Small enough to fit in the palm of a hand, NASA’s High Performance Spaceflight Computing processor packs the power of a full system-on-a-chip. This next-generation processor is made to survive deep space while delivering a massive leap in computational speed compared to current spacecraft technology. Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech

AI - Data - Apps - Cybernetics, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors

Tricorder Tech: NASA’s Next-Gen Space Processor Undergoes Testing

by Keith CowingMay 14, 2026May 14, 2026

Editor’s note: for more than half a century we have been learning how to use the viewpoint from space to study our home world. The instruments we have developed often […]

NOAA Ocean Exploration’s recently released environmental DNA (eDNA) data help us better understand what lives in the deep ocean. Among these data is evidence of invertebrates, like Crossota millsae (the jellyfish seen here); fish; marine mammals; microbes; and more. While some of the organisms found in these data have been seen on previous expeditions on NOAA Ship Okeanos Explorer, others, like Macropinna microstoma (barreleye fish), remain elusive. Image courtesy of NOAA Ocean Exploration, 2019 Southeastern U.S. Deep-sea Exploration. Download largest version (jpg, 893.9 KB).

Analog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Gaia - Planetary Perspectives, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Water World Genomics: Unlocking Ocean Secrets With eDNA

by Keith CowingMay 6, 2026May 6, 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 […]

Cladogram of the full set of eukaryotic phyla identified by shotgun sequencing and metabarcoding. Branch colors represent kingdoms (blue, Metazoa; red, Fungi; green, Viridiplantae; pink, other eukaryotes). Three surrounding rings indicate phyla shared between shotgun sequencing and metabarcoding (gray), phyla uniquely detected with metabarcoding (yellow), and phyla uniquely detected with shotgun sequencing (blue). Information in the rings is summarized in a Venn diagram in the upper left corner. Taxa marked with an asterisk are no longer categorized as a phylum. -- Pensoft Publishers

Away Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography

Tricorder Tech: A Simple Filter Swap Could Advance Marine eDNA Biomonitoring

by Keith CowingMay 5, 2026May 5, 2026

Location of all three MET stations, Lake Fryxell (LF), Explorer Cove (EC) and Marble Point (MP). The site investigated by Büdel et al. (2008) is marked as B. Note the proximity of Lake Fryxell and Explorer Cove to the Büdel site (all within the MDV inland) and the coastal location of the Marble Point -- Springer Nature via PubMed

Analog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Dew And Frost Do Not Serve As Water Sources For Rock-dwelling Organisms In The Dry Valleys Of Antarctica

by Keith CowingMay 4, 2026May 4, 2026

Rock-dwelling chlorolichens and cyanobacteria provide most of the total biomass of the ice-free zone of Antarctica, i.e., the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), and yet, the water sources of MDV are […]

Cyanobacterial crusts in the stratosphere during light exposure -- Microorganisms via PubMed

Analog Studies, Cryobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, Panspermia, Press Release, Radiation, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors

Responses of Cyanobacterial Crusts and Microbial Communities to Extreme Environments of the Stratosphere

by Keith CowingMay 1, 2026May 1, 2026

How microbial communities respond to extreme conditions in the stratosphere remains unclear.

SAM is the most complex instrument ever sent on a planetary mission. Principal Investigator Paul Mahaffy leads the project from Goddard in collaboration with 51 co-investigators and 28 institutions including the University of Paris and The French Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique that provided the Gas Chromatograph. Credit GSFC.

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Diverse Organic Molecules On Mars Revealed By The First SAM TMAH Experiment

by Keith CowingMay 1, 2026May 1, 2026

The search for organic matter on Mars has rapidly evolved in the past decade with simple aromatic, S-heterocycles, and aliphatic organic molecules detected in Gale crater.

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

LILBID cationic mass spectrum of l-norleucine simulating an impact velocity of 5–7 km/s. The protonated molecular peak of l-norleucine is labeled “M+H+.” Fragment ions are identified in the mass spectrum and represented in the molecular structure as well. Ions from the matrix (pure water clusters and sodium and potassium water clusters) are labeled with blue triangles and yellow and green squares. -- Astrobiology via x-mol.net

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Enceladus, Europa, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

Identifying Amino Acid Isomers With Mass Spectrometry On Icy Ocean

by Keith CowingApril 27, 2026April 27, 2026

Enceladus and Europa are compelling targets for astrobiology investigations due to their potentially habitable subsurface oceans connected to the icy surface by geological processes.

(A) Map of the study area within the hyperarid core of the Atacama Desert. Salar Grande is outlined by the white dashed line. The star depicts the sampling location. (B) Photo of two halite nodules analyzed in this study. Arrows in the inset show chlorophyll-colored bands indicative of the endolithic community. -- Astrobiology via Sage

Analog Studies, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Habitable Zones, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors

The Lipidome of a Mars Analog Poly-Extreme Community in Atacama Halite Endolith: Chemotaxonomy, Lipid Adaptation, and Implications for the Search for Extraplanetary Biosignatures

by Keith CowingApril 27, 2026April 27, 2026

We analyzed the lipidome of the endolithic community in halite nodules from Salar Grande in the hyperarid Atacama Desert, which is considered an analog for martian subsurface environments.