Biophysics Archives

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

Detection Of A Four-carbon Sugar In Interstellar Space (Erythrulose)

by Keith CowingJune 5, 2026June 5, 2026

Sugars are essential biomolecules, serving as metabolic fuels, nucleic acid backbone components, and structural or energy-storage polymers. A central question in origin-of-life research is how monosaccharides formed on the primitive […]

Top row: molecular structures of 1,4-, 1,5-, and 2,3-dimethylnaphthalene cations (1,4-, 1,5, and 2,3-diMeNp.+). Bottom row: molecular structures of the three expected longlived isomers of C11H9+ cations: benzyltropylium (BzTr+ ), 1-, and 2-naphthylmethylium (1- and 2-NpCH2+ ). -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

Acenaphthene Derivatives As Signatures Of C11H9 Reactivity With Methylated Naphthalenes

by Keith CowingJune 4, 2026June 4, 2026

C11H+9 ion is the dominant fragment cation formed from methyl-naphthalene (MeNp) and dimethyl-naphthalene (diMeNp).

Time evolution of the fractional abundances of HCOOH, HC(O)SH, HC(S)SH, and CH3SH. Solid lines represent the fiducial model, including all grain-surface and gas-phase reactions. Dashed lines show the abundances obtained when grain-surface reactions 5 and 6 are switched off, adopting realistic rate coefficients for gas-phase reactions 1 and 2. Dotted lines correspond to models in which grain-surface reactions 5 and 6 are excluded and the upper limits of the rate coefficients for gas-phase reactions 1 and 2 are adopted. -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

Non-detection Of HC(S)SH: Estimating Upper Limits And Constraining Chemistry

by Keith CowingJune 3, 2026June 3, 2026

The search for dithioformic acid (t-HC(S)SH) in star-forming regions is crucial for understanding interstellar sulfur chemistry and addressing the ‘missing sulfur’ problem. Motivated by a recent claim of t-HC(S)SH detection […]

Previous vs. current microbe-integrated ocean world model setups. Previous models (left) include ambient temperatures, hydroxide effluent, circumneutral pH's, and effluent-bacteria integration (Barge et al., 2015; Hermis et al., 2021; Dickson et al., 2022). This study (right) includes thermal gradients, FeOOH/sulfide rich effluent (brine fluid), acidic reservoir pH, and planktonic lake extremophile integration. -- FRONTIERS,

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report

Probing The Habitability Of Potential Sulfuric Acid Rich Subsurface Lakes In Europa’s Ice Shell Via Saci/STIV Integrated Models

by Keith CowingJune 2, 2026June 2, 2026

Experimentally modeling the habitability of extreme ocean world conditions, such as those on Jupiter’s moon: Europa, would benefit from integrated microbe-virus model studies to provide both a microbial model and […]

Top: coma maps of H2O, CO2, and CH4, computed as the molecular column density from a pixel-by-pixel retrieval analysis for Observations 6, 15, and 6, respectively. The sunward and target velocity directions are denoted by the white arrows. The target centroids, computed as the photocenter in the median-stacked images (Figure 1), are marked with the black points. For H2O and CO2, the white contours correspond to emission levels of 50% and 20% relative to the maximum value and illustrate the slight antisunward extension of the respective comae. The contours are omitted in the CH4 panel, due to the poorer signal-to-noise ratio of the data. Bottom: corresponding median-stacked images across the continuum wavelengths within each fluorescence region. The H2O coma map shows a significant enhancement in the emission level at large nucleocentric distances relative to the dust continuum, indicating extended H2O production within the coma. -- The Astrophysical Journal Letters

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release

Webb Detects Methane on Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

by Keith CowingJune 2, 2026June 2, 2026

NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope has collected its first mid-infrared chemical fingerprint of an interstellar object during a recent revisit to comet 3I/ATLAS. The team’s results published recently in The […]

Geometry-dependent collective stereochemical organization under varying compatibility and fluctuation conditions.

Astrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Status Report

Spatial Confinement And Boundary Constraints Governing Biological Chirality: A Simulation Study

by Keith CowingJune 2, 2026June 2, 2026

Biological systems exhibit marked molecular asymmetry, with proteins based predominantly on L-amino acids and nucleic acids and carbohydrates largely composed of D-sugars.

