The outer planets of the Solar System are swarmed by ice-wrapped moons. A new study published Nov. 24 in Nature Astronomy sheds light on what could be going on beneath the surface of these worlds and provides insights into how their diverse geologic features may have formed.

A group of researchers, including some from UC Davis, have received a three-year, $2,999,998 grant from NASA to identify and characterize life and its biosignatures in frozen sand dunes in Alaska, under conditions similar to dune fields on early Mars and Saturn’s moon Titan.