[chemrxiv.org] Decades of origin-of-life research have uncovered hundreds of prebiotically plausible reactions across hydrothermal, surface, and biochemical environments, yet this knowledge remains fragmented across chemistry, geochemistry, and astrobiology. Here we […]
Nanotechnology & SynBio
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Molecular Assembly As A Universal Biosignature Measurable By Mass Spectrometry
[PNAS] Detecting life beyond Earth requires biosignatures that do not depend on the chemistry of known organisms.
Posted inAstropharmacy / Biotechnology
Pigmented Fungi Derived From Hot And Cold deserts Ecosystems: Taxonomy, Genomic And Biotechnological Approach
[World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology] Safer and more efficient products and processes are current global demands that drive the field of bioprospective research. Microbial sources are the main natural […]
![Snapshots of the system 1 ps after the initial contact of the nanograins for different initial velocities. Atom colour key indicates hydrogen: white; carbon: dark gray; oxygen: red; silicon: beige; and magnesium: green. -- [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/When-Two-Worlds.png?resize=1200%2C715&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
When Two Worlds Collide: How Collisions Between Silicate and Carbonaceous Nanograins can Drive Complex Chemistry
[astro-ph.GA] Our overall objective is to determine how collision velocity governs the interactions between silicate and carbonaceous nanograins. (astrochemistry)
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Intelligence & Language, Interstellar, Nanotechnology & SynBio, SETI & Technosignatures
Micron-Scale Technosignatures: How a Cubic Metre of Lunar Regolith May Begin to Constrain the Number of Past Technological Civilisations in the Galaxy
[astro-ph.EP] Building on Arkhipov’s proposal that technogenic artefacts may survive natural interstellar transport and accumulate on airless Solar System bodies, we examine the prospects for identifying micron-scale engineered particulate material […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry
Unraveling The Building Blocks Of Earth’s Pigments
[Ohio State] Although they are some of the most widespread substances on Earth, not much is known about eumelanin, or natural organic matter (NOM) — a dark-colored substance formed by […]
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
Responsible Use of Large Language Models in Microbial Genomics and Bioinformatics: A Life-Science Framework for Reliability, Reproducibility, and Risk-Aware Interpretation
Editor’s note: As we expand outward from Earth to other worlds we are almost certainly going to encounter things we did not expect to find – things that are unlikely […]
Posted inNanotechnology & SynBio
Ecological Constraints To Mirror Life
[bioRxiv] Our biosphere exhibits remarkable diversity yet is constrained by universal organizational principles, including molecular homochirality.
Posted inLife Support Systems
Integrating Resource Utilization And Bioregenerative Life Support Systems For Sustainable Space Exploration
[Frontiers] The long-term presence of humans in space depends on reducing reliance on Earth’s resupply of materials and resources. In situ resource utilization (ISRU) represents a sustainable approach to support […]
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Directing Open-Ended Evolution in Artificial Life via Multi-Scale Path Divergence
Open-ended evolution (OEE) in artificial life is typically driven by uninterpretable, black-box neural-network complexity metrics, leaving life-like systems disconnected from physical theories of complexity.