Nanotechnology & SynBio Archives

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Tricorder Tech: DIYNAFLUOR: An Affordable DIY Plug-and-Play Nucleic Acid Fluorometer for eDNA Quantification in Resource Limited Settings

by Keith CowingApril 27, 2026April 28, 2026

Editor’s note: with recent speculation about the potential habitability of other worlds and understanding the processes whereby other biospheres arise and evolve, thought needs to be given to developing sensor […]

Astronomy & Telescopes, Conferences and Meetings, Intelligence & Language, Interstellar, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release, SETI & Technosignatures

The Dyson Minds 2025 Workshop: SETI around Black Holes

by Keith CowingApril 24, 2026April 24, 2026

The Dyson Minds 2025 Workshop, held at the Center for Brains, Minds & Machines at MIT and organized by Penn State, MIT, and The Ultraintelligence Foundation, brought together researchers in […]

Down to the core. From left to right: When rebuilt outside of living cells, CorM forms dynamic filaments. Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) image of purified CorM filaments. Successive zoom-ins show the reconstructed 3D electron density map of the CorM filament, followed by the corresponding atomic model, illustrating the filaments’ assembly into a bipolar double-stranded filament. Credit© Springstein et al. / Science

Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release

Anabaena Learns A New Trick – Cyanobacteria Surprise Scientists With Evolutionary Shift

by Keith CowingApril 17, 2026April 17, 2026

Photosynthetic bacteria helped shape Planet Earth. Among them are cyanobacteria that produced the oxygen in our atmosphere and made complex life possible, captivating scientists for decades. Now, researchers at the […]

Energetics associated with the occupancy of the K1 site and the position of the M2 ion. (A) Free energy surface of the concerted motions of Prp11 Lys10 and M2, with the initial PDB conformation marked by a yellow star. (B–D) Representative structures of three metastable states from metadynamics simulations. State 1 (B) represents a PDB-like arrangement where Lys10 (slate blue sticks) remains at the K1 site, and M2 (yellow sphere) is properly positioned at the U6 snRNA triple-helix (yellow cartoon). State 2 (C): Lys10 leaves the K1 site, allowing a K+ ion to occupy it and stabilize M2 in place. State 3 (D): M2 directly coordinates G52, losing its catalytic position and partially occupying the K1 site. -- PNAS

Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Status Report

Computational Chemistry And Supercomputers To Help Understand The Mechanisms Of Life

by Keith CowingApril 13, 2026April 13, 2026

A new study from the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT), in collaboration with Uppsala University (Sweden) and AstraZeneca, shows how computational chemistry and supercomputers can help scientists better understand the […]

Skyler Palatnick Holding experimental optics - UCSB

Astronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exoplanets, -moons, -comets, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release

Designing Lightweight Optics To Detect Signs Of Life Beyond Our Solar System

by Keith CowingApril 9, 2026April 9, 2026

UC Santa Barbara doctoral candidate in physics, Skyler Palatnick, PhD ’26, has been named to Heising-Simons Foundation’s Science program’s new class of 51 Pegasi b Fellows, which he will perform […]

Raman images showing the distribution of OM (red) and titanite (Ttn, purple) inside spheroids immediately adjacent to apatite (Ap, turquoise) and lepidocrocite (Lpc, white) embedded in the basaltic glass fragment composed of chlorite (Chl, blue). Note the surrounding matrix of calcite (Cal, green) does not contain apatite, the presence of microscopic size apatite and of nanoscopic size apatite crystals, and the location of the two regions of interest (ROI) for each. -- Nature Communications Earth & Environment

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Status Report

Ichnofossils in Volcanic Glass From Palaeoproterozoic Hydrothermal Vents Were Burrowed By Microorganisms Probably Seeking Phosphate

by Keith CowingApril 6, 2026April 6, 2026

Ichnofossils in basaltic glass are putative microscopic trace fossils occurring on modern seafloor and throughout Earth history. While their biological origin remains debated, it is unknown why microorganisms thrive in […]

