As recently announced, a new 500-hour Director’s Discretionary Time (DDT) program will use JWST observations to search for atmospheres in more than a dozen nearby exoplanet systems. In tandem, around […]
Astropharmacy / Biotechnology
Posted inAstropharmacy / Biotechnology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report
Detailed Abundances of the Planet-hosting TOI-1173 A/B system: Possible Evidence of Planet Engulfment in a Very Wide Binary
Over the last decade, studies of large samples of binary systems identified chemical anomalies, and showed that they might be attributed to planet formation or planet engulfment. However, both scenarios […]
Posted inAstropharmacy / Biotechnology, Commercial & Private Sector, Exploration Gear & Tech, Life Support Systems, Mars, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Status Report
Resource-efficiency Of Cyanobacterium Production On Mars: Assessment And Paths Forward
Space agencies and private companies strive for a permanent human presence on the Moon and ultimately on Mars. Bioprocesses have been advocated as key enablers due to their ability to […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report
The Rich Interstellar Reservoir Of Dinitriles: Detection of Malononitrile and Maleonitrile in TMC-1
While the nitrile group is by far the most prevalent one among interstellar molecules, the existence of interstellar dinitriles (molecules containing two -CN groups) has recently been proven. Here we […]
Posted inAstropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Webb Telescope Finds A Potentially Habitable Icy World
A international team of astronomers led by Université de Montréal has made an exciting discovery about the temperate exoplanet LHS 1140 b: it could be a promising “super-Earth” covered in […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Habitable Zones, Interstellar, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report, Stellar Cartography
A Census of Sun’s Ancestors and their Contributions to the Solar System Chemical Composition
In this work we compute the rates and numbers of different types of stars and phenomena (SNe, novae, white dwarfs, merging neutron stars, black holes) that contributed to the chemical […]
Posted inAstropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Commercial & Private Sector, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Status Report
Synechococcus sp. PCC7335 Responses To Far-red Enriched Spectra and Anoxic/microoxic Atmospheres: Potential for Astrobiotechnological Applications
Recently, cyanobacteria have gained attention in space exploration to support long-term crewed missions via Bioregenerative Life Support Systems. In this frame, cyanobacteria would provide biomass and profitable biomolecules through oxygenic […]
Posted inAstropharmacy / Biotechnology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Space Life Science, Space Stations, Status Report
Starliner Flight Day 7 Activities Include Offworld Genomics and Biology Research
NASA astronauts Butch Wilmore and Suni Williams, who flew to the International Space Station on Boeing’s Starliner spacecraft, spent June 12 focusing on lab maintenance and researching advanced biotechnology.
![Distribution of the Galactic P-normal stars with [P/Fe]< 1 on the [Fe/H]−[P/Fe] plane and illustration of the predicted evolutionary path of the “ONe nova” scenario (wide gray line). Observational results for P-normal stars ([P/Fe]< 1) from (i) Roederer et al. (2014, 2016), (ii) Maas et al. (2022), and (iii) Caffau et al. (2016, 2019), M20, Maas et al. (2022), and Nandakumar et al. (2022) are plotted by filled circles, open circles, and crosses, respectively. The gray line just illustrates how [P/Fe] evolves with [Fe/H]: the exact details of the evolutionary paths (e.g., [Fe/H] at the maximum [P/Fe]) from the present chemical evolution model can be different from this line. Characteristic features of the models are explained with short phrases at appropriate places (e.g., “CCSN only” at [Fe/H]< −2.4). -- astro-ph.GA](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Phosphorus-enrichment.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Status Report
Phosphorus Enrichment By ONe Novae In The Galaxy
Recent observations have shown that [P/Fe] in the Galactic stars decreases with increasing [Fe/H] for [Fe/H] > -1 whereas it is almost subsolar for [Fe/H]< -2. These [P/Fe] trends with […]
Posted inAstropharmacy / Biotechnology, Commercial & Private Sector, Microgravity, Missions & Hardware, Space Life Science, Space Physiology & Medicine, Status Report
Offworld Bioprinting Research On ISS
Expedition 70 Flight Engineer and NASA astronaut Matthew Dominick works inside the BioFabrication Facility using the portable glovebag aboard the International Space Station’s Columbus laboratory module.