Across the Cosmos / Astrobiology News Archive

Grace Wolf-Chase, a Senior Scientist and Senior Education and Communication Specialist at the Planetary Science Institute as well as a member of The Clergy Letter Project, has been writing a monthly column for The Clergy Letter Project Newsletter about astrobiology. Her wonderful columns were originally entitled Astrobiology News but, as her topics broadened, she changed to name to Across the Cosmos.    What follows is an archive of all of her fabulous columns.

                2013   2014   2015   2016   2017   2018    2019    2020    2021   2022   

2023       2024

2013


  • April 2013, An Introduction to a New Feature on Astrobiology for CLP Members
  • May 2013, Planets, Planets, Everywhere!
  • June 2013, The Diversity of Worlds - and Scientists
  • July 2013, What Makes a Planet Habitable?
  • August 2013, Searching for Life in Our Cosmic Backyard:   A Proposed Mission to Europa
  • September 2013, Searching for WISE Civilizations
  • October 2013, Yoking Scientific Knowledge and Religious Wisdom
  • November 2013, Evolution Weekend 2014:  Celebrating Clergy Contributions to Science at the        Adler Planetarium
  • December 2013, Clergy Event at the Adler Planetarium on February 18, 2014

    • 2014


  • January 2014, "Superhabitable" Worlds
  • February 2014, Clergy Contributions to Science
  • March 2014, Cosmos:  An Unexpected Journey
  • April 2014, Illuminating Patterns in Light
  • May 2014, Solar Siblings
  • June 2014, Reflections on New Frontiers in Science & Philosophy
  • July 2014, Vatican Obervatory "Science Guy" Wins Carl Sagan Medal
  • August 2014, Rosetta: Deciphering the Origin of our Solar System
  • September 2014, Prospects for Extraterrestrial Life on "Exomoons"
  • October 2014, Would You Baptize an Extraterrestrial?
  • November 2014, Rosetta Mission Update:  The Historic Landing on a Comet
  • December 2014, 2014 Highlights from Zooniverse:   Research with One Million Citizen Scientists


    • 2015


  • January 2015, The Adler Planetarium Celebrates Clergy Contributions to Science:  Past,       Present and Future
  • February 2015, Disorderly Planets
  • March 2015, Cosmos:  Journey to the Dawn of Our Solar System
  • April 2015, Yellow "Space Balls" and the Origin of Our Solar System
  • May 2015, Celebrating The Hubble Space Telescope
  • June 2015, Bringing Science and Religion Dialogue to Sunday School
  • July 2015, New Horizons’s Encounter with Pluto
  • August 2015, "Slushball" Earth
  • September 2015, The Ocean of Enceladus
  • October 2015, What Do Comets and Aliens Have in Common?
  • November 2015, NASA’s Strategic Plan for Astrobiology in the Next Decade
  • December 2015, The Human Search for the Origins of Life


    • 2016


  • January 2016, Highlights from the Adler Planetarium
  • February 2016, Planetary Protection in Real and “Reel” Life
  • March 2016, Seeking Out Strange New Worlds
  • April 2016, Searching for Life Searching for Us
  • May 2016, Walking on Other Worlds
  • June 2016, Our Magnetic Sun
  • July 2016, Nightfall Revisited
  • August 2016, Astrobiology Primer v2.0
  • September 2016, A Potentially Habitable Exoplanet in Our Cosmic Backyard
  • October 2016, Rosetta Mission Update:   The Building Blocks of Life
  • November 2016, Probing for Life on Other Worlds, Protecting Life on Earth
  • December 2016, On Star Wars, Hope, and Imagining Earth’s Future


    • 2017


  • January 2017, Reframing the Question, Are We Alone?
  • February 2017, Will Computers Decipher the Origin of Life?
  • March 2017, Cool Dwarf TRAPPIST-1 and the Seven Earths
  • April 2017, Reflections for Earth Day:  Toward a Sustainable Future
  • May 2017, Revisiting TRAPPIST-1:  The Harmony of the Worlds
  • June 2017, Touching the Nearest Star
  • July 2017, Embryonic Stars Hidden in Stellar Nurseries
  • August 2017, Eclipse 2017:  My Excellent Family Adventure
  • September 2017, Taking the Plunge:  Cassini's Final Act
  • October 2017, Protecting the Red Planet from the Green Planet
  • November 2017, Earth-like Planets Orbiting the Nearest Stars?
  • December 2017, Two-, Three-, and Four-Star Families


