Keith’s 18 April later update: NASA PAO finally started to post updates 24-36 hours after the rest of the world was reading about these discoveries everywhere except at NASA. Keith’s 17 April note: Two big Astrobiology/Space Science stories came out today based on NASA missions: JWST observations reveal possible exoplanet biosignatures (all over the news globally). Curiosity rover makes the cover of Science Magazine for carbonate discoveries on Mars. No mention of either is made at NASA.gov, astrobiology.nasa.gov, @NASA, @NASAAstroBio, or @NASASpaceSci. Everyone is worried about possible science cuts at NASA yet Public Affairs is utterly incapable of putting its own good news out for policy makers to see and consider. Baffling. Keith’s 18 April update: someone added a link about the Mars story to the NASA.gov page – but NASA Science Mission Directorate has not said anything about JWST biosignatures or Mars carbonates.

Keith’s note: Wow. The Curiosity rover has been driving around Mars since 2012. Yet it still does quality field geology work. Indeed, Science Magazine saw fit to put it on its cover – a distinction where major scientific discoveries often appear. See: NASA’s Curiosity Rover May Have Solved Mars’ Missing Carbonate Mystery.

Keith’s note: I was just on Bloomberg Radio/YouTube talking about the recent (possible) biosignature news of exoplanet K2-18 b and Astrobiology, while back on Earth, NASA’s budget cuts loom and how soon-to-be NASA-administrator Jared Isaacman is going to have to figure this all out. [Audio]

Keith’s note: Some interesting news from Cambridge University. Astronomers using the James Webb Space Telescope have detected “a tentative hint of dimethyl sulfide (DMS)“. A biosignature, simply defined, is a substance that is usually produced by life. It can often also have non-life sources. But usually when it is detected in certain circumstances it is a blinking light for something interesting. Follow-up research will be required – by multiple teams. As Carl Sagan is often quoted as saying “Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence”. NASA helped fund this research – research that is at the core of Astrobiology. Let’s see if they talk about it. Or not. To be clear: no one has discovered extraterrestrial life. At best they have noticed the hint – of a hint – of something that is worth looking into.

• According to “New Constraints On DMS and DMDS In The Atmosphere Of K2-18 b From JWST MIRI“: “Recent JWST transmission spectroscopy of the candidate hycean world K2-18 b in the near-infrared led to the first detections of carbon-bearing molecules CH₄ and CO₂ in its atmosphere, with a composition consistent with predictions for hycean conditions. The observations also provided a tentative hint of dimethyl sulfide (DMS), a possible biosignature gas, but the inference was of low statistical significance. … The results also highlight the need for additional experimental and theoretical work to determine accurate cross sections of important biosignature gases and identify potential abiotic sources. We discuss the implications of the present findings for the possibility of biological activity on K2-18 b.“
• According to “Strongest Hints Yet Of Biological Activity Outside The Solar System” from Cambridge University: “Using data from the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), the astronomers, led by the University of Cambridge, have detected the chemical fingerprints of dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and/or dimethyl disulfide (DMDS), in the atmosphere of the exoplanet K2-18b, which orbits its star in the habitable zone. On Earth, DMS and DMDS are only produced by life, primarily microbial life such as marine phytoplankton. While an unknown chemical process may be the source of these molecules in K2-18b’s atmosphere, the results are the strongest evidence yet that life may exist on a planet outside our solar system.”

Keith’s note: (This stream of consciousness bubbled out of my head on a Sunday night) One of the potential victims of the upcoming NASA budget cuts is the Mars Sample Return. Its had its problems with cost and schedule and complexity. But what if you did not need to return the samples from Mars?

Keith’s note: according to this notice: “Don DeVincenzi passed away peacefully on February 14, 2025 surrounded by his family.” Where do I start? Don was a fixture at NASA Ames for decades in the exobiology / astrobiology community. And I mean decades – back to the very foundations of NASA’s search for life in the universe. I can recall in 1977 that I cold-called him – as a 22 year old community college student – to ask for some advice on pursuing a career in space science. He talked to me for 15-20 minutes. I was really energized by that – this important guy took that time to talk with me. When I arrived at NASA a decade later I would find myself in a meeting with him or reading something he wrote or studying research he had done. He was ubiquitous. Don rubbed elbows with the Carl Sagan crowd when they were figuring out the basics. Indeed, he was responsible for enabling what many of these early researchers accomplished – and what NASA’s current Astrobiology program was built upon. Ad Astra Don.

