NASA’s Perseverance rover has identified its most compelling evidence yet for ancient microbial life on Mars. A rock sample dubbed “Sapphire Canyon,” collected from the Bright Angel formation in Jezero Crater, shows mineral and chemical patterns that resemble biosignatures—possible traces of past microbial activity. These “leopard spots,” rich in iron-based minerals, could have been formed [...]| SciTechDaily
Keith’s note: I have been editing Astrobiology.com – @Astrobiology – for 30 years. I ran peer review panels for NASA Exobiology research before that. There have been a lot of “almost” announcements over the past 30 or so years – but this one is really solid. We have not found extant life on Mars – but we seem to have found remnants of something biological from Mars’ deep past aka […] The post Likely Biosignatures Found On Mars appeared first on NASA Watch.| Astrobiology Archives - NASA Watch
Keith’s note: according to “NASA to Share Details of New Perseverance Mars Rover Finding“ there will be some Mars news – likely Astrobiology related – announced at 11 am EDT Wednesday 10 Sep. Just a guess …. from 56th LPSC a few months ago: “The Detection of a Potential Biosignature By the Perseverance Rover on Mars“ by upcoming press event participant Joel Hurowitz: “Upon entering Neretva Vallis,Perseverance investigated a set […] The post Mars News On Wednesday (Sneak Pe...| Astrobiology Archives - NASA Watch
two items from NASA about the Dragonfly mission just dropped| NASA Watch
New study reveals how scientific claims about alien life often become exaggerated and oversold to the public.| The Debrief
In the vast expanse of the cosmos, few stellar systems capture the human imagination quite like Alpha Centauri. As the closest star system to our own—just 4.37 light-years away—it has long been a b…| New Space Economy
Science Magazine Retracts NASA Astrobiology Paper - But Only After 15 years| NASA Watch
Astrobiology is an unusual science in that there’s no clear, undisputed evidence that its subject of study – extraterrestrial life – even exists. It’s still an active field of research, though, with observational astronomers scouring the skies for telltale signs of life, and theoreticians tying themselves in knots trying to explain why we haven’t seen any of those signs yet. This book deals almost exclusively with the second of those topics.Before going any further, it’s worth def...| Popular Science Books
Keith’s note: I was planning on retiring and writing my book on Astrobiology expeditions to other worlds. Then Trump 2.0 happened and everyone suddenly wanted NASAWatch back. That said, I am still trying to escape reality for several hours a day and travel on a personal Away Team sortie into the future. I hope y’all can do that too. I just posted this NOAA discovery of an alien-looking species on […] The post Ignore The Org Charts: Let’s Get Back To Actual Exploration appeared first o...| Exploration Archives - NASA Watch
Keith’s note: this web reel was just posted by CNN from the end of my interview this morning. OK, I have just about run out of ways / platforms to wave my arms and talk about what NASA needs in order to explore the universe. Your turn. “NASA needs a permanent administrator who understands rocket science and knows how all this stuff works and is committed to lead the agency […] The post Who Speaks For Science? appeared first on NASA Watch.| TrumpSpace Archives - NASA Watch
As you have probably heard by now the elements that compose Earth and all of the life on it came from the stars.| NASA Watch
Keith’s note: Those of you in the space community know that NASA Science is facing an immense budget cut. Dozens of missions have been cancelled and many missions that are still returning valuable data are being shut off – in many cases to save a few million dollars – a tiny fraction of what it took to mount the missions in the first place. This data will be lost. In […]| NASA Watch
Keith’s note: I was on Deutsche Welle TV today talking about Astrobiology Mars, Europa Clipper, JWST, international cooperation, space stations, and the year ahead in space. [Audio]. What is always frustrating to me (and by now I unfortunately understand why) is how rarely NASA sends anyone to talk on TV – especially non-American TV – about space exploration in general – and talk about everything – human and robotic, Earth […] The post Talking Heads Talking Space On TV appeared fi...| News Archives - NASA Watch
“Dear ASGSR (American Society for Gravitational and Space Research) Members and Friends, As you may have heard, the President’s Budget Request (PBR) was recently released and includes severe cuts to NASA’s Science Mission Directorate. More specifically, NASA’s Biological and Physical Sciences Division (BPS), which funds a lot of our research, faces a draconian 72% reduction in funds from $87.5M to just $25M. This budget includes only $13M for Physical Sciences […] The post Space Bio...| Activism Archives - NASA Watch
Last night NASA SMD AA Nicky Fox was presented with the Collier Award for NASA's Parker Solar Probe| NASA Watch
