Researchers have engineered nanosized cubes that spontaneously form a two-dimensional checkerboard pattern when dropped on the surface of water. The work, published in Nature Communications, presents a simple approach to […]
microscopy
Posted inAstrogeology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report
The Surface Of Mars Up Close
Using an onboard focusing process, the Mars Hand Lens Imager (MAHLI) aboard NASA’s Mars rover Curiosity created this product by merging two to eight images previously taken by the MAHLI, […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Microbiology & Virology, Missions & Hardware, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
The Complex Molecules Detector (CMOLD)
Organic chemistry is ubiquitous in the Solar System, and both Mars and a number of icy satellites of the outer Solar System show substantial promise for having hosted or hosting […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Press Release, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Tricorders & Sensors
Tricorder Tech: AI Tool Creates Synthetic Images Of Cells For Enhanced Microscopy Analysis
Editor’s note: when we start to send Away Teams to other worlds to search for – and then quantify – life forms imagery will play a pivotal role. Given the […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
Deconstructing The Structural Elements Of Extremophile Archaea Haloferax volcanii
Originally discovered in extreme environments like hydrothermal vents, archaea, a single-celled microorganism, can also be found in the digestive systems of animals, including humans where they play a key role […]
Posted inImaging & Spectroscopy, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
Tricorder Tech: High-speed, Auto-polarization Modulated 3D Structured Illumination Microscopy Imaging
Editor’s note: When we send Away Teams on Astrobiology and Astrogeology expeditions to other worlds they are going to need to be rather self-contained. Indeed the bulk of their preliminary […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Impact events, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release
Cosmic Building Blocks Of Life Discovered Through An Electron Microscope
Meteorites are fragments of asteroids which find their way to Earth as shooting stars. These cosmic sediments have frozen the primordial soup from which our solar system emerged – preserving […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Cryobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Cryo-microscopy Reveals Nano-sized Copy Machine Implicated In The Origin Of Life
How the intricate molecular machinery of life arose from simple beginnings has been a long-standing question. Several lines of evidence point towards a primordial “RNA world”, where an “RNA copy […]
Posted inImaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Offworld Life Science Instrumentation: Single-cell Measurement Of Microbial Growth Rate With Raman Microspectroscopy
Rates of microbial activity and growth are fundamental to understanding environmental geochemistry and ecology. However, measuring the heterogeneity of microbial activity at the single-cell level, especially within complex populations and […]
![Images of microfossil specimens of Navifusa majensis. (Demoulin et al., Nature, 2024) [L] one of the microfossils with stacks of thylakoids highlighted using yellow bars [R] magnification of the end of the cell.](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/FossilCellsProvide.png?resize=1200%2C838&ssl=1)
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Plant Biology, Status Report
Fossil Cells Provide Evidence Of Early Oxygenic Photosynthesis On Earth
Today oxygenic photosynthesis is unique to cyanobacteria and their plastid relatives within eukaryotes. Although its origin before the Great Oxidation Event is still debated 1,2,3,4, the accumulation of O2 profoundly […]