Keith’s note: According to Asteroid Bennu Sample Reveals A Mix Of Life’s Ingredients from NASA: “Studies of rock and dust from asteroid Bennu delivered to Earth by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx (Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification and Security–Regolith Explorer) spacecraft have revealed molecules that, on our planet, are key to life, as well as a history of saltwater that could have served as the “broth” for these compounds to interact and combine. The findings do not show evidence for life itself, but they do suggest the conditions necessary for the emergence of life were widespread across the early solar system, increasing the odds life could have formed on other planets and moons.”

• Discoveries from Asteroid Bennu: Media Briefing Graphics, NASA
• Traces Of Ancient Brine Discovered On Asteroid Bennu Contain Minerals Crucial To Life , Smithsonian
• Dust From asteroid Bennu: Building Blocks Of Life And Possible Habitats Were Widespread In Our Solar System, Goethe University Frankfurt
• Exploring The Mysteries Of Asteroid Bennu, Berkeley Lab
• Pristine Asteroid Samples Reveal Secrets Of The Ancient Solar System, Curtin University
• Life’s Building Blocks Discovered In Samples From Asteroid Bennu, Hokkaido University
• More posts about Asteroid Bennu, Astrobiology.com

Keith’s note: Astrobiologist Dale Andersen is back in Antarctica – and Lake Untersee – for another field season of Astrobiology research. Dale’s work is coordinated through the SETI Institute. We’ll be posting his updates here as has been the case since the 1990s. You can find an archive of the reports here. The latest reports:

• Permafrost And Ground-ice Conditions in the Untersee Oasis, Queen Maud Land, East Antarctica (Paper)
• 14 December 2024: Departing Novo Station
• 11 December 2024: Back at Novo Station
• 20 November 2024: Live From Antarctica (webcast)
• 14 November 2024: The Plumes of Enceladus
• 5 November 2024: Evening In Antarctica (video and large panorama)
• 3 November 2024: Preparing For Science Diving (with video)
• 1 November 2024: Drilling Dive Holes Through The Ice
• 29 October 2024: Base Camp Structures
• 25 October 2024: Setting Up Base Camp (with pics and video)
• 23 October 2024: Preparing For The Traverse
• 20 October 2024: Arrival at Novolazarevskaya Station, Antarctica
• 2024 Preview: Dale Andersen’s Field Report: Preview: 2024 Lake Untersee Field Season
• That Time Star Trek Tents Were Actually Used In Antarctica

Keith’s note: Payload separation and telemetry AOS for the Europa Clipper Astrobiology expedition confirmed. Europa Clipper has begun its travels across the inner solar system for gravity assists and then outward to the Jovian system and the icy covered ocean world of Europa to search for habitable conditions that might support life. If you are a SciFi fan you may recognize this movie poster parody. Life Looks For Life. Vita quaerit vitae. Update: I was just on Deutsche Welle talking about the Europa Clipper mission – as well as ESA’s Juice mission – and how they will work in tandem exploring the icy worlds that orbit Jupiter – not unlike the polar expeditions of Earth a century ago. Fun fact: these two spacecraft are nearly the same size as the first ships that humans used to explore the arctic and antarctic. [Audio].

“Using seismic activity to probe the interior of Mars, geophysicists have found evidence for a large underground reservoir of liquid water — enough to fill oceans on the planet’s surface. The data from NASA’s Insight lander allowed the scientists to estimate that the amount of groundwater could cover the entire planet to a depth of between 1 and 2 kilometers, or about a mile. While that’s good news for those tracking the fate of water on the planet after its oceans disappeared more than 3 billion years ago, the reservoir won’t be of much use to anyone trying to tap into it to supply a future Mars colony. It’s located in tiny cracks and pores in rock in the middle of the Martian crust, between 11.5 and 20 kilometers (7 to 13 miles) below the surface. Even on Earth, drilling a hole a kilometer deep is a challenge. The finding does pinpoint another promising place to look for life on Mars, however, if the reservoir can be accessed. For the moment, it helps answer questions about the geological history of the planet.” More: There Are Oceans Of Water On Mars. They’re Just Too Deep To Tap. Update: