UTA physicists explore possibility of life beyond Earth

Doctoral student leads research on planets that spend some of their orbits in habitable zone

2024-10-01

(Press-News.org) Are there planets beyond Earth where humans can live? The answer is maybe, according to a new study from University of Texas at Arlington physicists examining F-type star systems.

Stars fall into seven lettered categories according to their surface temperature. They also differ in other factors including mass, luminosity, and radius. F-types are in the middle of the scale, hotter and more massive than our sun. F-type stars are yellowish white in color and have surface temperatures of more than 10,000 degrees.

A habitable zone (HZ) is the distance from a star at which water could exist on orbiting planets’ surfaces. In the research led by doctoral student Shaan Patel and co-authored by professors Manfred Cuntz and Nevin Weinberg, the physicists presented a detailed statistical analysis of the currently known planet-hosting F-type stars using the NASA Exoplanet Archive. The archive is an online exoplanet and star data service that collects data for research.

“F-type stars are usually considered the high-luminosity end of stars with a serious prospect for allowing an environment for planets favorable for life,” Dr. Cuntz said. “However, those stars are often ignored by the scientific community. Although F-type stars have a shorter lifetime than our sun, they have a wider HZ. In short, F-type stars are not hopeless in the context of astrobiology.”

“F-type star systems are important and intriguing cases when dealing with habitability due to the larger HZs,” Patel said. “HZs are defined as areas in which conditions are right for Earth-type bodies to potentially host exolife.” Exolife is the possibility that life may exist outside our solar system.

After excluding systems with little information about planets, the team identified 206 systems of interest. “We further broke down those 18 systems into four sub-categories depending on how much time they would spend in the HZ,” said Patel.

In one case, the planet HD 111998, also known as 38 Virginis, is always situated in the HZ. It is located 108 light-years from Earth and is thus considered to be part of the extended Solar System neighborhood. It’s also 18% more massive and has a radius 45% greater than the sun, Cuntz said.

“The planet in question was discovered in 2016 at La Silla, Chile,” Cuntz said. “It is a Jupiter-type planet which is unlikely to permit life itself, but it offers the general prospect of habitable exomoons, an active field of worldwide research also pursued here at UTA.”

“In future studies, our work may serve to investigate the existence of Earth-mass planets and also habitable exomoons hosted by exo-Jupiters in F-type systems,” Patel said.

Among possible future projects, the team noted, are studies of planetary orbits, including cases of part-time HZ planets; explorations of the relationships between planetary habitability and stellar evolution, including astrobiological aspects; and assessments of exomoons for distinct systems.

“What makes a study like this possible is the hard work and dedication of the worldwide community of astronomers who have discovered more than 5,000 planets over the last 30 years,” Dr. Weinberg said. “With so many known planets, we can now carry out statistical analyses of even relatively rare systems, such as planets orbiting F-type stars, and identify those that might reside in the habitable zone.”

About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)

Located in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, The University of Texas at Arlington is a comprehensive teaching, research, and public service institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through scholarship and creative work. With an enrollment of approximately 41,000 students, UT Arlington is the second-largest institution in the UT System. UTA’s combination of outstanding academics and innovative research contributes to its designation as a Carnegie R-1 “Very High Research Activity” institution, a significant milestone of excellence. The University is designated as a Hispanic Serving-Institution and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education and has earned the Seal of Excelencia for its commitment to accelerating Latino student success. The University ranks as the No. 1 national public university in the U.S. for veterans (Military Times, 2024), No. 4 in Texas for advancing social mobility (U.S. News & World Report, 2025), and No. 6 in the United States for its undergraduate ethnic diversity (U.S. News & World Report, 2025). UT Arlington’s approximately 270,000 alumni occupy leadership positions at many of the 21 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in North Texas and contribute to the University’s $28.8 billion annual economic impact on Texas.

About The University of Texas at Arlington (UTA)

Located in the heart of the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, The University of Texas at Arlington is a comprehensive teaching, research, and public service institution dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through scholarship and creative work. With an enrollment of approximately 41,000 students, UT Arlington is the second-largest institution in the UT System. UTA’s combination of outstanding academics and innovative research contributes to its designation as a Carnegie R-1 “Very High Research Activity” institution, a significant milestone of excellence. The University is designated as a Hispanic Serving-Institution and an Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institution by the U.S. Department of Education and has earned the Seal of Excelencia for its commitment to accelerating Latino student success. The University ranks as the No. 1 national public university in the U.S. for veterans (Military Times, 2024), No. 4 in Texas for advancing social mobility (U.S. News & World Report, 2025), and No. 6 in the United States for its undergraduate ethnic diversity (U.S. News & World Report, 2025). UT Arlington’s approximately 270,000 alumni occupy leadership positions at many of the 21 Fortune 500 companies headquartered in North Texas and contribute to the University’s $28.8 billion annual economic impact on Texas.

END

[Attachments] See images for this press release:

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Seeing double: Designing drugs that target “twin” cancer proteins

2024-10-01

LA JOLLA, CA—Some proteins in the human body are easy to block with a drug; they have an obvious spot in their structure where a drug can fit, like a key in a lock. But other proteins are more difficult to target, with no clear drug-binding sites. To design a drug that blocks a cancer-related protein, Scripps Research scientists took a hint from the protein’s paralog, or “twin.” Using innovative chemical biology methods, the scientists pinpointed a druggable site on the paralog, and then used that knowledge to characterize drugs that bound to a similar—but more difficult to detect—spot on its twin. Ultimately, they found drugs ...

