![Photographs of the mineral and inorganic substrates used in this study and the corresponding hybrid materials obtained. -- [Nature]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Synthesis.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
[Nature] The increasing of molecular complexity must be understood as a planetary phenomenon where prebiotic chemistry and geological settings converge. In this scene, HCN chemistry may have played a crucial […]
Nanotechnology
![Selection on a collective trait drives the origin of heredity. (A) Intracellular 5 competition drives the dominance of the red plasmid when fluorescence is enforced (left-hand panel) while poor inheritance and carriage costs purge the ancestral plasmid population entirely when no selective gate is used (right-hand panel). Coloured zones show the proportion of the population in each colour class through 21 cycles: red only, green only, yellow (red plus green), white (cells without fluorescence). -- [biorxiv.org]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/Forging.png?resize=1200%2C718&ssl=1)
Posted inGenomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics
Forging An Evolutionary Individual From Separate Replicators
[biorxiv.org] A central puzzle in the evolution of individuality is the origin of heredity. Egalitarian transitions integrate formerly independent replicators into a higher-level individual, but this requires the collective to […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry
Chemically Modified Sugars As Multifunctional Precursors For Direct, Template-Free Synthesis Of Nanoporous Carbonaceous Materials
[JACS] Carbonaceous solids with pores in the nanometer domain are of great technological importance owing to their amenability to sorption/separation, catalysis, and electrochemical applications.
![Snapshots of the system 1 ps after the initial contact of the nanograins for different initial velocities. Atom colour key indicates hydrogen: white; carbon: dark gray; oxygen: red; silicon: beige; and magnesium: green. -- [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/When-Two-Worlds.png?resize=1200%2C715&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
When Two Worlds Collide: How Collisions Between Silicate and Carbonaceous Nanograins can Drive Complex Chemistry
[astro-ph.GA] Our overall objective is to determine how collision velocity governs the interactions between silicate and carbonaceous nanograins. (astrochemistry)
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Intelligence & Language, Interstellar, Nanotechnology & SynBio, SETI & Technosignatures
Micron-Scale Technosignatures: How a Cubic Metre of Lunar Regolith May Begin to Constrain the Number of Past Technological Civilisations in the Galaxy
[astro-ph.EP] Building on Arkhipov’s proposal that technogenic artefacts may survive natural interstellar transport and accumulate on airless Solar System bodies, we examine the prospects for identifying micron-scale engineered particulate material […]
Posted inNanotechnology & SynBio
Ecological Constraints To Mirror Life
[bioRxiv] Our biosphere exhibits remarkable diversity yet is constrained by universal organizational principles, including molecular homochirality.
Posted inOrigin & Evolution of Life
Directing Open-Ended Evolution in Artificial Life via Multi-Scale Path Divergence
Open-ended evolution (OEE) in artificial life is typically driven by uninterpretable, black-box neural-network complexity metrics, leaving life-like systems disconnected from physical theories of complexity.
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
Tricorder Tech: A Schematic Of Core Steps In The Enzymatic Synthesis Platform
Editor’s note: If you are on a long term mission or on an away team on another world, you might want your tricorder to be able to do some quick […]
Posted inAstronomy & Telescopes, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Intelligence & Language, Interstellar, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Sample Return, SETI & Technosignatures, Status Report
Some Thoughts on the Future of Technosignature Searches: Constraining the Fermi Paradox
This paper examines how future technosignature searches may constrain competing resolutions of the Fermi Paradox, with particular attention to the possibility that technologically capable entities (TCEs) are either intrinsically rare […]
Posted inBiophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Scientists Reveal Disease Genes From Reconstruction Of Ancestor To All Complex Life
A University of Texas at Austin-led team has reconstructed the most detailed map to date of the molecular machines that carried out the functions of life in an ancient ancestor […]