Keith’s note: Thomas Zurbuchen was the longest serving Associate Administrator of the NASA Space Science Directorate. In this interview with Kristin Fisher, Zurbuchen warns that the proposed budget would send parts of NASA’s science portfolio “out of business,” undermine American leadership in space science, and risk a mass exodus of talent from NASA’s ranks. Link. Video below. The post Trump’s Budget Would Gut NASA Science — Zurbuchen Breaks His Silence appeared first on NASA W...| Space & Planetary Science Archives - NASA Watch
Autonomous surface sampling for the Europa Lander mission concept| NASA Watch
Keith’s note: NASA’s Planetary Science Analysis/Assessment Groups have issued a document dated 6 May 2025, titled “AGness”. According to the authors (which has been annotated to enhance clarity, original document below), addressing members of the planetary science community: “The linked document below, The Keys of AGness, is a product of the collective Planetary Analysis and Assessment Groups (AGs), presented by their Chairs and vetted through their respective Steering/Executive Com...| Space Life Science Archives - NASA Watch
Keith's note: NASA has led space science and "Made America Great In Space" for more than half a century.| NASA Watch
this just came out of my head as a stream of inter-related events.| NASA Watch
With all the things being cut at NASA, you'd think that the NASA Astrobiology team would at least try and stand up and show their relevance| NASA Watch
Two big Astrobiology/Space Science stories came out today based on NASA mission| NASA Watch
The Curiosity rover has been driving around Mars since 2012.| NASA Watch
I was just on Bloomberg Radio/YouTube talking about the recent (possible) biosignature news of exoplanet K2-18 b and Astrobiology| NASA Watch
"Recent JWST transmission spectroscopy of the candidate hycean world K2-18 b| NASA Watch
Keith’s note: (This stream of consciousness bubbled out of my head on a Sunday night) One of the potential victims of the upcoming NASA budget cuts is the Mars Sample Return. Its had its problems with cost and schedule and complexity. But what if you did not need to return the samples from Mars? The whole idea behind NASA’s Mars Sample Return mission is to gather samples and return them […]| NASA Watch
We're all concerned about things going offline, cancelled etc.| NASA Watch
Keith’s note: as we resume lunar exploration and then head out to Mars and beyond in search of life, we will need a different mix of skills in the humans that we send out on these long terms expeditions to distant, alien places. Dale Andersen is a prototype of those future explorers. This is what he has been up to – And here’s news about the award: Astrobiologist Dale Andersen […] The post Astrobiologist Gets Prestigious Explorers Club Award appeared first on NASA Watch.| Astronauts Archives - NASA Watch
There's something appealing (for a reader like me) about a book that brings together science fiction and science fact. I had assumed that th...| popsciencebooks.blogspot.com
Last year was so much of a whirlwind (seven conferences and workshops, work on several research articles and white papers; preparing a science outreach comic book storyboard, a new anthology, an audio drama…) that I barely ever got to pause for a moment and report on it, and updating my website is long overdue. For now, here’s a taste of what’s coming in 2025.| Julie Nováková
Revisiting the biology underpinning Jeff Vandermeer’s groundbreaking eco-horror series| The Science of Fiction
Astrobiology studies life in the universe, exploring the search for extraterrestrial life, its potential habitats, and how life could arise elsewhere.| rootsaid.com
Good news, everyone! Life Beyond Us is officially getting published on April 22 (Earth Day). 582 pages. 27 stories. 27 essays. Honestly, I didn’t expect it to be so enormous when I first conceived the project; it just grew under our hands – and it grew into beauty. Life Beyond Us can already be pre-ordered...| Julie Nováková
I’m happy to announce that Life Beyond Us, the anthology of astrobiology-themed SF stories accompanied by science essays we’re preparing at the European Astrobiology Institute and Laksa Media, has not only funded, but also reached the first two stretch goals already! There are still almost two days to go to potentially reach the third –...| Julie Nováková
Go here if you have not read part 1 yet. If you want to listen to Me and C.M. Kosemen talk about our experience at the con, you can also ch...| www.manospondylus.com
Well guys, I have done it. I have managed to attend Tetzoocon for the first time! As you know, I am not from the UK, so this was part of a w...| www.manospondylus.com
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Even though it has been going on for almost two months, I only now realized that I have not yet written a formal introduction for my newest...| www.manospondylus.com
It may look like a meteor shower on steroids—but it doesn't act like one.| The Science of Fiction
