For our next episode of "Ask an Author", we asked our own PCE3 member Dr. Laura Rodriguez about her new paper just out in JGR - Planets. Great work Laura!

As AbSciCon 2026 abstract deadline approaches, conveners Davila, Shkoylar, and Hoehler invite you to submission to their great session: "The Abiotic Background: Challenges and Opportunities for Life Detection" agu.confex.com/agu/abscicon... Deadline is January 14th, 2026!

Extended Deadline to January 2nd, 2026! Submit your nominations for ISSOL Awards at the links below. 🏆

Job opportunity alert: The Life in the Universe Center at the University of Geneva is looking to fill a prebiotic chemistry professor position at the full, associate, or assistant level. Deadline for application is March 15, 2026. Details here: jobs.unige.ch/www/wd_porta...

Fresh off the press! a new study by Rodriguez et al. introducing a novel framework to characterize the organic state of a planetary body and facilitate missions to test origin of life hypotheses beyond inventorying biologically relevant compounds doi.org/10.1029/2024...

2026 ISSOL Awards: The deadline to nominate someone for the Oparin medal, ISSOL Fellow, or the Stanley Miller Award is approaching! Submit your nominations by December 19th. Full instructions here: issol.org/medals-and-h...

AGU attendees: the NASA astrobiology program will be hosting a NASA-DARES community update on Thursday, Dec. 18th, from 6 to 8 PM CST at the Hyatt Regency New Orleans. A recording of the meeting will be posted on the NASA-DARES webpage after AGU.

Extraterrestrial Photosynthesis Workshop A NASA Exoplanets System Science (NExSS) workshop taking place May 15-17, 2026, in Green Lake, Wisconsin, just before AbSciCon 2026. Learn more here: nexss.info/extraterrest...

NASA's Planetary Research Year in Review Webinar will take place on Dec. 10th at 1 PM Eastern. You can submit any questions at the following link: nasa.cnf.io/sessions/zg8... Join link: nasaevents.webex.com/wbxmjs/joins...

Here are a few reminders for approaching conference abstract deadlines! Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (March 16-20, 2026) - Deadline of Jan. 6th, 2026 #LPSC2026 Astrobiology Science Conference (May 17-20, 2026) - Deadline of Jan. 14th, 2026 #AbSciCon26

Applications due for the Extraterrestrial Materials Academy are due Jan. 16, 2026. The academy is scheduled for June 8th to Aug. 15th, 2026, at LPI in Houston, and is designed for undergraduates not studying at R1 institutions. www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/etm...

Registration is open for the AAS Exoplanet Atmospheres 2026 meeting, taking place in Denver from March 16-20, 2026. Abstracts are due Dec. 19th, 2025. aas.org/meetings/exo...

Check out this recent paper published in Nature Communications titled "Abiotic N2 reduction in submarine hydrothermal systems could quickly fertilize prebiotic oceans" www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The 5th ISSOL online seminar will be held tomorrow, November 18th, at 13.00 UTC. If you are a member, follow the link you received in your email to attend, or consider subscribing! Annual membership fees start at $20 for students. issol.org/membership/

Applications for the Astrobiology Introductory Course RED 2026 (Rencontres Exobiologiques pour Doctorants) are now open until December 14th! Apply now to attend the school in Le Teich (France), March 15-21, 2026. red-astrobiology.fr?mc_cid=eb8bb...

Travel funding opportunity alert! 💵🤑 The deadline for the Baruch Blumberg Grants in Astrobiology is November 17th, 2025. www.amphilsoc.org/grants/blumb...

In a recent episode of SETI Live, SETI Institute Deputy Director Dr. Simon Steel spoke with astronomer Dr. Melissa McClure of Leiden University about a groundbreaking discovery: the earliest stages of planet formation caught in action. 🧪 🔭 👩‍🔬 Learn more: www.seti.org/news/birth-o...

Looking for a PostDoc in Origins? The Wisconsin Center for Origins Research might be the right place for you! Apply here: wicor.wisc.edu/postdoc/

Interesting opinion article! Important discussion to be had as well. Who Decides What Is Prebiotically Plausible? The Risks of Premature Constraints in Origin-of-Life Research www.mdpi.com/3555090 #mdpilife via @Life_MDPI

A Reassessment Of The "hard-steps" Model For The Evolution Of Intelligent Life astrobiology.com/2025/10/a-re... #astrobiology

The shutdown means we can’t have an episode of Ask an Astrobiologist this month, but we can still celebrate the 24 year history of the show thus far! cosmobiota.substack.com/p/stay-curio...

Efficient direct phosphorylation of ribonucleosides by slightly soluble nickel phosphate mineral arupite, using wet/dry cycles - now published in New Journal of Chemistry pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

Maybe life on Mars could be preserved in a frozen state in the martian permafrost. We should send a life detection mission to find out. www.space.com/astronomy/ma...

Curious about the latest in prebiotic chemistry? In this PCE3 Ask An Author feature, Prof. Peter Strazewski shares insights from his recent publication. Check it out here:

Hello Researchers and Science Enthusiasts, We are proud to announce that the Foundation for Applied Molecular Evolution (FfAME) now has a new social media presence!

New Paper Alert! 🚨 "A scope of prebiotic neat reaction conditions and the mechanism of urea-assisted phosphorylations of alcohols" from Shvetsova et al. (2025) published in Nature Communications Check it out here: doi.org/10.1038/s414...

