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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The exoplanet GJ 1132b has some of the traits needed for habitability, but is probably lifeless.

Oxygen is Not Enough

To point us to a habitable planet, that is.

Dry as dust today, but maybe it wasn’t always that way.

The Moon May Have Had Lots of Water in the Distant Past

And that raises its interest to astrobiologists.

Who’s a smart boy?

Are Humans Freaks of Nature?

The small but significant gap between humans and other animals on Earth may shed light on why we see no alien visitors.

16,000 Gs? That’s all you got?

These Tiny Creatures Can Withstand an Astonishing 16,000 Gs

The ultimate animal survivor would still have a hard time on other planets.

The fossilized brain of an Iguanodon.

This Pebble Turns Out to Be a Fossilized Dinosaur Brain

And iguanodons may have been smarter than we thought.

Hot springs (arrows) with discharge channels at El Tatio, Chile, where the intriguing silica structures were found.

On Mars, Looks Can Be Deceiving

Reliable biosignatures need more than a physical resemblance to be convincing.

Watch where you step! Artist's concept of a small coelurosaur approaching a resin-coated branch on the forest floor.

A Feathered Dinosaur From 99 Million Years Ago

This bird-like creature raises questions about how smart dinosaurs really were.

This near-infrared, color mosaic from NASA's Cassini spacecraft shows the Sun glinting off of Titan's north polar seas near the 11 o'clock position at upper left. Titan has environmental conditions close to those that would make silicon life plausible, but silicon itself is lacking.

A Step toward Silicon Life?

Scientists have found that microbes can make chemical bonds that might—conceivably—play a role in alien biology.

Starshade occulters are among the technologies that could point us to a real Earth twin in the 2020s.

Finding Earth 2.0 Will Be Harder Than We Thought

No such discovery can be expected within this decade.

Venus and Earth, the unlikely twins, are comparable in size and geochemistry, but very different nowadays in climate and environmental parameters.

Early Venusian Oceans May Have Harbored Life

If so, could there still be life in the planet’s atmosphere today?

Moloch horridus: No drinks for me, thanks.

The Thorny Devil, an Alien in Our Midst

This lizard could teach us about survival on dry planets.

The San Andreas fault near San Francisco Bay is visible as a distinctive trough in this false-color radar image. And there's life nearby.

Marsquakes May Point the Way to Life

Fault zones could make good habitats, according to recent research.

Listen up, aliens: ESA's deep space antenna in Cebreros is about to broadcast.

Is Beaming Messages to Other Stars a Wise Idea?

The debate continues, even as a new transmission is aimed at Polaris.

This Rosetta image of the “head” of the comet, which resembles the shape of a duck, was taken from a distance of about 10 miles during the final descent on September 30.

Farewell, Rosetta

The comet mission ends with a last hurrah.

Methane from Meteorites? Maybe Not.

A challenge to a new hypothesis, and a great example of how science works.

Methane plumes as discovered by Michael Mumma in the northern summer of Mars in 2003. Higher methane concentrations are shown in yellow and red.

Martian Methane May Come From Comets

A new explanation for one of planetary science’s big mysteries.

A Boost for Astrobiology in Germany

A new society dedicated to studying life on other worlds.

Artist's conception of the surface of Proxima b.

Is the New Planet Proxima b Really Habitable?

It depends on water, radiation, and other factors still unknown.

“White smokers” at a deep ocean hydrothermal vent.

LUCA, the Ancestor of All Life on Earth

A new genetic analysis points to hydrothermal vents as the planet’s first habitat.

The Curiosity rover landed on Mars four years ago next week, and is still investigating methane concentrations at Gale Crater.

Testing for Methane on Mars

And the three leading theories are...

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