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Training For Astrobiology Spelunking On Mars
Editor’s note: Many astrobiologists think that there is a chance that extant life could be found underneath the surface of Mars where conditions could be more favorable than they currently on – or near – the surface. The discovery of Earth life very, very deep underground lends some support to this theory. We’ll just need…
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Mars Perseverance Rover’s Panoramic View of Broom Point
[NASA] The bright-colored rocks exposed across the slope, running from middle left to middle right…
Planets Orbiting Barnard’s Star Seem To Be Small, Strange, And Utterly Uninhabitable
[University of Cambridge] Scientists have painted the most detailed portrait yet of the planetary system…
Experimental Astrochemistry And Machine Learning Unravel The Formation Of Oxygen-bearing Organic Molecules In Extraterrestrial Ices
[Nature Communications Chemistry] Oxygen-bearing organic molecules, including aldehydes, alcohols, and peroxides, serve as key precursors…
Alien World Chemistry Found Inside A Meteorite that Struck A New Jersey Home
[SETI Institute] On July 16, 2024 a daytime meteor shook New York City with a…
Effect Of Ice Charging On The Astrochemistry Of Interstellar Sulfur Bearing Species On Amorphous Solid Water
[astro-ph.GA] We aim to derive statistically robust and physically interpretable BE distributions for atomic S…
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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Astrogeology
Astronomy & Telescopes
Atmospheres, Climate, Weather
The GAPS Programme with HARPS-N at TNG LXXVII. Occurrence Rates Of Small Close-in Planets In The Presence Of Cold Jupiters
[astro-ph.EP] Context. The architecture of our Solar System, with inner small planets (ISPs) and outer giants, may or may not be common. Understanding whether a correlation exists between ISPs and outer cold giants is key to evaluating how common systems with a similar architecture to our own are. Aims. This study aims to build a…
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Differential Efficiency Of Sampling Devices In The Measurement Of Microbial Diversity Of Yellowstone National Park Hot Springs
[biorxiv.org] Metagenomic characterization of low-biomass Yellowstone National Park (YNP) hot spring waters remains challenging because microbial recovery is influenced by filtration methodology, sample preservation, DNA…
Offworld Away Team Training: Cave Surveys
A phase of cave surveying in which JAXA astronaut Ayu Yoneda photographs cross-sections of the cave using the Electronic FieldBook, with the assistance of ESA…
Could Lake Joyce Have Acted As A Long-lived Proglacial Refugium In Antarctica’s McMurdo Dry Valleys?
[Arctic, Antarctic, and Alpine Research] Lake Joyce of the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), Antarctica, contains an endemic copepod population (Diacyclops joycei) that has not been…
Imaging & Spectroscopy
Sugar Erythrulose Discovered In Interstellar Space
[Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)] Sugars are key biomolecules in living organisms, as they form the backbone of DNA and RNA and play a fundamental…
Periodic Radio Technosignature Search Toward 3I/ATLAS With FAST
[astro-ph.IM] 3I/ATLAS, the third confirmed interstellar object discovered in the Solar System, provides a unique opportunity for targeted technosignature searches. We report a periodic radio…
A Generalised Microbial Cell Model For Methane Biosignature Predictions
[astro-ph.EP] The majority of potentially habitable planets detected to date are likely quite different to Earth, for example, being larger in radius and mass, differing…
Biosignatures & Paleobiology
Bacteria Form Herds To Survive Predators, Offering Fresh Insight Into Earth’s Carbon Cycle
[Queen Mary University of London] Researchers at Queen Mary University of London have discovered that tiny photosynthetic bacteria band together into protective “herds” when attacked…
NAS Committee On Planetary Protection Seeks Membership Suggestions
The National Academies are seeking suggestions for experts to be considered for membership or other engagement with the Committee on Planetary Protection (CoPP). Learn more…
Ocean World Genomics: Earth’s Deep Sea Is An Untapped Evolutionary Engine
[University of East Anglia Norwich] The deep-sea is a unique ‘evolutionary engine’ with one of the richest and most unexplored sources of genetic diversity on…