In the context of the search for life on other bodies of the solar system, much time has been invested in research and discourse about what constitutes a good biosignature. Ideally, we would want something that is unique to life (has no abiotic origin), is easily detectable and is not prone to false positives (from eg. forward contamination). It seems to be consensus now that no single...
A major indicator for the presence of microbial life is motility, or the ability to move independently using metabolic energy. Motility can be observed and quantified by analyzing the trajectories of individual cells in microscopic videos and by comparing them with the movement of abiotic particles due to Brownian motion or drifts.
Using microscopy for detecting possible extraterrestrial...
Since the discovery of the first exoplanet, several thousand have been found, including some Earth-like planets. A new generation of space telescopes (e.g., James Webb Space Telescope and Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite) are now taking the search for potential extra-terrestrial life one step further. With these new missions, direct imaging of exoplanets and spectral resolution of...
Context. The possible detection of phosphine (PH3) in the clouds of Venus has raised the question as to which processes could produce such large abundances of PH3. Previous studies suggested that abiotic processes including photochemical production cannot explain the claimed PH3 concentrations. However, the photochemistry of phosphorus-bearing species in the atmosphere of Venus is not well...
Ocean worlds, such as Jupiter’s icy moon Europa, are key targets in the search for extraterrestrial life. One powerful approach involves searching for biochemical signatures at the molecular level - both specific biosignature molecules and their distribution patterns. These include amino acids and fatty acids, the latter being considered as universal biomarkers of extraterrestrial life [1],...
