![Pressures determined by ruby fluorescence measurements at different locations within the sample chamber: (a) during powder compaction, (b) after decompression. No ruby fluorescence spectrum was obtained on the sphere marked with an asterisk, likely due to insufficient Cr doping, resulting in an undetectable fluorescence signal. -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Elastic.png?resize=1200%2C720&ssl=1)
[astro-ph.EP] Titan tholins, complex organic solids synthesized by simulating photochemical processes in Titan’s atmosphere, are widely regarded as analogs to organic surface materials on the Saturnian moon.
organic chemistry
Posted inNanotechnology & SynBio
Designing Protein Structures From Natural Language
[cs.LG] A central challenge in de novo protein design is generating proteins with desired structural and functional properties.
![Overview of the thermodynamic modeling workflow used in this study and Madan and Pearce (2025). -- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Prebiotic-Chemistry.png?resize=1200%2C714&ssl=1)
Posted inTitan
Prebiotic Chemistry In Selk Crater on Titan
[astro-ph.EP] Saturn’s moon Titan is a prime destination for investigating prebiotic chemistry beyond Earth, particularly at impact crater sites where transient liquid water may have enabled aqueous reactions between organic […]
![First detection of fully deuterated methanol in interstellar space This composite image shows the Perseus molecular cloud, which is located about 1,000 light-years from Earth. A rare form of the organic alcohol methanol has been observed around at least one of the very young stars still embedded within it. This is the first time this molecule has been detected in space, as shared by the ALMA COMPASS Large Program (Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys). Credit: Ekaterina Moerova / MPIfR; Background: NASA, CXC, SSC, NOAO, DSS; and 3D image of methanol fromPubChem [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US), National Center for Biotechnology Information; 2004-. PubChem Compound Summary for CID 887, Methanol; [cited 2026 July 16]. -- [NRAO]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Exotic.png?resize=1200%2C724&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
Exotic Methanol Discovered In Planet-Building Zones
[NRAO] An international team of astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA), of which the U.S. National Science Foundation National Radio Astronomy Observatory is a partner (NSF NRAO), has […]
Posted inAstrochemistry
Complex Organic Molecules in Protostars with ALMA Spectral Surveys (COMPASS) II. Approach To Data Reduction And Products For Line-rich Broadband (sub)millimeter Spectra
[astro-ph.SR] Studying the chemical composition of the warm gas surrounding embedded solar-type protostars is one of the areas for which the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) is particularly well suited.
![Absolute CSs for the reaction of P+ with C2H2, measured at ECM = 0.14 eV as a function of the photon energy. Products are detected at m/z 56 (HCCP+, orange triangles) and m/z 55 (CCP+, blue circles). From Ephot ≈23 eV an additional product is observed at m/z 26 (C2H2 +, black squares). The vertical dashed black line indicates Ephot value at which CS trends as a function of ECM have been measured. Grey and red arrows indicate the calculated thermodynamic thresholds for production of P+ in ground and excited states, as detailed in the text.-- [astro-ph.SR]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Synthesis.png?resize=1200%2C717&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
Synthesis Of Organo-phosphorous Species In Space: The Reaction Of P+ With C2H2
[astro-ph.SR] Despite its low cosmic abundance, phosphorus is a bioessential element whose prebiotic availability and incorporation into biomolecules remain open questions. Only a few phosphorous containing molecules with P to […]
Posted inTitan
Oxidation Of Photochemical Organic Hazes: A Prebiotic Source of Oxygen-Bearing Organics in Titan’s Atmosphere And Early Earth?
[Astrobiology via PubMed]. Photochemical organic hazes such as those found in the atmosphere of Titan, the largest satellite of Saturn, are mainly composed of reduced chemical components.
Posted inAstrochemistry
The JWST Proto-PAH Project: Aromatic Backbones With Extensive Aliphatic Substitution Account For Both The Aromatic And Aliphatic mission
[astro-ph.GA] We find that the aromatic and aliphatic emission bands in four carbon-rich post-asymptotic giant branch stars with class D emission arise from a single carrier population: extensive aliphatic decoration […]
![Schematic representation of the evolution of sulfur in light of our experiments. The diagram provides a conceptual overview of sulfur depletion driven by visual extinction.-- [astro-ph.GA]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Thermally.png?resize=1200%2C719&ssl=1)
Posted inAstrochemistry
Thermally Irreversible Sulfur Chemisorption On Silicate Grains As A Major Sulfur Reservoir In Molecular Clouds
[astro-ph.GA] Sulfur (S) chemistry in the interstellar medium remains poorly constrained due to the longstanding “missing sulfur” problem, where a significant fraction of cosmic sulfur in molecular clouds remains unidentified.
![Initial 𝑎c–𝑒c distribution of the 32,000 comets used in each end-to-end calculation. Dashed lines mark the semimajor axes of P7 and P8. The circular and eccentric planet calculations use identical comet initial states.-- [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/Planetary.png?resize=1200%2C604&ssl=1)
Posted inComets and Asteroids
Planetary Eccentricity Enhances Inward Comet Transport But Suppresses Gentle Impacts
[astro-ph.EP] Comets can supply volatile and prebiotic material to rocky planets, but survival of fragile molecules depends on atmospheric entry and impact. Compact planet chains can transfer comets inward at […]