The Venus Life Finder Missions are a series of focused astrobiology mission concepts to search for habitability, signs of life, and life itself in the Venus atmosphere. While people have […]
Biosignatures
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
Microbes May Have Lived Underground For More Than 1 Billion Years
A study using the thermal history and biosignatures of the upper few kilometers of some of the oldest rocks on Earth place constraints on the evolutionary history of microbes in […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs
Mars Curiosity Detects Organic Molecules
Organic molecules revealed in Mars’s Bagnold Dunes by Curiosity’s derivatization experiment, Nature Astronomy ” .. No amino-acid derivatives were detected. However, chemically derivatized benzoic acid and ammonia were detected. Mass […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Cloudy Days On Exoplanets May Hide Atmospheric Water
Water is a hot topic in the study of exoplanets, including “hot Jupiters,” whose masses are similar to that of Jupiter, but which are much closer to their parent star […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Abiotic Molecular Oxygen Production – Ionic Pathway From Sulphur Dioxide
Molecular oxygen, O2, is vital to life on Earth and possibly on other planets. Although the biogenic processes leading to its accumulation in Earth’s atmosphere are well understood, its abiotic […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Habitability And Biosignatures Of Hycean Worlds
We investigate a new class of habitable planets composed of water-rich interiors with massive oceans underlying H2-rich atmospheres, referred to here as Hycean worlds. With densities between those of rocky […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware
Raman Spectroscopy And Planetary Exploration: Testing The ExoMars/RLS System At The Tabernas Desert (Spain)
ExoFit trials are field campaigns financed by ESA to test the Rosalind Franklin rover and to enhance collaboration practices between ExoMars working groups. During the first trial, a replicate of […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
Vegetation Of Planet Earth: Researchers Publish Unique Database As Open Access
It’s a treasure trove of data: the global geodatabase of vegetation plots “sPlotOpen” is now freely accessible. It contains data on vegetation from 114 countries and from all climate zones […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Scientists Detect Signatures Of Life Remotely
It could be a milestone on the path to detecting life on other planets: Scientists under the leadership of the University of Bern and of the National Centre of Competence […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
A Large-scale Approach to Modelling Molecular Biosignatures: The Diatomics
This work presents the first steps to modelling synthetic rovibrational spectra for all molecules of astrophysical interest using the new code Prometheus. The goal is to create a new comprehensive […]