Highly detailed fossils are typically found in shale or other fine-grained sedimentary rocks. These ones? They’re made of iron.
Fossils & Paleontology
Posted inAnalog Studies, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return
Are There Living Microbes On Mars? Check The Ice.
Frozen in time, ancient microbes or their remains could be found in Martian ice deposits during future missions to the Red Planet.
Posted inAstrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Tricorders & Sensors
ExoMars Rover ENFYS Infrared Spectrometer Ships
The search for life on Mars takes a leap forward today, as a key instrument for a major space mission begins its journey from Aberystwyth University to Italy for testing.
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extinction events, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Neutron Scanning Of Coral Fossils Reveals Earth’s Hidden Climate History
A University of Sydney student has developed a completely new way to peer inside coral fossils to recover lost records of past climate change.
Posted inAnalog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Production and Preservation of Lipid Biosignatures in SO4-Rich Hypersaline Lakes of the Cariboo Plateau
Modern and ancient hypersaline lakes and oceans have been identified across the solar system, but the habitability and potential of these environments to preserve organic matter remain unknown.
Posted inAI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Fossils & Paleontology, Microbiology & Virology, Nomenclature, Systematics, Natural History, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
Tricorder Tech: AI Matches Human Experts In Classifying Microscopic Organisms
Editor’s note: If we aspire to mount expeditions to new worlds and then embrace the task of characterizing and quantifying whatever life forms we find, the ability to map and […]
Posted inFossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Mars, Radiation, Space Weather & Heliophysics, Status Report, Venus
Extreme Geomagnetic Storm On Early Earth Induced by Corotating Interaction Regions from the Young Sun
Recent multiwavelength observations of young solar analogs suggest that the young Sun in the first 600 Myr was a magnetically active star that produced an X-ray and Extreme-UV (EUV) bright […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Assessment Of Methods For Evaluating Structural Stability Of Cell Envelope Fragments In Hypersaline Brines As Biosignatures Of Ancient Microbial Life
The study of biomolecular stability of proteins and lipids in extreme saline environments is critical for understanding the preservation of potential microbial biosignatures of ancient life on Earth and other […]
![Kultur von Hypomyces completus Public Domain, Quelle: US Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory, [1] Larger image](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Fungi-Set-The-Stage.png?resize=1200%2C724&ssl=1)
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Fungi Set The Stage For Life On Land Hundreds Of Millions Of Years Earlier Than Thought
New research published in Nature Ecology & Evolution sheds light on the timelines and pathways of evolution of fungi, finding evidence of their influence on ancient terrestrial ecosystems.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
The First Animals On Earth May Have Been Sea Sponges, Study Suggests
A team of MIT geochemists has unearthed new evidence in very old rocks suggesting that some of the first animals on Earth were likely ancestors of the modern sea sponge.