As it orbits the small red dwarf Proxima Centauri, an exoplanet called Proxima b is being pummelled by nearly constant stellar flares and cosmic rays. Until now it was thought these might be damaging to potential life , but new research suggests the flares could actually help make conditions on the planet more habitable.

Markus Scheucher of the Berlin Institute of Technology in Germany, and his colleagues modelled how incoming energetic particles from stellar flares and cosmic rays would impact the …