biophysics – My WordPress Site

Representative organic matter in Chang'e-6 (A–B) and Chang'e-5 (C–D) lunar soils. Secondary electron images acquired by scanning electron microscopy overlaid with carbon elemental maps from energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Credit Image by HAO Jialong's Group

Artemis & Lunar Exploration, Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Icy Worlds, Moon

Chang’e Mission Samples Reveal How Exogenous Organic Matter Evolves On The Moon

by Keith CowingApril 13, 2026April 13, 2026

Elements essential to life, such as carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, phosphorus, and sulfur, were “delivered” to the Earth and Moon during the early stages of the Solar System via asteroids and comets impacting their surfaces.

A) Subcluster of viral genomes within the family Microviridae. Network constructed using vConTACT3 and visualized in Cytoscape. Reference nodes are colored by genus (RefSeq and vConTACT3 predictions), while fumarole viruses are colored by sample site. Edges represent genesharing strength. The blue node (phiX174) forms a weakly resolved clade with fumarole viruses in the maximum-likelihood phylogeny based on major capsid protein amino acid sequences. B) Pairwise genome comparisons of RefSeq and fumarole Microviridae using local alignment (MMseqs2). The top row and left column indicate predicted genus assignments (vConTACT3) for fumarole and RefSeq viruses. The top-left quadrant shows RefSeq–RefSeq comparisons; the top-right shows fumarole–RefSeq comparisons (RefSeq colored by genus). The second row (genome source) is colored by fumarole sample site. The star denotes comparisons involving the phiX174 RefSeq genome. -- biorxiv.org

Analog Studies, Away Teams & Field Reports, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Caves, Craters, Mountains & Lava Tubes, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Lava / magma ocean / Volcanic Worlds, Microbiology & Virology, Sample Return

Hawaiian Geothermal Fumaroles Contain Diverse and Novel Viruses

by Keith CowingApril 9, 2026April 9, 2026

L-Glutamic-acid — Wikipedia

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy

Behavior Of Biomolecules Under High-pressure Torsion And Its Implications For Astrobiology

by Keith CowingApril 5, 2026April 5, 2026

Artistic representation of late Hadean Earth ≈4 Ga ago, created with the AI software “Sora”. -- Life

Astrochemistry, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life

Chemical Routes to Primitive Membranes: Prebiotic Lipid Formation at the Origin of Life

by Keith CowingApril 2, 2026April 2, 2026

Photograph of the model hot spring pools system showing the assembled pools with temperature probes placed in the cups and heating pads inserted underneath for controlling temperature. Power supply provides electricity for heating pads, and an Arduino Uno is connected via USB-type-C cable to a laptop for PID (Proportional-IntegralDerivative) control. Blue-colored LEDs in the Arduino Uno turn off when the setpoint is reached and back on to maintain the temperature in the rehydration phase of the WD cycles. Water flow control is managed by the mini-peristaltic pumps connected to the water control unit. -- Astrobiology

News Summary Archives

A Modular 3D-Printed Design To Investigate Prebiotic Chemical Systems In Hot Spring Pools

by Keith CowingMarch 30, 2026March 30, 2026

Upper Panels. Maps of N×ρ for CO, CO2, CH4, CH3OH, and H2O. The white arrow shows the projected direction of the Sun. Lower. Maps of molecular rotational temperatures. -- astro-ph.EP

Astrochemistry, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Comets and Asteroids, Icy Worlds, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Interstellar

Coma Physics Of An Interstellar Object: JWST Spatial-Spectral Mapping Of 3I/ATLAS

by Keith CowingMarch 30, 2026March 30, 2026

A) A close-up, exploded view of the spinpod optical system and diagram of operations. To take fluorescence measurements, excitation light first passes through a bidirectional optical probe from the LED light source to illuminate liquid cultures encased in a spinpod. Fluorescence emission then returns through the optical probe to the spectrometer for measurement, through a longpass filter that reduces signal from the excitation wavelength. To take optical density measurements, a red LED mounted toward the optical probe but on the opposite side of the spinpod illuminates the spinpod ("OD illumination hardware"). This light passes through the spinpod and to the spectrometer without filtering. The spinpod is housed in two joined Carrier Extenders with additional Carrier Extenders placed inline as spacers. B) Photograph of the system diagrammed in panel A; optical probe is in front. Tape has been applied to the outside of carrier extenders to shield the optical path from external light. C) and D) Rear and front close-up views, respectively, of the OD illumination hardware. -- biorxiv.org

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Life Support Systems, Microbiology & Virology, Microgravity, Space Stations, Tricorders & Sensors

Real-time, In Situ Fluorescence And Optical Density Measurements Of Liquid Cultures In Simulated Microgravity

by Keith CowingMarch 30, 2026March 30, 2026

Observed Stereoisomeric Ratio (OSR) - defined as the column density ratio between the higher and the lower-energy isomer - for the different stereoisomeric pairs gathered in Table 1 (points), overlaid with the thermodynamic equilibrium prediction (g×e−∆E/Tkin at g = 1, colored area), as a function of the relative energy (∆E= Ehigher- Elower) between isomers. The points corresponding to the detections are colored according to the particular source Tkin (see Tables 1 and 2), following the color code of the vertical bar. For CH3CH2OH, CH3CH2OCHO, CH2CHCH2CN, CH3CH2CH2CN and (CH3)2CHOH, the observational points were “corrected” (indicated with *) accounting for the double degeneracy of one of the isomers in the pair (the higher-energy for the first three, the lower-energy for the last two), multiplying the corresponding ratios shown in Table 1 by 1/g=1/2, 1/2, 1/2, 2 and 2, respectively, to match the displayed thermodynamic prediction which omits this fact. -- astro-ph.GA

Astrochemistry, Astronomy & Telescopes, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy

Interstellar Stereoisomerism

by Keith CowingMarch 29, 2026March 29, 2026

a, We levitate a 500-μm silica sphere in an acoustic trap above a silica target plate. b, Charge is measured by applying a frequency-swept electric field, E(t), and extracting the trajectory of the sphere, y(t), using a high-speed camera. The amplitude and phase of y(t) at resonance depend, respectively, on the magnitude and sign of the particle’s charge, Q. c, Timed interruptions of the acoustic field trigger charge-exchanging collisions between the sphere and the plate, in which the sphere falls, bounces off the plate and is then ‘caught’ again. d, The entire system can be discharged using an X-ray photoionizer. e, Every sphere charges with a systematic sign and magnitude against its partner plate, but the slopes for an ensemble of sphere/plate pairs are spread randomly about zero. -- Institute of Science and Technology Austria

Astrochemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Origin & Evolution of Life

Colliding Dust And The Sparks Of Creation

by Keith CowingMarch 19, 2026

(A) The model of EnINpro is colored by different domains with arrows representing β strands. The model highlights a β-solenoid fold (gray, purple) adjacent to the disulfide capping motif (orange). (B) Cross section through the central domain region. Residues are identified by their one-letter codes. Boxes indicated the location of the characteristic TQT, SLT, and YGS motifs. (C) Cross section of the central domain’s capping structure, where adjacent cysteine residues can form disulfide bonds that likely stabilize the β-solenoid fold. -- Science Advances via PubMed

Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Cryobiology, Extremeophiles and Extreme Environments, Genomics, Proteomics, Bioinformatics, Icy Worlds, Microbiology & Virology

Fungal Species Discovered With The Ability To Freeze Water

by Keith CowingMarch 17, 2026March 17, 2026