College of Natural & Agricultural Sciences

NEWSWEEK - A massive lithium discovery beneath California's Salton Sea has set off a high-stakes push for what some have implied could be America's best shot at lithium self-sufficiency. The U.S. Department of Energy confirmed in late 2023 that an estimated 18 million metric tons of lithium—often called "white gold" on account of its silvery-white...

SMITHSONIAN MAGAZINE - Are we alone in the universe? While no one can say for sure, space scientists know where to start looking—exoplanets. An exoplanet is a planet beyond the cradle of Earth’s eight-membered solar system. Hundreds of billions of these extraterrestrial kingdoms swarm our galaxy, and hundreds of sextillions of others exist beyond that...

NEWS ATLAS - Finding alien life won’t be as dramatic as a flying saucer landing on the White House lawn – it’ll be NASA scientists holding a press conference to excitedly show off a chart that’s incomprehensible to most people. Now, we’re a step closer to that boring but groundbreaking day. Astronomers from the University...

SPACE.COM - Hycean worlds, which are a possible kind of exoplanet with deep oceans surrounded by a thick envelope of hydrogen, could provide the best chance for the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to detect biosignatures, according to a new study. Those potential signs of life are a group of chemicals called methyl halides, which...

GB NEWS - Scientists have discovered that alien existence could be hiding in gases on distant planets. New research suggests extraterrestrial beings might exist in gases called methyl halides on faraway worlds. Researchers believe this approach could provide a relatively quick and easy way to examine potential signs of life beyond Earth. On Earth, methyl...

MASHABLE - Considering humans don't have a spacecraft capable of traveling to planets beyond the solar system, scientists have to get creative if they want to find clues of life existing light-years away. Now a group of scientists is proposing a new way for astronomers to look for signs of aliens using the James Webb...

EARTH.COM - Scientists have searched for alien life for years, but space is huge, and technology has limits, making it hard to find answers. Traditionally, researchers have focused on finding planets similar to Earth, believing that conditions mirroring our own would be the best place to look for life. However, a new study suggests that...