[biorxiv.org] The Eboliang Hu saline lakes in the hyper-arid Qaidam Basin is a high-altitude, weakly acidic hypersaline system with strong environmental gradients and limited nitrogen availability.
Sample Return
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology
Compositional Heterogeneity Structures Microbial Microhabitats across Distinct Mineral Substrates
[biorxiv.org] Microbial communities living on and in rocks operate at the microscale, where interactions with minerals fundamentally shape community structure and function. Yet the relationship between micron scale mineralogical configurations […]
Posted inGaia - Planetary Perspectives
Global Carbon Fixation In Earth’s Subsurface Biosphere
[biorxiv.org] The subsurface of our planet hosts 15% of Earth’s biomass and plays a key role in mediating the exchange of volatiles and elements between deep, long-residence-time geological reservoirs and […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Antarctica Is Home To Microbes Found Nowhere Else On Earth
[CU Boulder] Scientists have often wondered about species that are unique to Antarctica. But the focus has mainly been on animals, like cute feathery penguins. But CIRES researchers wanted to […]
Posted inExtremeophiles and Extreme Environments
Rethinking The Origin Of Life At Seafloor Hydrothermal Vents
[PNAS] Alkaline vents have dominated a class of hypotheses for the origins of life since their discovery a quarter of century ago, but advances in understanding the nature of these […]
Posted inImaging & Spectroscopy
Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy of Planetary Materials Using Laser Deposited Plasmonic Gold Nanoparticles
[x-mol.net] This work demonstrates a surface-enhanced raman spectroscopy (SERS) approach based on laser deposition of Au plasmonic nanoparticles onto several relevant mineral surfaces. A pulsed 1064 nm wavelength laser is […]
Posted inPlanetary Protection & Biosafety
NASA Establishes Mars Forward Operational Risk and Contamination Evaluation (M-FORCE) Tiger Team to Shape Mars Planetary Protection Protocols
[NASA OSMA]. NASA’s Office of Safety and Mission Assurance (OSMA), in partnership with the Science Mission Directorate (SMD), is seeking applicants for a newly established external Tiger Team named Mars Forward […]
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Ocean World Exploration: 2026 American Samoa ROV + Mapping Exploration
[NOAA]. Most of the 13,581-square-mile National Marine Sanctuary of American Samoa lies far below the sunlit coral reefs visible from shore. Its protected waters include deep seamounts, abyssal plains, deep-sea […]
![HAADF image and quantified EDX map (at%) of a GEMS-like assemblage in UCAMM DC06- 18, which is located at the top of the FIB section, probably close to the external surface of the UCAMM. - [astro-ph.EP]](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/STXM-XANES.png?resize=1200%2C711&ssl=1)
Posted inMeteorites & Asteroids
STXM-XANES And TEM Analysis Of UltraCarbonaceous Antarctic MicroMeteorites (UCAMMs)
[astro-ph.EP] The Concordia micrometeorite collection contains UltraCarbonaceous Antarctic MicroMeteorites (UCAMMs) of probable cometary origin. Eight FIB sections of UCAMMs were studied by Scanning Transmission X-ray Microscopy – X-ray Absorption Near […]
Posted inWater/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
MBARI Ocean World Expedition: Movement In The Deep
Editor’s note: When we start to mount Astrobiology missions to explore ocean worlds we’ll need ways for our robotic submersibles to observe and interact with whatever life forms they may […]