Jacob Haqq-Misra, Ravi Kopparapu, and Eric Wolf attempt to address this question in a recent paper titled "Why do we find ourselves around a yellow star instead of a red star?" and published in International Journal of Astrobiology.
If intelligent aliens exist somewhere in the depths of space, then should we see signs of their technology? This question has motivated scientists involved in the search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) to hunt for evidence of tell-tale signs of alien civilizations. But space is enormous, and any real effort to…
Single celled prokaryotic microbes, such as bacteria and archaea, control almost every aspect of our daily lives, from our individual health to the elemental cycles that maintain the global biosphere. A major challenge for microbial ecologists is cataloging the vast diversity of prokaryotic life on Earth and connecting…
For several decades scientists have been interested in the ability of psychrophilic (cold- loving) microbial communities to degrade the various components of crude oil, which is a process known as bioremediation. Because temperature has a direct impact on enzyme activity there is a concern that, at very low…
Small red stars, known by astronomers as “M-dwarfs”, are the most abundant type of star in the sky and are also the most long-lived of all stars. This means there are plenty nearby of M-dwarfs to search for possible habitable planets, and many current and planned exoplanet surveys emphasize the search for potential…
Long-term patterns in Earth’s climate show glacial cycles that correspond to variations in Earth’s orbital geometry and affect the overall amount of sunlight that the planet receives. Known as “Milankovitch cycles”, these variations are observed in geologic reconstructions of temperature and isotopes to show…