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Curiosity Mars Rover Discovers A Field Of Honeycomb Textures
[NASA] Mission scientists have never seen so many of the many-sided geologic features in one place on the Red Planet. As NASA’s Curiosity rover recently began climbing up a Martian valley nicknamed “Valle Grande,” it sent back images that were a familiar sight to mission scientists: honeycomb-like textures called polygonal fractures, each one about 1.5…
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Viking Science
[Astrobiology (Journal)] The Viking missions hosted identical payloads on each of two orbiters and landers.…
Constraining The Lives And Times Of Exoplanets Through Evolutionary Bayesian Retrievals
[astro-ph.EP] Static retrieval frameworks are leading tools for interpreting exoplanet observations, yet time-independent modelling leaves…
Project Hephaistos — III. Characterizing Anomalous Infrared Sources Identified As Dyson-sphere Candidates
[astro-ph.SR] The infrared-flux excess of stars harbouring Dyson spheres represent one potential technosignature of extraterrestrial…
When Two Worlds Collide: How Collisions Between Silicate and Carbonaceous Nanograins can Drive Complex Chemistry
[astro-ph.GA] Our overall objective is to determine how collision velocity governs the interactions between silicate…
Detecting Habitable Exoplanet Atmospheres With LIFE, The Large Interferometer For Exoplanets
[astro-ph.IM] A key goal of astronomers with the next generation telescopes is to detect signs…
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
Astronomy & Telescopes
Atmospheres, Climate, Weather
Venus: Dead? Far From It
[ETH Zurich] Simulations conducted by researchers at ETH Zurich suggest a strong likelihood that Venus’s rift valleys are still geologically active rather than being mere relics of a bygone era, as had been previously believed. This finding reshapes our understanding of Earth’s sister planet and will influence future missions to Venus. Venus is an inhospitable…
Read moreExploration Gear & Tech
Where Was This Fossil 200 Million Years Ago?
[University of Barcelona] Calculating a fossil’s position throughout geological history is a complex process. In palaeontology and other disciplines, determining a location in the past…
TricorderTech: PerkinElmer Partners With eXXpedition Using Advanced FTIR Spectroscopy
[PerkinElmer], a global leader in analytical solutions that drive human and environmental health, today announced a partnership with eXXpedition, the all-women global sailing research organization…
Offworld Science Training: From Lava Fields To Antarctica, Students Pave The Way For Artemis Moon Missions
[University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa] The Artemis missions will return human beings to the surface of the Moon for the first time in more than…
Imaging & Spectroscopy
The Viking’s 50 Year Landing Anniversary Astrobiology Special Collection: Reexamining the Revolutionary Impact of Viking on Mars Exploration
[ Astrobiology (Journal) ] The NASA Viking Program laid the framework for Mars science, technology, and exploration. While the barren view of the Red Planet…
Cliffs Of Ice On Mars
[NASA/UA HiRISE] The mid-latitudes of Mars are mostly covered with smooth material that scientists have suspected to be ice for some time. The ground is…
Experimental Measurements of Benzene Ice Critical Saturation Ratios on Titan Tholins and Impact on the Microphysical Modeling of Titan’s South Polar Benzene Cloud
[astro-ph.EP] The Cassini Composite Infrared Spectrometer (CIRS) revealed the presence of a benzene (C6H6) ice cloud in Titan’s autumn south polar stratosphere, following the northern…
Biosignatures & Paleobiology
When Polymers Meet Primitive Membranes: How Molecular Cooperation May Have Helped Life Begin
[The Hebrew University of Jerusalem] Researchers have identified a simple form of molecular cooperation that may have helped life’s earliest building blocks become more stable…
Bacteria That Convert Uranium Into A Stable Chemical Compound
[HZDR] The radioactive heavy metal uranium is usually found in the soil in a mineral-bound form but can be converted into soluble forms by environmental…
50 Years After Viking 1: The Mission That Changed The Search For Life On Mars
[SETI Institute] For thousands of years, Mars has inspired myths, speculation and scientific curiosity. Fifty years ago today, humanity took a major step toward understanding…