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Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: Preview: Fall 2026 Lake Untersee Field Season
Keith’s note: Dale Andersen is preparing for his second expedition to Lake Untersee, Antarctica for 2026. The first 2026 Field season at Lake Untersee was conducted from January – March 2026 (see reports). Dale’s research is coordinated through the Carl Sagan Center within the SETI Institute. We will be posting their updates here and at…
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Excess Oxygen Stored In Deep Earth Magma May Help Explain How Earth’s Atmosphere Became Oxygen-rich
[Science China Press] The research team, led by Dr. Yanhao Lin and Dr. Ho-kwang Mao…
Using Nuclear Technology To Change How We Explore Icy Ocean Worlds: Examples From Nuclear Powered Mission Concept Designs
[Frontiers] Icy ocean worlds represent some of the most compelling targets in the search for…
Radiation Limits On Amino Acid Preservation And Chiral Measurement At Oxia Planum
[astro-ph.EP] Amino acid enantiomeric excess (EE) is a potential biosignature, but its measurement requires sufficient…
Earth As A Potential Source Of Llife For Europa’s Subsurface Ocean
The paper discusses the possibility of dust particles containing living bacteria ejected from Earth reaching Europa and landing on its surface. It is shown that, taking certain factors into account, over a period of 30 − 80 Myr (the estimated age of Europa’s ocean), Jupiter’s moon would have been impacted…
Keep readingDust To Dust: Prospects For Passive Technosignatures As Relics Of ETI
Technological societies are separated in time, not just space — that is the lesson of the Drake equation. Might the best way to seek them be to find technosignatures that persist long after their creators? I present work I and my collaborators have done on the idea of passive technosignatures,…
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Habitable Zones
Astronomy & Telescopes
Atmospheres, Climate, Weather
Elastic Properties of Titan Tholins Revealed by Brillouin Spectroscopy
[astro-ph.EP] Titan tholins, complex organic solids synthesized by simulating photochemical processes in Titan’s atmosphere, are widely regarded as analogs to organic surface materials on the Saturnian moon. Their mechanical properties are critical for understanding the evolution of Titan’s geomorphology and crustal layering. Here, we report the first direct experimental determination of the complete set of…
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Perseverance Mars Rover Sets Off-World Record for Total Distance Driven
[NASA]. NASA’s Perseverance Mars rover has driven farther than any vehicle ever has on the surface of another world. On Oct. 11, the rover’s odometer…
An Interdisciplinary Approach To Sampling Hard Rock Cores Of The Oceanic Crust For Microbiological And Biogeochemical Research
[Scientific Drilling] Studying life in the deep, rocky subseafloor involves many layers of technological and methodological challenges, and each drilling project or expedition must make…
Global Genome Atlas Reveals Hidden Life In Lakes
[University of Zurich] A single drop of lake water teems with life too small to see: microscopic algae and tiny single-celled organisms such as amoebae.…
Imaging & Spectroscopy
VUV And mid-UV Photoabsorption Cross Sections Of Thin Films Of Glycine And Alanine: Application To Their Photochemistry In The Solar System
[Photochemistry and Photobiology] Experiments conducted in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) since the 1990s have investigated the evolution of organic matter in solid-phase (including amino acids)…
How Long Could Volcanic Plumes Persist In The Venus Atmosphere?
[astro-ph.EP] Resolving the ambiguity surrounding current Venusian volcanism is a primary objective for upcoming missions like EnVision and VERITAS. This study uses the Venus Planetary…
“Mega-Earths” Are Likely An Artifact Of Stellar Activity
[astro-ph.EP]. Empirical relations and planet formation simulations suggest an upper mass limit for rocky planets of ∼10M⊕, as cores above this will almost certainly undergo…
Biosignatures & Paleobiology
Tree of Life Program Targets Publication Of 200 Genome Notes Per Month
Editor’s note: If we aspire to mount expeditions to new worlds and then embrace the task of characterizing and quantifying whatever life forms we find,…
Fermentation Heterotrophy Can Reproduce Enceladus’s H2 And CH4 Under Limited Serpentinization
[astro-ph.EP] Saturn’s icy moon Enceladus is a prime target in the search for life beyond Earth. Abundant H2 and CH4 in Enceladus’s south-polar plume have…
Prebiotic Chemistry In Selk Crater on Titan
[astro-ph.EP] Saturn’s moon Titan is a prime destination for investigating prebiotic chemistry beyond Earth, particularly at impact crater sites where transient liquid water may have…