![Surface temperature of the 22 exoplanets in an aquaplanet configuration. Obliquity and eccentricity are set to zero, and all are tidally locked with Earth-like atmospheric chemistry and pressure. Level lines correspond to the temperatures of 223.15, 273.15, and 323.15 K. White lines indicate the terminator, that is, the boundary between the illuminated and the dark sides of a planet. Black dots indicate the prevalence of sea ice (ice fraction larger than 0.5). -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Assessing-1.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
[astro-ph.EP] Tidally locked exoplanets orbiting M dwarf stars are prime targets in the search for habitable worlds, yet their complex climate dynamics challenge conventional models of habitability.
Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
An Evolving Cosmic Shoreline and Sandbar Bounding the Rocky Airless Valley
[astro-ph.EP] Recent JWST observations challenge the traditional ‘cosmic shoreline’ from both sides, revealing thick volatile atmospheres on the hottest close-in ‘lava worlds,’ where irradiation should drive the most extreme escape, […]
![Global maps of predicted pigment concentrations (left column) and pigment-to-chlorophyll-a ratios (right column) for May 2010 generated using the Random Forest model. Panels (a–f) show fucoxanthin, peridinin and zeaxanthin.-- [q-bio.OT]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/beyond.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Beyond Chlorophyll: Machine Learning Estimates Of Diagnostic Phytoplankton Pigments From Multispectral Ocean Colour Data
[q-bio.OT] Phytoplankton play a central role in marine ecosystems and the global carbon cycle, with different groups contributing differently to ocean biogeochemical processes.
Posted inMars
Gullies At The Start Of Martian Spring
HiRISE regularly takes repeat images of gullies to look for changes. This site is one of the most frequent monitoring sites, with more than 70 images to date. It is […]
![Clouds may form via heterogeneous nucleation on top of ‘seed’ photochemical haze particles. Whether or not this pathway dominates over homogeneous nucleation—the process through which ‘pure’ clouds spontaneously form—depends on the microphysical contact angle between the relevant cloud and haze species. Smaller contact angles correspond to stronger cloud-haze interactions due to the increased affinity between the clouds and hazes. While this contact angle is unknown in the absence of lab data, heterogeneous nucleation is the primary cloud-formation pathway across the Solar System. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Wet-Removal.png?resize=1200%2C715&ssl=1)
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather
Wet Removal and Cloud Enhancement: The Microphysics of Cloud-Haze Interactions on Sub-Neptunes
[astro-ph.EP] Aerosols are a near-ubiquitous feature of sub-Neptune atmospheres, yet their microphysical nature remains poorly understood. Both condensate clouds and photochemical hazes have been proposed to explain observations, but have […]
Posted inIcy Worlds
The Role of Disruptive Impacts on Ocean Generation and Longevity in Icy Moons
[Nature Astronomy] Among icy moons of the outer Solar System, subsurface water oceans and large collisions both seem to be common, but the impact of the latter on the presence […]
Posted inMagnetic Fields, Electromagnetism, bioelectricity,
Tidal Locking As A Negative Feedback On Earth-like Planetary Dynamos: Consequences For Magnetic Shielding And Habitability
[Astronomy & Astrophysics] We investigate how tidal locking affects the magnetic field generation and magnetospheric protection of Earth-like planets orbiting the habitable zone of M dwarfs.
![Effects of physicochemical stressors on the main categories of cellular macromolecules (see Table 1 for further details; figure uses images from Servier Medical Art). Multiple stressors can induce the same primary effect, therefore adaptations in response to a natural selection pressure for one stressor may render the same organism resistant to all stressors producing the same type of damage. White stars indicate chemical processes that are aggravated in the presence of oxygen due to altered system chemistry, meaning that in anoxic environments such effects are reduced or negligible. -- [FEMS Microbes]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Extremophiles-Life-resists.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Extremophiles: Life Resists Chemistry Not Conditions
[FEMS Microbes] Extremophiles are used to study both the limits of life and its potential elsewhere. Categories are commonly employed to describe extreme conditions, however, changing the focus to the […]
![This illustration contrasts Earth's oceans during ancient glaciations (left) with deglacial conditions (right). Syracuse University researchers found that oceans lost oxygen not just during warm periods, but repeatedly during Earth's deepest ice ages, a pattern preserved in manganese deposits within ancient seafloor rock. (Courtesy: Xubin Wang, generated with AI)-- [Syracuse University]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Metal-deposits.jpg?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology
Metal Deposits Linked To Oceanic Oxygen Loss During Ancient Ice Ages
[Syracuse University] An international team of researchers analyzed manganese and other chemical signatures preserved in more than 27,000 ancient seafloor samples collected from six continents. Across six major glaciations spanning […]
![Photographs of the mineral and inorganic substrates used in this study and the corresponding hybrid materials obtained. -- [Nature]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Synthesis.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Synthesis Of Mineral-organic Hybrid Materials Under Dynamic Prebiotic Conditions
[Nature] The increasing of molecular complexity must be understood as a planetary phenomenon where prebiotic chemistry and geological settings converge. In this scene, HCN chemistry may have played a crucial […]