#biosignature — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #biosignature, aggregated by home.social.
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NASA’s Mars Rover Detects Potential Life Signature On Martian Mudstone Rock
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NASA’s Mars Rover Detects Potential Life Signature On Martian Mudstone Rock
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Molecular diversity as a #biosignature: https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.00525 -> Scientists used a method from ecology to identify whether icy moons could hold conditions for life: https://theconversation.com/scientists-used-a-method-from-ecology-to-identify-whether-icy-moons-could-hold-conditions-for-life-283855
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Molecular diversity as a #biosignature: https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.00525 -> Scientists used a method from ecology to identify whether icy moons could hold conditions for life: https://theconversation.com/scientists-used-a-method-from-ecology-to-identify-whether-icy-moons-could-hold-conditions-for-life-283855
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Molecular diversity as a #biosignature: https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.00525 -> Scientists propose new way to find aliens — and we may already have a spacecraft that can help (namely the Europa Clipper): https://www.space.com/space-exploration/search-for-life/scientists-propose-new-way-to-find-aliens-and-we-may-already-have-a-spacecraft-that-can-help
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Molecular diversity as a #biosignature: https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.00525 -> Scientists propose new way to find aliens — and we may already have a spacecraft that can help (namely the Europa Clipper): https://www.space.com/space-exploration/search-for-life/scientists-propose-new-way-to-find-aliens-and-we-may-already-have-a-spacecraft-that-can-help
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15-Apr-2026
A new way to detect life beyond Earth without knowing what life looks like
Researchers propose a population-scale #biosignature based on how life may spread between #planets -
15-Apr-2026
A new way to detect life beyond Earth without knowing what life looks like
Researchers propose a population-scale #biosignature based on how life may spread between #planets -
Here is a problem that has been quietly gnawing at astronomers for decades.
The standard approach to detecting #life on other worlds involves scanning #exoplanet #atmospheres for #oxygen, #methane, and #ozone, whose presence is difficult to explain without #biology.
It's a clever idea, but it carries a hidden flaw. That entire shopping list was written by studying Earth. It is, inevitably, a search for life like us.
The list of ways that #chemistry alone can accidentally mimic these #biosignature gases is growing faster than the list of new ways to detect life.
Each new false positive scenario demands even more information about the #planet to rule it out, and there is a genuine question about whether that information can ever be gathered exhaustively.
But there is a solution.
#Assembly theory doesn't ask what #molecules are present in an #atmosphere. Instead, it asks how hard they were to make.
Every molecule can be assigned an assembly index, a minimum number of construction steps required to build it from basic #chemical building blocks.
Simple molecules are easy to assemble by chance, but truly complex ones, requiring many sequential steps, don't arise without something doing a great deal of deliberate selection.
That something would then be life itself.
#astrobiology #astronomy
https://phys.org/news/2026-03-life.htmlPaper by Walker et al. (2026): https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.11086
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Here is a problem that has been quietly gnawing at astronomers for decades.
The standard approach to detecting #life on other worlds involves scanning #exoplanet #atmospheres for #oxygen, #methane, and #ozone, whose presence is difficult to explain without #biology.
It's a clever idea, but it carries a hidden flaw. That entire shopping list was written by studying Earth. It is, inevitably, a search for life like us.
The list of ways that #chemistry alone can accidentally mimic these #biosignature gases is growing faster than the list of new ways to detect life.
Each new false positive scenario demands even more information about the #planet to rule it out, and there is a genuine question about whether that information can ever be gathered exhaustively.
But there is a solution.
#Assembly theory doesn't ask what #molecules are present in an #atmosphere. Instead, it asks how hard they were to make.
Every molecule can be assigned an assembly index, a minimum number of construction steps required to build it from basic #chemical building blocks.
Simple molecules are easy to assemble by chance, but truly complex ones, requiring many sequential steps, don't arise without something doing a great deal of deliberate selection.
That something would then be life itself.
