[Dale Andersen] : Hi Keith, A quick note while the base WiFi is up and running. We spent the last two days digging out the entrance to our hut, removing […]
Biosignatures & Paleobiology
Posted inComets and Asteroids
Webb Space Telescope Used To Compare Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS With Icy Bodies In Our Solar System
[SwRI] A Southwest Research Institute-led study used NASA’s James Webb Space Telescope to examine ice grains streaming from interstellar comet 3I/ATLAS, just the third object from beyond our solar system […]
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
A New Database To Track Origins Of Water From Space
[Rice University]. International collaboration makes decades of satellite data more accessible to scientists studying global water cycle.
![Finite scalar spectral-cube reference at the channel centers nearest 0.76, 1.25, and 2.20 µm. -- full graphic below [astro-ph.IM]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/A-Covariance-Aware-Framework.png?resize=1200%2C715&ssl=1)
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
A Covariance-Aware Framework for Spatially Resolved Exoplanet Biosignature Inference with the Solar Gravitational Lens
[astro-ph.IM] Assessing possible life on an exoplanet requires spatial, spectral, temporal, and environmental context. We develop a covariance-aware Solar Gravitational Lens (SGL) framework for regional biosignature inference from reconstructed Einstein-ring […]
Posted inMars
Perseverance Rover Offers Clues to Protect Crews From Mars Dust
[NASA]. By studying tiny particles clinging to spacesuit samples aboard the rover, scientists could help develop better ways to reduce astronauts’ exposure to dust on Mars.
![Left. Two-dimensional UMAP representation of the TMC-1 inventory using the original ChemBERTa input vectors. Right. Same representation but using the last hidden layer of the neural netwok model. The red rectangle highlights the region of the UMAP representation where highly abundant molecules are located. The different dot sizes represent the observed column density of each molecule. -- [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/A-neural.png?resize=1200%2C725&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
A Neural-network Model To Find Correlations In Astrochemical Space
[astro-ph.GA] The detection of new interstellar molecules is central to astrochemistry, and arguably the most transformative development in the field in past decade has been the increase in both number […]
Posted inExoplanets, -moons, -comets
The First Selection Of Optimal Targets For The Lazuli ExtraSolar Coronagraph’s Reflected Starlight Exoplanet Campaign
[astro-ph.EP] Direct detection and characterization of exoplanet atmospheres via reflected starlight enables probes of composition of mature exoplanet systems (since flux is decoupled from age) at closer separations than via […]
Posted inDale Andersen's Field Reports
Astrobiologist Dale Andersen’s Antarctic Field Report: 26 October 2026: Flying South
Keith’s note: This report may be updated over the course of the day. Dale’s departure from Cape Town was scheduled for 10:00 am Local time but ended up at 10:28 […]
Posted inMars
A Technical Reanalysis Of The Viking Carbon Assimilation-Pyrolytic Release Experiment
[astro-ph.IM]. Viking Lander: The 1976 Viking Carbon Assimilation-Pyrolytic Release (CAPyR) experiment tested whether carbon from 14CO2 and 14CO entered Martian soil during a 120-hour incubation in a form retained during […]
![A comparison of the dominant heating and cooling mechanism for different times and at the time of the maximum temperature. Each model is started at 𝑇 = 10 K. -- [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/UCLCHEM.png?resize=1200%2C716&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
UCLCHEM 4.0: An Open Source Gas-grain Astrochemistry Simulation Framework
[astro-ph.GA] Astrochemical modeling is a key tool for the understanding of the formation and destruction of molecules in the dense gas of the interstellar medium, as observed by modern day […]