In this issue of Astrobiology Revealed, we interviewed Alfonso Davila, a Research Scientist in the Exobiology Branch at NASA Ames Research Center. We asked Alfonso about a new web-based tool designed to help the scientific community evaluate evidence of life, called the Life Detection Knowledge Base. Alfonso describes the structure of the database and how the scientific community can use it to plan future life detection missions.

In this Astrobiology Revealed, we spoke with Sarah Gonzalez-Henao, a second-year PhD candidate at Michigan State University, about her recent paper, “An astrobiological perspective on microbial biofilms: their importance for habitability and production of detectable and lasting biosignatures.” Sarah discusses how biofilms protect their microbial inhabitants from harsh conditions, and their potential to provide both organic and inorganic biomarkers for extraterrestrial life.

How a sled-based expedition across the East Antarctic Plateau led to the discovery and cultivation of a new Cyanobacterial species

In this Astrobiology Revealed, we chatted with Afonso Mota about his recent paper, “How Habitable Are M Dwarf Exoplanets? Modeling Surface Conditions and Exploring the Role of Melanins in the Survival of Aspergillus niger Spores Under Exoplanet-Like Radiation.” Afonso is currently a PhD student with the Institute of Astrophysics and Space Sciences at the University of Porto in Portugal. He also engages in science communication as a co-creator of the Portuguese astrobiology young career researcher group, AstroBioLusitanos. Afonso discusses why we need more info about exoplanet atmospheres, the importance of fundamental research, and how the fungus Aspergillus could be the perfect organism to take with us into space.

In the depths of Oman, a hidden world thrives in darkness – fueled not by sunlight, but by hydrogen-rich fluids seeping through ancient rocks.

For this Astrobiology Revealed, we interviewed Caroline Freissinet, CNRS research scientist at Laboratoire Atmosphères et Observations Spatiales (LATMOS) in Guyancourt, France. In her recent paper “Long-chain alkanes preserved in a Martian mudstone,” Caroline and colleagues reported the exciting discovery of linear long-chain carbon molecules from a mudstone sampled by the Curiosity rover at Gale Crater on Mars. Caroline discusses the challenges of working with off-world instruments, potential sources for the carbon compounds, and how international teamwork is paramount in this and future Mars missions.

The U.S. White House budget proposal for fiscal year 2026 would have major consequences for NASA and U.S. funding for space science.

In this Q&A, we asked Shuya Tan about his recent paper “Metal Limiting Habitability in Enceladus? Availability of Trace Metals for Methanogenic Life in Hydrothermal Fluids.” Shuya is currently a Young Research Fellow in the Institute for Extra-cutting-edge Science and Technology Avant-garde Research (X-star) at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC). Shuya explains why scientists think methanogens could thrive in Enceladus’ ocean, and explores whether they’d have enough bioactive metals to do so.

In a new article in Astrobiology, authors Mellon et al. discuss the potential habitability of dry permafrost on Mars based on water activity in similar terrestrial analogue samples and models.

For this Astrobiology Revealed, we asked Lara Maldanis about her paper “Unveiling Challenging Microbial Fossil Biosignatures from Rio Tinto with Micro-to-Nanoscale Chemical and Ultrastructural Imaging.” Lara is currently a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellow at the Earth Sciences department of the VU Amsterdam. Lara discusses how high-resolution 3D imaging methods like the ones they used could be the key to finding definitive traces of life in rocks from challenging environments like Mars.

Asena Kuzucan discusses her paper “The Role of Atmospheric Composition in Defining the Habitable Zone Limits and Supporting E. coli Growth.” Asena is a postdoc in the Department of Astronomy at the Université de Genève in Switzerland, and part of the Centre pour la Vie dans l’univers (CVU). Asena describes the ins and outs of using 3D climate models to study planetary habitable zones, and clarifies the distinction between long-term habitability and short-term biological growth.

A new Nature Astronomy article discusses the chemical composition of samples from Bennu, the asteroid visited by OSIRIS-REx. Bennu samples are rich in nitrogen-containing compounds, including several prebiotic chemicals like amino acids and nucleobases.

This month at SAGANet, we’re discussing a new Nature Communications paper about a deep subsurface microbial community at Kidd Creek Observatory in the Canadian Shield. The taxa present may not be unique to fracking environments and could instead be native to a wide range of deep, isolated groundwater systems.

This month at SAGANet, we’re looking back at the brightest comet to appear in our skies since 1997 and how this cosmic visitor can bring us all a little more insight and joy.

This month at SAGANet, we’re discussing the modern science fiction classic The Three-Body Problem

A new Nature Communications paper discusses the functional chemistry of carbonaceous and organic matter within the asteroid Ryugu. This matter seems to be both more abundant and more diverse than other similar material, indicating that direct asteroidal material can offer more clues about the early Solar System than meteorites alone.

A new paper in Science Advances connects martian meteorites to their potential source craters using cosmic ray exposure (CRE) aging, modeling, and crater chronology methods. All of the linked meteorites were likely derived from the top 26 m of surface lava flows on Mars and there are probably yet more martian meteorites to be discovered on Earth.

Jihua Hao is a professor at the University of Science and Technology of China and an affiliated research investigator at Blue Marble Space Institute of Science. In this interview with Dr. Zerkle, Jihua explains how thermodynamics can help astrobiologists determine which organics should (and shouldn’t!) be forming in the oceans of icy moons, and why instrument artifacts might be a problem for detecting them.

This work from Edmund R. R. Moody et al. published in July in Nature Ecology and Evolution seeks to explain some of LUCA’s (or last universal common ancestor) most disputed attributes and its place among early Earth’s biosphere.

Riccardo Spinelli is a researcher at the Italian Institute for Astrophysics (INAF, Palermo Observatory). In this Astrobiology Revealed, Riccardo explains how starlight evolves over time and why this matters when astronomers look for habitable exoplanets.