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Giving NASA’s SciX A Quick Astrobiology Roadtest
Keith’s note: Goodbye ADS – Hello SciX. According to an editorial “Farewell NASA ADS” in Nature magazine, “After more than 33 years, NASA’s Astrophysics Data System will close its virtual doors in November 2026 and be replaced by its much-expanded successor, Science Explorer. … Researchers whose work spans multiple fields — astrobiologists, for example —…
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An Ultraviolet Instrument On The Habitable Worlds Observatory: Considerations and Capability Trades On The Multi-Object, Integral-field, and High-resolution Modes Of A Potential UVI
[astro-ph.IM] The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) is NASA’s next-generation astrophysics platform, delivering transformative capability in…
The Hydrological Cycle and Circulation of Tidally-Locked Planets with A Finite Moisture Inventory
[astro-ph.EP] Tidally-locked planets express a range of climate regimes distinct from those found in our…
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 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,…
Keep readingExoplanets, -moons, -comets
Astrogeology
Atmospheres, Climate, Weather
The Role Of Minerals In Prebiotic Evolution: Implications For Identifying Worlds With The Potential For Life’s Origin
[Fundamental Research] Understanding the origin of life requires explaining how abiotic molecules transitioned into the first living systems within plausible geological settings. Increasing evidence suggests minerals as active participants in prebiotic evolution. By adsorbing and concentrating reactants, catalyzing key reactions, stabilizing intermediates, and providing protective microenvironments, minerals may have helped to overcome thermodynamic and kinetic…
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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…
Assessing the Preservation of Polysaccharides from a Sea-Ice Bacterium Through Analog Icy Moon Plume Ejection
[Astrobiology (Journal)] Detection of complex organics emitted from Saturn’s moon Enceladus has intensified the search for biosignatures accessible to future missions. Extracellular polysaccharides (EPSs) from…
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
Where Does Earth’s Nitrogen Go? Two Atoms Offer A Clue
[Science] Nitrogen is one of life’s building blocks, but it’s only helpful in the right amounts. Too much nitrogen in water, for example, can lead…
SPHEREx Telescope Sees Menagerie Of Brown Dwarfs
[NASA] NASA’s SPHEREx (Spectro-Photometer for the History of the Universe, Epoch of Reionization, and Ices Explorer) space telescope is shedding light on brown dwarfs, celestial…
Complex Organic Molecules In Protostars With ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) VII. First Interstellar Detection Of Fully Deuterated Methanol
[astro-ph.GA] There have been no robust identifications of fully deuterated methanol, CD3OD, in the interstellar medium (ISM) to date. Our goal is continue the search…
Biosignatures & Paleobiology
The First Decade of Breakthrough Listen
[astro-ph.IM] Breakthrough Listen (BL), launched in July 2015 with a 10-year, $100M commitment from the Breakthrough Prize Foundation, is the most comprehensive search for technosignatures…
A Technosignature Survey Of The Anti-Solar Point: The SETI Institute’s Largest-Ever Campaign With The Allen Telescope Array
[astro-ph.IM] The ATA-ASP campaign is a radio technosignature survey of the Anti-Solar Point as a “Schelling point”, using the Allen Telescope Array (ATA) in the…
Mapping Of Interstellar Ices With JWST In Protostellar Envelopes: Spatial Variations Of 13CO2, 12CO2, CO, OCN− and H2O ice
[astro-ph.SR] The composition of planets and their atmospheres is largely determined by the formation environment of the planet. This environment is pre-determined during early stages…