Dirk Schulze-Makuch

Dirk Schulze-Makuch

 

Dirk Schulze-Makuch is a Professor at the Technical University Berlin, Germany, and an Adjunct Professor at Arizona State University and Washington State University. He has published eight books and nearly 200 scientific papers related to astrobiology and planetary habitability. His latest books are The Cosmic Zoo: Complex Life on Many Worlds and the 3rd edition of Life in the Universe: Expectations and Constraints.

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Artist's illustration of the planets, TRAPPIST-1b and TRAPPIST-1c, passing in front of their parent star, which is much smaller and cooler than our sun.

Looking for The Right Atmosphere

The next step in the search for habitable planets.

Artist’s conception of the exoplanet Tau Ceti e.

Climate Change May Affect The Habitability of Other Planets

It’s not just Earth that has to worry.

The Entry of the Animals into Noah’s Ark, Jan Brueghel the Elder.

The Cosmic Zoo: Why Animal-Like Life Should Be Common In the Universe

Once biology starts on a planet, there’s a good chance complex organisms would follow.

The swarm of dusty comets in this artist's conception is one of several not-entirely-convincing explanations for what's happening around the star called KIC 8462852.

The Mystery of Tabby’s Star

A Kickstarter campaign to study one of astronomy’s most puzzling objects.

This split image of Shackleton Crater on the moon shows elevation (left) and shaded relief (right) data for the 12.5-mile-wide crater.

Ancient Fossils on the Moon?

Why new findings about lunar water may be of interest to astrobiologists.

Radio telescopes could be used to send a message, but would the message be heard?

Conversing With E.T.

What’s the best way to start a discussion with intelligent extraterrestrials—and is that even possible?

Fragments extracted from rocks found in northern China show what appear to be well-preserved cellular structure.

Complex Life 1.5 Billion Years Ago?

More evidence is needed for such an extraordinary claim.

Stromatolites in Shark Bay, Australia, give us an idea of how life looked two and a half billion years ago on Earth.

New Insight Into the Early Atmosphere of Earth

The rise of oxygen in a thin Earth atmosphere and the deepening of a paradox.

Recurring Slope Lineae in Juventae Chasma, a giant box canyon on Mars.

Boiling Water and Jumping Sands on Mars

Recurrent Slope Lineae and their secrets

Where are they?

The Odds That We’re the Only Advanced Species in the Galaxy Are One in 60 Billion

A modified version of the Drake Equation, and what it tells us.

Saturn as seen by Cassini: Some of you dust particles aren’t from around here, are you?

Dust From the Great Beyond

Interstellar grains seen by the Cassini spacecraft lend support to the old panspermia hypothesis.

The Rosetta spacecraft took this image of comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko backlit by the sun on March 27. The creation of complex organic molecules in the lab is in line with the identification of organic molecules in cometary samples taken by Rosetta’s Philae lander.

Scientists Create Life’s Building Blocks From Just Three Ingredients

Take dust and ice, add radiation, and voilà.

Simulation showing the density distribution of iron-60 as it appeared 2.2 million years ago following supernova explosions in the vicinity of Earth.

Supernova Fallout Hit Earth When Human Ancestors Were Alive

Lucky for them, the source of the explosions was beyond the “kill distance.”

Researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute created their first self-replicating synthetic bacteria, JCVI-syn1.0 (shown here in a scanning electron micrograph) in 2010.

Scientists Create Bacteria with the Smallest Known Genome

Synthetic life may help us understand life on other planets.

Artist's conception of the ExoMars 2016 Trace Gas Orbiter at Mars.

ExoMars and the Question of Martian Methane

Europe’s new Mars mission will take aim at one of planetary science’s most intriguing mysteries.

Bluish-gray molybdenite, a molybdenium-sulfur mineral, in quartz from Wisconsin.

Rare Minerals May Be a Sign of Life

Geology and biology co-evolved on Earth, and maybe on other planets, too.

One of the Martian sites we can't yet visit: Valles Marineris as seen by Mars Express, with vertical relief exaggerated.

Not All Martian Landing Sites Are Alike

And choosing among them is one of the great challenges facing any search for life.

E.T., definitely one of the nice aliens.

The Extraterrestrial Encyclopedia

A new book takes a multi-disciplinary look at life in the Universe.

A turned-over hypolith from the Atacama Desert. Notice the green patch, which is cyanobacteria that live on the underside of the translucent quartzite rock. These microorganisms obtain their water from fog.

Martian Life May Survive on Water From the Atmosphere

And “follow the water” could be a misguided strategy.

University Valley in Antarctica.

Scientists Find One of the Rare Uninhabited Places on Earth

No traces of life turn up in Antarctica’s University Valley.

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