New in #PhilTransB - a theme issue exploring one of science’s deepest questions: how life can emerge from non-living matter. Edited by @ricardsole.bsky.social and colleagues. Read: buff.ly/7iz4tGu

New study from Ghosh, B., McCall, P.M., Le Vay, K.K. et al., (2025): "RNA-peptide interactions tune the ribozyme activity within coacervate microdroplet dispersions" doi.org/10.1038/s414...

🪐 On this Day of Action to Save #NASA Science, we’re highlighting how space and Earth sciences go hand-in-hand. Scripps Oceanography researchers partner with NASA to study how our planet is changing from sea to space. Here’s an out-of-this-world roundup of some recent projects. 🧵⬇️

Applications for the Gordon Research Conference in Geobiology, to be held on Jan 11-16, 2026, in Ventura, California, are now open! This year's theme is "Geobiology and Planetary Change: Understanding Earth and Life’s Progression". More info below: www.grc.org/geobiology-c...

LPI's Science Engagement Team is hosting a webinar titled "Careers in Planetary Science and Astrobiology", featuring Dr. Justin Filiberto, Dr. Rhiannon Mayne, and Dr. Edgard Rivera-Valentín. Date/Time: Oct 3, 2025 02:00 PM CT Registration: www.zoomgov.com/webinar/regi...

Cassini Proves The Existence Of Complex Chemistry Within Enceladus' Ocean astrobiology.com/2025/10/cass... #astrobiology #biosignature

The Tracing Rocky Exoplanet Compositions (TREC) hybrid workshop called Under the Atmospheric Hood: How Geochemical Cycles Affect Exoplanet Biosignatures will take place on Jan. 12-14 in Tempe, AZ. Apply now! www.trec-nexss.org/pages/worksh...

Just a reminder that applications for NASA DARES Task Force 2 are due on Monday, Sept. 29th!

Attention early-career astrobiologists: come check out the first of two panels titled "Navigating Uncertainty in Astrobiology" where scientists in the field will discuss their perspectives and how they got started. Tomorrow (Sep. 24th) at 2:00 PM EST

Michael Godier interviews Steve Benner on Event Horizon, discussing life on Mars, the Viking mission, and more, including the recent discoveries of "leopard spots" and "poppy seeds" on Mars rocks. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uNwy...

PSA: The proposal submission deadline for AbSciCon 2026 has been extended to OCTOBER 8, 2025!

The NASA Astrobiology Program is seeking individuals to serve on NASA DARES (NASA Decadal Astrobiology Research and Exploration Strategy) Task Force 2. Check out details and apply at this link: go.nasa.gov/ABStrategyRFI

PSI in the News: A Major Advance in the Search for Life on Mars “'If this is the most compelling potential biosignature on Mars, and it seems to be, logic dictates that NASA should go back with more missions, or bring that sample home for analysis,' [PSI's Kirby] Runyon said. Unfortunately...

Don't forget to tune in for the next episode of LIFE RCN Seminar Series! Tomorrow, September 11, 11am EDT

Want to hear about recent findings related returned samples from OSIRIS-REx and Hyabusa2? Consider joining the Workshop on Bennu and Ryugu Oct 7–9, 2025, at the Lunar and Planetary Institute in Houston, Texas (also virtual). www.hou.usra.edu/meetings/ben...

Should we rethink the term, "prebiotic chemistry"? Depending on who you ask it can have different meanings. A recent paper recommends using "protobiotic processes" instead. An alternative could be "abiotic chemistry." What do you think? agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10....

If you are an early career researcher consider applying for NASA's Astrobiology Early Career Award! Due Oct 15. astrobiology.nasa.gov/education/ecc/

Update: The Astrobiology Program will be hosting a NASA Astrobiology Community Update on Aug. 20th from 2 to 5PM ET. You can tune in here: www.youtube.com/live/i4xyu-p... You can also ask questions ahead of time and during the virtual update here: nasa.cnf.io/sessions/h89...

NASA's Exoplanet Exploration Program Analysis Group (ExoPAG) will be hosting their 32nd meeting on Aug. 19th, from 10AM to 5:30PM EDT. Registration is required but attendance is free. More information in the link below: exoplanets.nasa.gov/exep/exopag/...

There will be a virtual NASA Astrobiology update on Aug. 20th at 2PM ET to discuss the current state of the Astrobiology Program and ROSES-25 opportunities. More information about joining the meeting and participating in the Q&A to come.

Don't miss the next Ask an Astrobiologist: Artificial Intelligence, Exoplanets, & the Future of Astrobiology with Dr. Megan Ansdell. Happening August 14th at 12PM PDT! astrobiology.nasa.gov/ask-an-astro...

Check out this recent scientific report from Nature: Reproducible Ala-Gly oligomerization catalyzed by the natural Borate colemanite in prebiotic conditions www.nature.com/articles/s41...

How does the PCE3 community feel about this decision? Science retracts arsenic life paper 15 years after publication click.rsc.org/rsps/m/pCvis... (this coverage from Chemistry World, find more online)

Next Tuesday, August 12th: the monthly artificial intelligence and machine learning virtual seminar hosted by the Exobiology Branch at the NASA Ames Research Center will feature Dr. Walt Alvarado, from the Space Biosciences Research Branch. tinyurl.com/2m4wpbt2