astrobiology

A Nature Communications paper published April 21 reports that the first off-Earth TMAH thermochemolysis experiment, performed on a clay-rich sample in Gale crater, expanded Mars's known organic inventory and detected a candidate nitrogen heterocycle for the first time on the surface.

A new Nature study identifies a continental-shelf-like band wrapping the Martian northern hemisphere, suggesting a stable ocean once covered roughly a third of the planet's surface.

Scientists have detected all five canonical nucleobases in pristine samples from asteroid Ryugu, the first confirmation of a complete set of DNA and RNA building blocks in material collected directly from space.

Six months of observations of the third interstellar object ever detected have uncovered water, methane, and hydrogen cyanide in its coma--and a Jupiter flyby on March 16 could yield the closest-ever look at an interstellar visitor.