MIT-led Team Discovers New Path of Earth's MeteoritesA team from MIT and other institutions have solved the mystery that has nagged at astronomers the last few years: why the vast majority of asteroids that come near the Earth are of a type that matches only a tiny fraction of the meteorites that most frequently hit our planet.
Ice Volcanoes of Titan May Harbor Life
Titan, the sixth and largest moon of the planet Saturn, is thought to be made largely of ice. Some of that ice may melt during meteor impacts or in underground processes, producing "ice volcanoes" that emit a "lava" containing ammonia mixed with water.New observations of Titan by the Cassini spacecraft suggest the presence of cryovolcanism on the moon's surface. Cryovolcanism has important astrobiological implications, as it provides a means of exposing Titan's organics to liquid water, transforming hydrocarbons and nitriles into more evolved and oxidized prebiotic species.