#astrobiology #astronomy
https://phys.org/news/2026-03-life.htmlPaper by Walker et al. (2026): https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.11086
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#KnowledgeByte: An #Alien #Biosignature is any observable feature—such as a substance, pattern, or phenomenon—that provides scientific evidence of past or present life beyond Earth.
Scientists look for these "fingerprints of life" in the atmospheres and on the surfaces of planets and moons.
https://knowledgezone.co.in/posts/Alien-Biosignature-69b9060ffa60ffdd1b7b92e7
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#KnowledgeByte: An #Alien #Biosignature is any observable feature—such as a substance, pattern, or phenomenon—that provides scientific evidence of past or present life beyond Earth.
Scientists look for these "fingerprints of life" in the atmospheres and on the surfaces of planets and moons.
https://knowledgezone.co.in/posts/Alien-Biosignature-69b9060ffa60ffdd1b7b92e7
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3I/ATLAS: ALMA Detects Most Enriched Concentration Of Methanol And Hydrogen Cyanide Observed In Any Comet Ever
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3I/ATLAS: ALMA Detects Most Enriched Concentration Of Methanol And Hydrogen Cyanide Observed In Any Comet Ever
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#Phosphorus Prepared #Earth For Complex #Life And Could Be A Valuable #Biosignature
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#Phosphorus Prepared #Earth For Complex #Life And Could Be A Valuable #Biosignature
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"A potential biosignature, which is how the Sapphire Canyon finding is described, is a substance or structure that might have a biological origin but requires more data or further study before scientists can make a conclusion about the absence or presence of life."
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"A potential biosignature, which is how the Sapphire Canyon finding is described, is a substance or structure that might have a biological origin but requires more data or further study before scientists can make a conclusion about the absence or presence of life."
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Hackaday Links: September 14, 2025 - Is it finally time to cue up the Bowie? Or was the NASA presser on Wednesday annou... - https://hackaday.com/2025/09/14/hackaday-links-september-14-2025/ #manhattanproject #hackadaycolumns #hackadaylinks #biosignature #perseverance #nuclear #slider #atomic #redox #retro #video #mars #nasa #crt
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Hackaday Links: September 14, 2025 - Is it finally time to cue up the Bowie? Or was the NASA presser on Wednesday annou... - https://hackaday.com/2025/09/14/hackaday-links-september-14-2025/ #manhattanproject #hackadaycolumns #hackadaylinks #biosignature #perseverance #nuclear #slider #atomic #redox #retro #video #mars #nasa #crt
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Pontential sign of Ancient life☺️
NASA Says Mars Rover Discovered Potential Biosignature Last Year
https://nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-says-mars-rover-discovered-potential-biosignature-last-year/
#Astrobiology #Mars #Mars2020 #Perseverance #JezeroCrater #Mars2020Mission #Nasa #MarsRover #MarsSampleReturn #MSR #Biosignature -
*Fossilized Martian living bug slime. Maybe. #biosignature
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*Fossilized Martian living bug slime. Maybe. #biosignature
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#NASA Says #Mars Rover #Perseverance Discovered Potential #Biosignature Last Year
A potential biosignature is a substance or structure that might have a biological origin but requires more data or further study before a conclusion can be reached about the absence or presence of life.
The agency’s scientists are still not saying they found fossils of Martian microbes, but analysis of the specimen collected by the Perseverance rover raises that possibility.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-says-mars-rover-discovered-potential-biosignature-last-year/ -
#NASA Says #Mars Rover #Perseverance Discovered Potential #Biosignature Last Year
A potential biosignature is a substance or structure that might have a biological origin but requires more data or further study before a conclusion can be reached about the absence or presence of life.
The agency’s scientists are still not saying they found fossils of Martian microbes, but analysis of the specimen collected by the Perseverance rover raises that possibility.
