Editor’s note: for more than half a century we have been learning how to use the viewpoint from space to study our home world. The instruments we have developed often […]
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Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return, Tricorders & Sensors, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Tricorder Tech: A Simple Filter Swap Could Advance Marine eDNA Biomonitoring
Editor’s note: with recent speculation about the potential habitability of other worlds and understanding the processes whereby other biospheres arise and evolve, thought needs to be given to developing sensor […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Microbiology & Virology, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Dew And Frost Do Not Serve As Water Sources For Rock-dwelling Organisms In The Dry Valleys Of Antarctica
Rock-dwelling chlorolichens and cyanobacteria provide most of the total biomass of the ice-free zone of Antarctica, i.e., the McMurdo Dry Valleys (MDV), and yet, the water sources of MDV are […]
Posted inAway Teams & Field Reports, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Missions & Hardware, Nanotechnology & SynBio, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Tricorder Tech: DIYNAFLUOR: An Affordable DIY Plug-and-Play Nucleic Acid Fluorometer for eDNA Quantification in Resource Limited Settings
Editor’s note: with recent speculation about the potential habitability of other worlds and understanding the processes whereby other biospheres arise and evolve, thought needs to be given to developing sensor […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Arctic / Antarctic / Alpine, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Cryobiology, Desert Worlds, Exploration Gear & Tech, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
In Situ Analytical Chemistry Laboratory for the Exobiology Extant Life Surveyor
In this paper, we report a fully automated, end-to-end (sample-in/data-out) capillary electrophoresis system.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Comets and Asteroids, Exploration Gear & Tech, Habitable Zones, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Reports, Roadmaps, & Plans, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, ROVs/Submersibles/Diving, Sample Return, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Planetary Exploration 3.0: A Roadmap for Software-Defined, Radically Adaptive Space Systems
The surface and subsurface of worlds beyond Mars remain largely unexplored. Yet these worlds hold keys to fundamental questions in planetary science – from potentially habitable subsurface oceans on icy […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Laser-based Mass Spectrometry For The Detection Of Signatures Of Life Within Our Solar System
The search for signatures of life beyond Earth has been a major goal of space research and astrobiology for decades. The combination of expanded knowledge on Solar System bodies from […]
Posted inBiochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains, Subsurface, Lava Tubes, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Missions & Hardware, Origin & Evolution of Life, Robotics/Rovers/UAVs, Status Report, Titan, Tricorders & Sensors
Prebiotic Chemistry Insights for Dragonfly II: Thermodynamic Favorability of Nucleobases, Ribose, and Fatty Acids in Selk Crater on Titan
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 molecules.
![iss057e000185 (10/8/2018) – Biomolecule Sequencer [a flight certified Nanopore MinIon] for the BEST experiment floating in front of Window 7 in the Cupola module. Earth is in the background. The Biomolecule Sequencer seeks to demonstrate, for the first time, that DNA sequencing is feasible in an orbiting spacecraft. A space-based DNA sequencer could identify microbes, diagnose diseases and understand crew member health, and potentially help detect DNA-based life elsewhere in the solar system. -- NASA](https://i0.wp.com/astrobiology.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Nanopore-Sequencing.jpg?resize=1200%2C721&ssl=1)
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Commercial & Private Sector, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Microbiology & Virology, Microgravity, Origin & Evolution of Life, Space Life Science, Space Stations, Status Report, Tricorders & Sensors
Nanopore Sequencing: A Way To Explore Life’s Origins
In future years, it seems likely that someone will claim they have discovered a process that allows a mixture of simple molecules to assemble into structures and systems with the […]
Posted inAstropharmacy / Biotechnology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Exploration Gear & Tech, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release, Tricorders & Sensors
Tricorder Tech: Protein Sequencing Advance Offers New Insights Into Life’s Foundations
Editor’s note: with recent speculation about the potential habitability of other worlds and understanding the processes whereby other biospheres arise and evolve, thought needs to be given to developing sensor […]