TEM images of Ca-MMT’s ordered and distorted layered structures including nanocavities after exposure to amino acids. a Control sample showing characteristic layering; ordered yet with slight distortions, considered as ordered for this clay material. b Sample exposed to single-organic Lys showing ordered layering only. Clay samples exposed to organic mixtures of c Lys-GABA d Arg-GABA; showing highly-distorted layering and nanocavities with well-defined lattice fringes that are embedded within distorted layered structures. In all panels, ordered layering, distorted layering, and nanocavities are marked with white, red and black arrows, respectively. See Methods for detailed image analysis procedure and limitations. -- Scientific Reports via PubMed

Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Sample Return, Status Report

Antagonistic Effects Of Amino Acids Support Abiotic Nano-environments In Clay

by Keith CowingApril 6, 2026April 6, 2026

Prebiotic chemistry in nano-environments confined within catalytic mineral media is emerging as a promising frontier in origins-of-life research. Such confined spaces exhibit physicochemical properties distinct from bulk conditions, enabling out-of-equilibrium […]

Proteins — large molecules with a specific biological function — are created by stringing together smaller molecular building blocks (amino acids) into chains which fold into complex 3D shapes. Credit Johan Jarnestad/The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

Identifying The Limits Of Protein Evolution

by Keith CowingApril 2, 2026April 2, 2026

The number of known proteins is infinitely small in comparison to the universe of possible proteins which could in theory be realized. Yet these known proteins are the only major […]

Photograph of the model hot spring pools system showing the assembled pools with temperature probes placed in the cups and heating pads inserted underneath for controlling temperature. Power supply provides electricity for heating pads, and an Arduino Uno is connected via USB-type-C cable to a laptop for PID (Proportional-IntegralDerivative) control. Blue-colored LEDs in the Arduino Uno turn off when the setpoint is reached and back on to maintain the temperature in the rehydration phase of the WD cycles. Water flow control is managed by the mini-peristaltic pumps connected to the water control unit. -- Astrobiology

Astropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release

A Modular 3D-Printed Design To Investigate Prebiotic Chemical Systems In Hot Spring Pools

by Keith CowingMarch 30, 2026June 10, 2026

The emergence of protocells, membranous compartments with encapsulated genetic material, was a crucial step in life’s origin and evolution. The hot spring hypothesis for the origin of life suggests that […]

This illustration demonstrates how metapipeline-DNA processes raw genome sequencing data. It begins by aligning the sequence of DNA base pairs to a reference genome. Then produces sets of detected variants and other genetic and evolutionary features. Credit Yash Patel, Sanford Burnham Prebys

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors

New Computational Biology Tool Automates And Standardizes Genome Sequencing Analysis

by Keith CowingMarch 27, 2026March 27, 2026

Nanotechnology & SynBio

Tricorder Tech: DIYNAFLUOR: An Affordable DIY Plug-and-Play Nucleic Acid Fluorometer for eDNA Quantification in Resource Limited Settings

The Dyson Minds 2025 Workshop: SETI around Black Holes

Anabaena Learns A New Trick – Cyanobacteria Surprise Scientists With Evolutionary Shift

Computational Chemistry And Supercomputers To Help Understand The Mechanisms Of Life

Designing Lightweight Optics To Detect Signs Of Life Beyond Our Solar System

Ichnofossils in Volcanic Glass From Palaeoproterozoic Hydrothermal Vents Were Burrowed By Microorganisms Probably Seeking Phosphate

Antagonistic Effects Of Amino Acids Support Abiotic Nano-environments In Clay

Identifying The Limits Of Protein Evolution

A Modular 3D-Printed Design To Investigate Prebiotic Chemical Systems In Hot Spring Pools

New Computational Biology Tool Automates And Standardizes Genome Sequencing Analysis

Tricorder Tech: Ground Truth For The DAVINCI Venus Mission

Mars Curiosity Rover Finds Evidence Of An Ancient Sandstorm

Pristine Meteorite Examination Adds To Our Knowledge Of Ancient Asteroids

NASA Study Finds Near-Earth Asteroid Is Actually Comet

NASA Awards STRIDE Contracts For Mars Advanced Surface Mobility Technology