospheres over geologic timescales — a key prerequisite for life to take hold in the first place.

"Maybe the answer to why we haven't found any life yet is that we're so early in the grand scheme of what has been created through the lives and deaths of stars," Hill said in the statement. "Maybe we're one of the first."

Their findings were published June 4 in the Planetary Science Journal.