Is there life on Mars? Better tools are needed to get the answer

Current state-of-the-art instrumentation being sent to Mars to collect and analyze evidence of ancient life on the Red Planet may not be sensitive enough to make accurate assessments, according to an international research ...

Twin of NASA's Perseverance Mars rover begins terrain tests

On a recent day in November, the car-size rover rolled slowly forward, then stopped, perched on the threshold of a Martian landscape. But this rover, named OPTIMISM, wasn't on the Red Planet. And the landscape was a boulder-strewn ...

Simulator for drilling at depths up to 5,000 meters

To tap into geothermal reservoirs, boreholes must be drilled deeply into the earth's crust. Due to the extreme pressures and temperatures involved, this is expensive and time consuming. A research team from Fraunhofer IEG ...

Fracking fury hits idyllic British village

Louisa Delpy had never protested before, but when she heard that shale gas extraction might begin in her leafy part of the English countryside, she was so furious that she took to the streets.

Polish report: shale gas extraction not harmful

(AP) -- A scientific study in Poland has found that shale gas extraction at one site produced some toxic refuse but that the waste was reused and didn't harm the environment.

Electrical water detection

A quick and easy way to detect groundwater in semi-arid hard rock areas that is also economical could improve the siting of borewells to improve clean water supply in the developing world. Details of the approach are outlined ...

IceCube drillers train for final Antarctic season

(PhysOrg.com) -- The sweltering Wisconsin summer is a far cry from conditions at the South Pole, but ice drillers from around the United States will gather next week in Stoughton to prepare for the upcoming Antarctic work ...