A simplified illustration of the model. It depicts a cross-section of a spherical phospholipid vesicle, highlighting its membrane with hydrophilic heads and hydrophobic tails. Racemic d- and l-ribose (green) can both penetrate the membrane and capture the PO groups, but d-ribose undergoes this process more quickly and is preferentially trapped (purple) inside the vesicle. --Life

Astrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Status Report

Stereoselective Phosphorylation of d-Ribose as a Driver of Life’s Homochirality

by Keith CowingJune 1, 2026June 1, 2026

Life demonstrates remarkable homochirality of its major building blocks: nucleic acids, amino acids, sugars, and phospholipids. Phospholipid bilayer vesicles (liposomes) are formed at the water/air interface from Langmuir layers and […]

Adsorption of crystals of a biological chiral molecule onto a gold-coated cobalt surface. Larger crystals of one specific form of the molecule (left) tend to accumulate on this surface to a greater degree than those of its mirror-image form (right). In the left image, the crystals reach heights of about 1.2 nm, whereas in the right image they do not exceed 0.8 nm. The physical advantage of one form over the other in accumulating on the magnetic surface suggests that, in a competitive setting, it would become the dominant (“winning”) form. -- Weizmann Institute of Science

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release

A Glimpse At The Origins Of Life Through A Deceptive Mirror

by Keith CowingMay 29, 2026May 29, 2026

Imagine looking at yourself in the mirror, only to find that your reflection is governed by different laws than you are: Identical movements produce different outcomes, and what seems like […]

Different faces of the dying star W Hydrae seen in different molecular lines with ALMA. Shown here are 30 faces out of 57 images in total. Credit: K. Ohnaka – N. Lira – ALMA (ESO/NAOJ/NRAO) Larger imagery

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar, Press Release, Stellar Cartography

Astrochemistry: ALMA Reveals 57 Faces Of A Dying Star

by Keith CowingMay 29, 2026May 29, 2026

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) have obtained detailed radio images of a dying star’s atmosphere, revealing a remarkably complex and dynamic environment rich in chemical diversity.

Inferred subcellular organization in LECA, the last eukaryotic common ancestor, based on its estimated gene content. Credit Cell illustration adapted from multiple graphics shared as open source by SwissBioPics.

Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Scientists Reveal Disease Genes From Reconstruction Of Ancestor To All Complex Life

by Keith CowingMay 28, 2026May 28, 2026

A University of Texas at Austin-led team has reconstructed the most detailed map to date of the molecular machines that carried out the functions of life in an ancient ancestor […]

Biophysics

Detection Of A Four-carbon Sugar In Interstellar Space (Erythrulose)

Acenaphthene Derivatives As Signatures Of C11H9 Reactivity With Methylated Naphthalenes

Non-detection Of HC(S)SH: Estimating Upper Limits And Constraining Chemistry

Probing The Habitability Of Potential Sulfuric Acid Rich Subsurface Lakes In Europa’s Ice Shell Via Saci/STIV Integrated Models

Webb Detects Methane on Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

Spatial Confinement And Boundary Constraints Governing Biological Chirality: A Simulation Study

Stereoselective Phosphorylation of d-Ribose as a Driver of Life’s Homochirality

A Glimpse At The Origins Of Life Through A Deceptive Mirror

Astrochemistry: ALMA Reveals 57 Faces Of A Dying Star

Scientists Reveal Disease Genes From Reconstruction Of Ancestor To All Complex Life

PJ Harvey Announces New Song “Voyager”

Fifty Years after Viking: The Promise of Solar System Microbiology and Microbial Ecology

Characterising Transiting Exoplanets At Long Orbital Period: Lessons Learned For PLATO From 10 Years Of Monitoring The HIP41378 System

Implications Of Self-consistent H2O Ice Optical Constants On Radiative Transfer Models Of Disks

The GAPS Programme at TNG LXXIV. A Reanalysis Of The Planetary Systems TOI-1272 And TOI-1694 With HARPS-N And Retraction Of The Planetary Interpretation Of TOI-1272 c