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Despite the insistence of some physicists that quantum effects only affect things on an extremely small scale, new theories continue to be put forward that the smallest known processes may be responsible for some very, very big phenomena, ranging from things such as the navigational sense of migratory birds, to the potential that they may also be responsible for the very existence of life as we know it on Earth.
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While life was once thought to just be a happy accident by mainstream science, the building blocks of DNA and RNA are proving to be not only tenacious, these organic molecules also appear to be able to form in the most unlikely of places, including in deep space on the surface of comets.

In 2014, the Philae lander touched down on the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, and during it’s investigation of the comet’s chemical makeup, it detected the presence of 16 types of organic compounds. These findings prompted the development of an organics detector for the lander, which led to experiments that simulated the chemical makeup and environmental conditions of the comet to determine what could be found there.
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Long-term regional droughts are, unfortunately, a common occurrence on our little planet. Typically though, only droughts that are long-term in their duration are reported on, giving us the impression that the problem is relegated to particular geographies, and not generally widespread. However, a new study from the Netherlands has incorporated short-term droughts into the picture, revealing water scarcity as a much more widespread problem.
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An analysis of a rock sample collected by NASA’s Curiosity rover shows ancient Mars could have supported living microbes.

Scientists identified sulfur, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, phosphorus and carbon–some of the key chemical ingredients for life–in the powder Curiosity drilled out of a rock near an ancient stream bed there.

Mars researcher John Grotzinger says, "We have characterized a very ancient, but strangely new ‘gray Mars,’ where conditions once were favorable for life. Curiosity is on a mission of discovery and exploration, and as a team we feel there are many more exciting discoveries ahead of us in the months and years to come."
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