    • 2018


  • January 2018, Astrobiology, the Anthropocene, and the “Sapiozoic”
  • February 2018, The Evolution of Life and Language
  • March 2018, The Clarke Exobelt
  • April 2018, Discovering Earth-like Worlds with TESS
  • May 2018, "Decolonizing" Mars
  • June 2018, Learning from Mars:  Habitability Over Time
  • July 2018, Marvelous Mars
  • August 2018, A Planet is Born!
  • September 2018, Mars Revisited
  • October 2018, Astro-Biology and -Ethics and -Theology, Oh My!
  • November 2018, Searching for Extant Life in the Outer Solar System
  • December 2018, Prepping for a “Grab-and-Go” at Asteroid Benn


    • 2019


  • January 2019, The Role of Citizen Scientists in New Discoveries
  • February 2019, A Multidisciplinary Approach to Investigating Life’s Origins
  • March 2019, K Dwarfs and the Search for Extraterrestrial Life
  • April 2019, Is “Raising” Planets a Community Effort?
  • May 2019, Astroethics:  Environmentalism & Ethics Meet Extraterrestrial Life
  • June 2019, Highlights from the American Astronomical Society Meeting
  • July 2019, NASA's Dragonfly to Explore Titan
  • August 2019, The Big Questions of Astrobiology
  • September 2019, Helping Life on Earth from Your Home
  • October 2019, Using Earth’s History to Search for Habitable Planets
  • November 2019, Exoplanet Hunting Around the World
  • December 2019, On Science Fiction, Astrobiology, and Citizen Science


    • 2020


  • January 2020, Reflections of a Climate Scientist
  • February 2020, Celebrating a Noted Climate Scientist during Black History Month
  • March 2020, Ideas from the Zooniverse
  • April 2020, Caring for the Earth and All its Inhabitants while #AloneTogether
  • July 2020, Perseverance Seeking Past Life on Mars
  • August 2020, The Birth and Habitability of Planets
  • September 2020, The Astrobiology Graphic Novel Series
  • October 2020, Salt Water on Mars
  • November 2020, The Continuing Search for Earth-like Planets
  • December 2020, Ideas for Evolution Weekend 2021 and Beyond


    • 2021


  • January 2021, Astrobiology for the Physically and Spiritually Incarcerated
  • February 2021, Mars, MOXIE, and Malvern
  • March 2021, Astrobiology and Earth Month
  • April 2021, Yellowballs Revisited:  New Insights into the Birth of Stars
  • May 2021, Mars Takes Center Stage
  • June 2021, Astrobiology, the Anthropocene, and Planetary Intelligence
  • July 2021, Venus and Earth:  A Tale of Two Planets
  • August 2021, Dwarf Planet Ceres:  The Nearest Ocean World?
  • September 2021, Beyond Astrobiology
  • October 2021, Planet Hunting (and More!) in the Zooniverse
  • November 2021, New Frontiers in Astrobiology:  The James Webb Space Telescope and Beyond
  • December 2021, Looking Back on 2021


    • 2022


  • January 2022, Why Doesn't Our Solar System Have a "Super Earth?"
  • February 2022, Celebrating 50 Years of the Planetary Science Institute
  • March 2022, The Allure of Venus
  • April 2022, Celebrating Citizen Scientists and 5,000 Strange New Worlds
  • May 2022, The Cosmic Journey to Life


    • 2023


  • January 2023, On Mystery, Awe, Wonder, & JWST
  • February 2023, Two Talks of Interest
  • March 2023, The Power of Preaching with the Sciences
  • April 2023, Taking an Exoplanet’s Temperature
  • May 2023, ETC Phone Earth
  • June 2023, WOWs, I-WOWs, and the Ongoing Search for Extraterrestrial Life
  • July 2023, Are Red Dwarf Planets Habitable?
  • August 2023, Astrobiology at the Parliament of the World’s Religions
  • September 2023, Biological Activity on Exoplanet K2-18b?
  • October 2023, Cosmic Bringers of Life and Death
  • November 2023, Community-Driven Climate Solutions
  • December 2023, Geysers and the Search for Habitable Exoplanets


    • 2024


  • February 2024, Exoplanets and the Optimal Habitable Zone
  • March 2024, Community, Convergence, and Creative Interaction
  • April 2024, Experiencing Awe:  Reflections on a Total Solar Eclipse
  • May 2024, Citizen Scientists Identify a Unique Exoplanet
  • June 2024, Reconnecting to the Night Sky
  • July 2024, Habitability for Your Cosmic Future:  AstroAnthropology Meets AstroEthics
  • August 2024, Up PERYSCOPE
  • September 2024, How to Live on Mars (and not Die)
  • October 2024, Europa Clipper to “Set Sail”
  • November 2024, Empowering Diverse Faith Communities through Engagement in Participatory Science