A new paper published today provides a new viewpoint on the habitability of planets, and its codependence on inhabitance of those same planets. The presence of life influences the habitability of a planet, through its effect on the composition of the planet's atmosphere.

An intriguing paper published on the ArXiv preprint server today discusses the length of time for which planets are habitable, and the implications for SETI experiments.

A paper published on the astronomy preprint server last week investigates whether life could develop and survive in globular clusters. These stellar environments are often ignored as potential cradles of civilisation, but this study shows that they could have more potential than previously thought.

The week beginning 30th November 2015 has seen the release of two papers relating to habitability; one is concerned with exoplanet systems, while the other deals with a body much closer to home.

Published on the arXive preprint server today is a paper looking at whether habitable conditions could be established and maintained on terrestrial planets with thick, hydrogen rich atmospheres.