Origin & Evolution of Life
Searching For LUCA - The Last Universal Common Ancestor 
Around 4 billion years ago there lived a microbe called LUCA: the Last Universal Common Ancestor. There is evidence that it could have lived a somewhat 'alien' lifestyle, hidden away deep underground in iron-sulfur rich hydrothermal vents.
Plant Biology
Monitoring Indoor Crop Health On Earth And Other Worlds
As the world urbanizes and technologies such as LED grow lights bring down costs, indoor farming is becoming an increasingly important part of the food supply. Eventually, indoor farming techniques could help humans maintain a healthy diet in space.
Origin & Evolution of Life
Placing Chaetognaths In Earth's Tree Of Life
Chaetognaths, or arrow worms, have a distinct jaw structure composed of dense protein matrix and a fibrous substance called chitin. These organisms display an ambiguous set of developmental and morphological features, making them difficult to categorize on the Tree of Life.
Extrasolar Planets
The CARMENES Search For Exoplanets Around M Dwarfs
We use spectra from CARMENES, the Calar Alto high-Resolution search for M dwarfs with Exo-earths with Near-infrared and optical Echelle Spectrographs, to search for periods in chromospheric indices in 16 M0 to M2 dwarfs.
Planetary Protection
Planetary Protection Classification of Sample-Return Missions from the Martian Moons
This report reviews recent theoretical, experimental, and modeling research on the environments and physical conditions encountered by Mars ejecta during certain processes. It recommends whether missions returning samples from Phobos and/or Deimos should be classified as "restricted" or "unrestricted" Earth return in the framework of the planetary protection policy maintained by COSPAR. This report also considers the specific ways the classification of sample return from Deimos is a different case than sample return from Phobos.
Astrochemistry
Possibility Of Condensation Of Glycine Near The Surface Of Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko
The cometary materials are thought to be the reservoir of primitive materials in the solar system. The recent detection of glycine and CH3NH2 by the ROSINA mass spectrometer in the coma of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko suggests that amino acids and their precursors have been formed in such an early evolutionary phase of the Solar System.
Habitable Zones & Global Climate
Detecting Ocean Glint on Exoplanets Using Multiphase Mapping
Rotational mapping and glint are two proposed methods to directly detect liquid water on the surface of habitable exoplanets. However, false positives for both methods may prevent the unambiguous detection of exoplanet oceans.
SETI
Self-supervised Anomaly Detection for Narrowband SETI
The Search for Extra-terrestrial Intelligence (SETI) aims to find technological signals of extra-solar origin. Radio frequency SETI is characterized by large unlabeled datasets and complex interference environment.
Titan
Evidence of Changing Seasons And Rain On Titan's North Pole
An image from the international Cassini spacecraft provides evidence of rainfall on the north pole of Titan, the largest of Saturn's moons. The rainfall would be the first indication of the start of a summer season in the moon's northern hemisphere.
Astrochemistry
ALMA Observations of the Spatial Distribution of three C2H4O2 Isomers towards Sgr B2(N)
The C2H4O2 isomers have been previously investigated primarily via disparate sets of observations involving single dish and array measurements.
Habitable Zones & Global Climate
The Implications of Clustered Star formation For (proto)planetary Systems and Habitability
Star formation is spatially clustered across a range of environments, from dense stellar clusters to unbound associations. As a result, radiative or dynamical interactions with neighbouring stars disrupt (proto)planetary systems and limit their radii, leaving a lasting impact on their potential habitability.
More top stories from January.
Recent Releases
Recent Status Reports
Calendar
- 24 Jan: WSBR Luncheon: Kevin O'Connell, Director of the Office of Space Commerce, U.S. Department of Commerce
- 24 Jan: NASA GRC Shutdown Event
- 29 Jan: Mars Extant Life: What’s Next?
- 29 Jan: Astronomy and Astrophysics Advisory Committee Meeting
- 4 Feb: 2019 SmallSat Symposium
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