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasa-says-mars-rover-discovered-potential-biosignature-last-year/ -
The #Perseverance press conference panel consists of 5 NASA managers and 1 Mars researcher - so the topic is likely some follow-up to "the
discovery of a potential #biosignature" in an outcrop reported earlier this year in https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20250001217/downloads/Hurowitz%20et%20al%20LPSC.pdf while the specific rock to be discussed today was shown in April in https://science.nasa.gov/resource/meet-the-mars-samples-sapphire-canyon-sample-25/ and mentioned in August in https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1094171 and the O-PTIR #spectroscopy method to hunt for microbial markers was discussed in March in https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/en/press/z0508_00392.html -
The #Perseverance press conference panel consists of 5 NASA managers and 1 Mars researcher - so the topic is likely some follow-up to "the
discovery of a potential #biosignature" in an outcrop reported earlier this year in https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20250001217/downloads/Hurowitz%20et%20al%20LPSC.pdf while the specific rock to be discussed today was shown in April in https://science.nasa.gov/resource/meet-the-mars-samples-sapphire-canyon-sample-25/ and mentioned in August in https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1094171 and the O-PTIR #spectroscopy method to hunt for microbial markers was discussed in March in https://www.u-tokyo.ac.jp/focus/en/press/z0508_00392.html -
What if we find nothing? Bayesian analysis of the statistical information of null results in future exoplanet habitability and #biosignature surveys: https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.06779 -> interview with the first author: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbnmxiTlBUo
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What if we find nothing? Bayesian analysis of the statistical information of null results in future exoplanet habitability and #biosignature surveys: https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.06779 -> interview with the first author: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbnmxiTlBUo
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Thick Clay Layers On Mars May Have Been A Stable Place For Ancient Life
https://astrobiology.com/2025/06/thick-clay-layers-on-mars-may-have-been-a-stable-place-for-ancient-life.html
#Astrobiologie #Astrobiology #Mars #Biosignature #Biosignatur #Science #Wissenschaft #Astrogeologie #Astrogeology -
Great, interesting study!😊😀
"Multiscale astrobiology with the Vera C. Rubin Observatory Legacy Survey of Space and Time"
https://frontiersin.org/journals/astronomy-and-space-sciences/articles/10.3389/fspas.2025.1594485/full
#Astrobiology #RubinObservatory #science #Exoplanet #Biosignature #life #universe #LSST -
NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover to Take Bite Out of ‘Krokodillen’
The area has been on the Perseverance science team’s wish list because it marks an important boundary between the oldest rocks of Jezero Crater’s rim and those of the plains beyond the crater
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-mars-rover-to-take-bite-out-of-krokodillen
#Mars #Perseverance #Krokodillen #NorthernRimCampaign #JezeroCrater #space #science #geology #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #biosignature #astrobiology #life #news
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NASA’s Perseverance Mars Rover to Take Bite Out of ‘Krokodillen’
The area has been on the Perseverance science team’s wish list because it marks an important boundary between the oldest rocks of Jezero Crater’s rim and those of the plains beyond the crater
https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/nasas-perseverance-mars-rover-to-take-bite-out-of-krokodillen
#Mars #Perseverance #Krokodillen #NorthernRimCampaign #JezeroCrater #space #science #geology #PerseveranceRover #Mars2020 #biosignature #astrobiology #life #news
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The recent claims of #biosignature detection in the atmosphere of #exoplanet K2-18b does not convince anyone.
A new paper demonstrates that other non-biological interpretations can also explain the data.
Reanalysing the dataset used in the original biosignature detection paper through multiple other models reveals good fits for models that abiological processes could entirely explain.
One particular model that included the hydrocarbon propyne fit the data better than the model containing DMS and its cousin, dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), which was interpreted as biosignature detection April.
#astronomy #exoplanets
https://phys.org/news/2025-05-ways-atmosphere-k2-18b.html -
The recent claims of #biosignature detection in the atmosphere of #exoplanet K2-18b does not convince anyone.
A new paper demonstrates that other non-biological interpretations can also explain the data.
Reanalysing the dataset used in the original biosignature detection paper through multiple other models reveals good fits for models that abiological processes could entirely explain.
One particular model that included the hydrocarbon propyne fit the data better than the model containing DMS and its cousin, dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), which was interpreted as biosignature detection April.
