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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Mars Cube One (MarCO) is a pair of cereal box-size spacecraft scheduled to be launched next year along with NASA’s next Mars lander.

CubeSats to the Rescue?

Small spacecraft will have an impact on astrobiology, although their use may be limited.

Forty years ago, Viking went looking for life on Mars. Time to look again?

The Right Time to Search for Martian Life

After decades of geology-focused Mars missions, should we send one dedicated to biology?

Doomsday: When the sun becomes a red giant, Earth will become uninhabitable.

The Search for Future Earths

A rare variety of exoplanet may give us a preview of what’s in store for our planet billions of years from now.

Blood Falls at Antarctica’s Taylor Glacier.

Microbes Under Antarctica

Water basins found beneath the Taylor Valley have implications for finding life on Mars.

Cracks on Jupiter's moon Europa. Could there be life under the ice?

How Long Before We Find Extraterrestrial Life?

It’s hard to predict, considering that habitability alone doesn’t mean life arose on other worlds.

“Hey, look what I found!” Curiosity racks up another discovery on Mars.

Mystery Solved: Mars Has Nitrates

The Curiosity rover answers a long-standing question.

An azotosome vesicle like the one modeled here would be about the size of a small virus particle.

Life as We Don't Know It on Titan

Cell membranes may be made of different materials on Saturn’s large moon.

Mars used to be a water world.

Mars Once Had an Ocean—A Big One

Newly published results may just seal the case.

Artist's concept of a red dwarf star with a retinue of planets.

Earth-like Planets Might Be Rare After All

New computer simulations suggest that red dwarfs would give rise to desert planets or waterworlds.

Artist's concept of a water vapor plume on Europa.

How Could We Detect Life in Europa’s Geysers?

Scientists consider how to sample the spray from Jupiter’s moon.

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Closing in on Mysterious Ceres

Yet another world that may have an internal ocean.

Artist’s conception of an Earth-like planet orbiting an evolved star that has formed a "planetary nebula."

Astronomers Just Doubled the Number of Potentially Habitable Planets

Another step closer to finding a second Earth

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A New Tool for Finding Life on Other Planets

It’s small, fast, and—best of all—doesn’t require knowledge of alien biochemistry.

Curiosity's rover tracks on Mars, as seen from orbit in December 2013.

Exciting New Findings About Martian Methane

Could life be the source?

A TEXUS suborbital rocket launches from the Kiruna range in Sweden.

DNA is Hardier Than We Thought

It can survive suborbital spaceflight, but what about longer interplanetary trips?

If cyanobacteria (pictured) could exist in a hydrogen-dominated atmosphere, maybe higher plants could as well.

Plant Life May Thrive in Alien Atmospheres

It may not even require as much light as it does on Earth.

Signs of terrestrial life on Mars: Curiosity's rover tracks.

A New Way to Search for Martian Life

Isotopic analysis may help us separate native organisms from Earthly contamination.

A trilobite, one of the first hard-shelled fossils found after the Cambrian explosion.

How Animals Came to Roam the Earth

The rise of complex life came after a rise in oxygen levels, according to new research.

A major asteroid impact in the past made Mimas look like the “Death Star” in Star Wars.

Mimas: Is There an Ocean Inside the Death Star?

Another (possibly) watery moon in the outer solar system

Keeping it clean: Engineers wear "bunny suits" when working on Mars-bound rovers, to avoid possible contamination.

New Spacecraft Cleaning Method Gets Rid of Pesky “Hitchhikers”

A cheaper, easier, approach to planetary protection.

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