Bacteria Got an Early Fix on Nitrogen

New evidence points to the evolution of the ability for bacteria to grab nitrogen from the atmosphere some 3.2 billion years ago, about 1.2 billion years earlier than thought—with implications for finding extraterrestrial life. Lee Billings reports 

A dwarf galaxy near the Milky Way may consist of more dark matter than regular matter.* Clara Moskowitz reports 

NASA has to deal with the unexpected financial consequences of robotic missions that just keep going. Lee Billings reports 

The oldest group of terrestrial worlds now known formed some 11.2 billion years ago, more than six billion years before our sun and planets. Clara Moskowitz reports 

In this episode of SpaceTime, we explore the latest cosmic revelations, including the astonishing discovery of an ancient interstellar comet, the intricate workings of a rare pulsar, and the safe return of the Axiom 4 crew from their mission.Ancient Interstellar Comet 3I/AtlasAst ... Show More

<p>Lujendra Ojha, assistant professor at Rutgers University, joins Planetary Radio to discuss how subsurface liquid water on exoplanets orbiting red dwarf stars could increase the likelihood of finding habitable worlds beyond our Solar System. Then we check in with Bruce Betts, c ... Show More

<p>The guests today are co-authors of a new paper in <em>Science Advances</em> titled: "A reassessment of the 'hard-steps' model for the evolution of intelligent life."</p> <p>Jennifer Macalady is a Professor of Geosciences at the Pennsylvania State University. Her research is fo ... Show More

The microbes that live in and on our bodies will colonize a human-manned spacecraft to Mars—but will the spacecraft's microbiome be safe? Christopher Intagliata reports. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices 

SpaceTime Series 28 Episode 37 The Astronomy, Space and Science News Podcast Exciting New Exoplanet Discovery, Evolving Dark Energy, and Insights into the Moon's Magnetic Field In this episode of SpaceTime, we uncover the discovery of a potential new exoplanet, TOI 2818C, located ... Show More

An international team has detected phosphine gas in the clouds above Venus. Naturally-produced phosphine on Earth is created by anaerobic bacteria. We’ll listen to portions of the media briefing at which this result was announced. Then we’ll get perspective on the find from the P ... Show More

In the news, we speak to the WHO about the rise in cases of the new variant of Mpox. Also, the final piece of Stonehenge is traced back to its origin, and Nasa's InSight lander finds evidence of liquid water on Mars. Plus, how horses almost deceived scientists into believing they ... Show More

<p>This week on Planetary Radio, we explore the decades-long journey of Kosmos 482, a Soviet-era Venus probe that spent 53 years orbiting Earth before its dramatic return on May 10, 2025. Ben Fernando, a postdoctoral researcher in seismology and planetary science at Johns Hopkins ... Show More

Astrophysicist Lisa Kaltenegger explores the thrilling possibility of discovering life beyond Earth, highlighting how cutting-edge technology like the James Webb Space Telescope lets us analyze distant planets for signs of life in unprecedented detail. Could examining these "alie ... Show More