#astronomy #exoplanets
https://phys.org/news/2025-05-ways-atmosphere-k2-18b.html -
Hackaday Links: April 20, 2025 https://hackaday.com/2025/04/20/hackaday-links-april-20-2025/ #vegetativeelectronmicroscopy #HackadayColumns #scientificfraud #Hackadaylinks #hackadaylinks #siliconvalley #biosignature #antikythera #Zuckerberg #crosswalk #deep-fake #exoplanet #JamesWebb #citation #PaloAlto #Slider #K2-18b #Kepler #tooth #DMDS #gear #jwst #Musk #DMS
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Hackaday Links: April 20, 2025 https://hackaday.com/2025/04/20/hackaday-links-april-20-2025/ #vegetativeelectronmicroscopy #HackadayColumns #scientificfraud #Hackadaylinks #hackadaylinks #siliconvalley #biosignature #antikythera #Zuckerberg #crosswalk #deep-fake #exoplanet #JamesWebb #citation #PaloAlto #Slider #K2-18b #Kepler #tooth #DMDS #gear #jwst #Musk #DMS
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Hackaday Links: April 20, 2025 - We appear to be edging ever closer to a solid statement of “We are not alone” in t... - https://hackaday.com/2025/04/20/hackaday-links-april-20-2025/ #vegetativeelectronmicroscopy #hackadaycolumns #scientificfraud #hackadaylinks #siliconvalley #biosignature #antikythera #zuckerberg #crosswalk #deep-fake #exoplanet #jameswebb #citation #paloalto #slider #k2-18b #kepler #tooth #dmds #gear #jwst #musk #dms
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Hackaday Links: April 20, 2025 - We appear to be edging ever closer to a solid statement of “We are not alone” in t... - https://hackaday.com/2025/04/20/hackaday-links-april-20-2025/ #vegetativeelectronmicroscopy #hackadaycolumns #scientificfraud #hackadaylinks #siliconvalley #biosignature #antikythera #zuckerberg #crosswalk #deep-fake #exoplanet #jameswebb #citation #paloalto #slider #k2-18b #kepler #tooth #dmds #gear #jwst #musk #dms
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“The idea of searching for resulting ‘ #technosignatures’ as remotely detectable evidence of #extraterrestrial #technology follows the same logic as exoplanet #biosignature #science” aeon.co/essays/why-w...
Why we’re searching for alien ... -
“The idea of searching for resulting ‘ #technosignatures’ as remotely detectable evidence of #extraterrestrial #technology follows the same logic as exoplanet #biosignature #science” aeon.co/essays/why-w...
Why we’re searching for alien ... -
Here the red dwarf #K2-18 photographed last night 17th April 2025 from observatory Y71 Makroskooppi. The Webb telescope has detected possible #biosignature signal of dimethyl sulfide/DMS/DMDS gas in the atmosphere of the super-Earth-sized #exoplanet #K2-18b orbiting it.
The star K2-18 is located under the constellation Leo. In this image, there is a field of view around the star about the size of the moon, the brighter star to the right of K2-18 is HIP 56079 with a brightness of 6.7mag.
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Astronomers have detected the most promising signs yet of a possible #biosignature outside the solar system, although they remain cautious.
They have detected the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide and/or dimethyl disulfide, in the #atmosphere of the #exoplanet K2-18b, which orbits its star in the #habitable zone.
On Earth, theyare only produced by #life, primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton.
#astronomy #astrobiology
https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/strongest-hints-of-biological-activity -
Astronomers have detected the most promising signs yet of a possible #biosignature outside the solar system, although they remain cautious.
They have detected the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide and/or dimethyl disulfide, in the #atmosphere of the #exoplanet K2-18b, which orbits its star in the #habitable zone.
On Earth, theyare only produced by #life, primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton.
#astronomy #astrobiology
https://www.cam.ac.uk/stories/strongest-hints-of-biological-activity -
So far today, every news report I've read about #exoplanet K2-18b has got its size and distance wrong, and has described the #biosignature chemicals DMS and DMDS as gases (on Earth, they're both colourless, flammable liquids).