Fierce names Insilico Medicine as one of its Fierce 50 Honorees of 2024

2024-10-01

Cambridge, MA, Sept. 26, 2024 –Insilico Medicine, a clinical-stage generative AI-driven drug discovery company, announced today that Fierce Life Sciences and Fierce Healthcare have named Insilico Medicine as one of 2024’s Fierce 50 honorees. The Fierce 50 showcases 50 individuals and companies driving advancements in medicine, fostering innovation and shaping the future of biopharma and healthcare. “The annual Fierce 50 special report highlights individuals and companies that are driving progress in the pharmaceutical, healthcare and biotechnology industries,” said Ayla Ellison, Editor-in-Chief of Fierce Life Sciences and Healthcare. “These 50 outstanding ...

Cleveland Clinic researchers build first large-scale atlas of how immune cells react to mutations during cancer immunotherapy

2024-10-01

A Cleveland Clinic-led research collaboration between Timothy Chan, MD, PhD, Chair of Cleveland Clinic’s Global Center for Immunotherapy, and Bristol Myers Squibb has published the most comprehensive overview to date of how the immune system reshapes tumor architecture in response to immune checkpoint therapy. The eight-year study, published in Nature Medicine, outlines how cancer immunotherapy induces tumor recognition through neoantigens to reshape the tumor ecosystem. Neoantigens are small peptides produced when cancer cells mutate and are a primary marker for the immune system to recognize cancer cells as different ...

Pioneering quantum computer research continues in Baden-Württemberg

2024-10-01

Utilizing the potential of quantum computers and achieving a real advantage for practical applications — this goal is being pursued worldwide. In Baden-Württemberg, the Competence Center Quantum Computing Baden-Württemberg (KQCBW) has dedicated itself to this goal over the past four years. Great progress has been made in various areas of quantum computing in successful joint projects. The success of the KQCBW is now to be continued and the unique quantum computing ecosystem in the state further expanded. The KQCBW will be continued in a ten-month transfer project ...

Discovery of orbital angular momentum monopoles enables orbital electronics with chiral materials

2024-10-01

In traditional electronics, information is transferred using the charge of electrons. However, future technologies may rely on a different property of electrons—their intrinsic angular momentum. Historically, the focus has been on electron spin, a form of build-in angular momentum that creates a magnetic moment, as the leading candidate for next-generation devices. Now, researchers are exploring the potential of orbitronics, a field that utilizes the angular momentum of electrons generated as they orbit the atomic nucleus. Orbitronics holds great promise ...

New mouse models offer valuable window into COVID-19 infection

2024-10-01

LA JOLLA, CA—Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) have developed six lines of humanized mice that can serve as valuable models for studying human cases of COVID-19. According to their new study in eBioMedicine, these mouse models are important for COVID-19 research because their cells were engineered to include two important human molecules that are involved in SARS-CoV-2 infection of human cells—and these humanized mice were generated on two different immunologic backgrounds. ...

Antibodies in breast milk provide protection against common GI virus

2024-10-01

A study led by researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center found that breast milk provides protection against rotavirus, a common gastrointestinal disease that causes diarrhea, vomiting and fever in infants. Babies whose mothers had high levels of specific antibodies in their breast milk were able to fend off the infection for a longer period than infants whose mothers had lower levels. The findings are expected to drive future research to improve infant health through optimized breastfeeding practices. Published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the study also ...

University of Cincinnati professor named MacArthur fellow

2024-10-01

When the phone rang on a September afternoon, University of Cincinnati's Shailaja Paik, PhD, tired from a full day of meetings and teaching, did not expect to hear news that would leave her “ears numb.” “I had been named a (MacArthur) fellow, and I wasn’t sure I was hearing correctly, but I tried to keep my cool,” she remembers, chuckling. “I thought, ‘Is this right? I’m going to ask her to repeat herself.’ “I was ecstatic.” The MacArthur Fellows Program, also ...

Research provides new insights into role of mechanical forces in gene expression

2024-10-01

The genome inside each of our cells is modelled by tension and torsion — due in part to the activity of proteins that compact, loop, wrap and untwist DNA — but scientists know little about how those forces affect the transcription of genes. “There are a lot of mechanical forces at play all the time that we never consider, we have very little knowledge of, and they’re not talked about in textbooks,” said Laura Finzi, the Dr. Waenard L. Miller, Jr. ’69 and Sheila M. Miller Endowed Chair in Medical Biophysics at Clemson University. Transcription is the process by which a cell makes an RNA copy of a segment of DNA. One ...

HSE scientists have developed a new model of electric double layer

2024-10-01

This new model accounts for a wide range of ion-electrode interactions and predicts a device's ability to store electric charge. The model's theoretical predictions align with the experimental results. Data on the behaviour of the electric double layer (EDL) can aid in the development of more efficient supercapacitors for portable electronics and electric vehicles. The study has been published in ChemPhysChem. Many devices store energy for future use, with batteries being among the most well-known examples. They can consistently release energy, maintaining steady power output regardless of existing conditions or load, until fully ...

UTA physicists explore possibility of life beyond Earth

ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES: