Top Story
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 9 November 2026: Lake Untersee Basecamp Update
[Dale Andersen]. Keith, The last few days we have worked hard to get our camp set up. We are almost there, with everything but the lab tent and dive tent in place. We have been focused on ensuring the camp is prepared for inclement weather. In fact, we expect a significant change in the weather…
Latest
Astrochemistry: Hubble and JWST Observe Star Formation in The Carina Nebula
[ESA] The NASA/ESA Hubble and the NASA/ESA/CSA James Webb Space Telescopes recently stared at an…
Mapping the Historical Roots of Astrobiology: A Reference Publication Year Spectroscopy (RPYS) Analysis
[Science & Technology Libraries] Astrobiology, the interdisciplinary scientific study of life in the universe, encompasses…
The Agentic Observer Hackathon: Autonomous Decision-making in Simulated Astronomical Surveys
[astro-ph.IM]. Astronomical Surveys Must Allocate Observing Time While Responding to Changing Conditions and Competing Scientific…
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 reading
Habitable Zones
Astronomy & Telescopes
Atmospheres, Climate, Weather
An Analytical Framework for Atmospheric Tides on Rocky Planets. II. Semidiurnal Thermotidal Torque
[astro-ph.EP] The thermodynamic acceleration induced by atmospheric thermal tides has a major impact on the rotation of temperate rocky planets, where gravitational and radiative tidal forcings are of comparable strength. This acceleration drives planets away from synchronous rotation, thereby affecting their climate, large-scale circulation, and surface conditions. These implications underline the need to better constrain…
Read moreExploration Gear & Tech
Scott Base: Lessons For A Mars Exploration Program
[Antarctic Science]. Scott Base is New Zealand’s year-round Antarctic research station, and it provides an operationally established template for designing sustained human presence in extreme,…
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 5 November 2026: Traverse to Lake Untersee
Keith’s note: after a routine traverse along the standard route from Ultima Airbase, Dale Andersen and his team arrived at their base camp location at…
Blown Sand On Mars Can Spread Microbial Spores From Earth
[Astrobiology (Journal), via PubMed] We present experiments demonstrating that B. subtilis HA101 endospores (henceforth spores) may remain intact after impact by, and subsequent transport on…
Imaging & Spectroscopy
A Potential New Dimension of Astrophysical Aromatic Functionalization: Phosphaethynyl (CP) Derivatives
[astro-ph.GA] Quantum chemical computations outline a thermodynamically viable, low-temperature, gas-phase formation pathway for phosphaethynyl cyclopropenylidene (c-C3HCP), resulting from cyclopropenylidene (c-C3H2) and the phosphaethynyl (CP) radical.…
Gas-phase Chemistry of C3H+3: a Key Building Block for Carbon Mass Growth in Space
[physics.chem-ph] The gas-phase chemistry of C3H+3 plays a central role in the growth of carbonaceous species across a wide range of environments, from combustion systems…
Formamide Formation on Forsterite and Mg(OH)2.H2O
[astro-ph.GA] Context. Formamide formation in the Universe has been the subject of debate due to its importance as a precursor to amino acids and RNA.…
Biosignatures & Paleobiology
The Series of Genetic Codes That Preceded Our Own
[Genetics] We produce a working hypothesis for the steps by which the canonical genetic code might have been constructed. We assume amino acids were added…
Pre-Accretion Formation of Sulfuric Acid in Interstellar Ice Analogs: Implications for Sulfate in Ryugu and Bennu
[The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters] Sulfate-bearing phases and soluble sulfate species, including sodium sulfate (Na2SO4), in carbonaceous asteroids are commonly attributed to parent-body aqueous…
Deep Evolutionary History Of Land Plants’ Closest Algal Relatives
[University of Göttingen] What did the algae that gave rise to the first land plants look like? A research team led by the University of…