It makes you wonder how accurate all the other stories on the news are...
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What if we Find Nothing? Bayesian Analysis of the Statistical Information of Null Results in Future Exoplanet Habitability and #Biosignature Surveys: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/adb96d -> What if we find nothing in our search for life beyond Earth? https://www.seti.org/press-release/what-if-we-find-nothing-our-search-life-beyond-earth -> In the search for life on exoplanets, finding nothing is something too: https://www.phys.ethz.ch/news-and-events/d-phys-news/2025/04/in-the-search-for-life-on-exoplanets-finding-nothing-is-something-too.html - what insights can be gained from a 'no life detected' scenario in future exoplanet surveys.
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What if we Find Nothing? Bayesian Analysis of the Statistical Information of Null Results in Future Exoplanet Habitability and #Biosignature Surveys: https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/1538-3881/adb96d -> What if we find nothing in our search for life beyond Earth? https://www.seti.org/press-release/what-if-we-find-nothing-our-search-life-beyond-earth -> In the search for life on exoplanets, finding nothing is something too: https://www.phys.ethz.ch/news-and-events/d-phys-news/2025/04/in-the-search-for-life-on-exoplanets-finding-nothing-is-something-too.html - what insights can be gained from a 'no life detected' scenario in future exoplanet surveys.
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The upcoming extremely large telescopes will provide the first opportunity to search for signs of #habitability and #life on non-transiting #terrestrial #exoplanets.
For the most accessible nearby target, #Proxima Centauri b, we may be able to rule out a sub-Neptune #atmosphere in as little as a single hour of observing, and some #biosignature disequilibrium pairs may be accessible in 10 hours.
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The upcoming extremely large telescopes will provide the first opportunity to search for signs of #habitability and #life on non-transiting #terrestrial #exoplanets.
For the most accessible nearby target, #Proxima Centauri b, we may be able to rule out a sub-Neptune #atmosphere in as little as a single hour of observing, and some #biosignature disequilibrium pairs may be accessible in 10 hours.
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TZ extended birthday wishes to SETI, offering a glimpse into their intriguing investigations
@1000003.bsky.social -
We discovered a potential #biosignature in #Jezero.
Tom speculated his name might be Mortimer.
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Hackaday Links: May 12, 2024 - Don’t pack your bags for the trip to exoplanet K2-18b quite yet — it turns out tha... - https://hackaday.com/2024/05/12/hackaday-links-may-12-2024/ #launchcontrolcenter #fuzzybunnyslippers #semiconductorfab #hackadaycolumns #dimethylsulfide #hackadaylinks #biosignature #bluetooth #exoplante #minuteman #satellite #fortran #slider #k2-18b #survey #icbm
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Hackaday Links: May 12, 2024 https://hackaday.com/2024/05/12/hackaday-links-may-12-2024/ #launchcontrolcenter #fuzzybunnyslippers #semiconductorfab #HackadayColumns #dimethylsulfide #Hackadaylinks #hackadaylinks #biosignature #bluetooth #exoplante #Minuteman #satellite #FORTRAN #Slider #K2-18b #survey #ICBM
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Chemical disequilibrium quantified using the available free energy has previously been proposed as a potential #biosignature.
Atmospheric retrieval coupled with thermodynamical modelling can help assess the detectability of chemical disequilibrium signatures of Earth-like #exoplanets.
Such approaches could yield the first biosignature detections in #exoplanet atmospheres.
#astrobiology #astronomy
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41550-023-02145-z -
We are inching closer and closer to reliably detecting #biosignatures on distant #planets.
Much of the focus is on determining which chemicals indicate #life's presence.
But life can also create free energy in a system, and excess energy can create chemical disequilibrium. That's what happened on Earth when life got going.
Could chemical disequilibrium be a #biosignature?
#astronomy #astrobiology #exoplanets
https://phys.org/news/2023-11-life-easiest-planets-earlier-earth.htmlPaper by Young et al. (2023):
https://arxiv.org/abs/2311.06083