In order to examine the potential survivability of life in the Martian deep subsurface, we have investigated the effects of temperature (45°C, 55°C and 65°C) and pressure (1, 400, 800 and 1200 atm) on the growth, carbon isotopic data and morphology of chemolithoautotrophic anaerobic methanogenic archaea, Methanothermobacter wolfeii. The growth and survivability of this methanogen were determined by measuring the methane concentration in headspace gas samples after the cells were returned to their conventional growth conditions. Interestingly, this methanogen survived at all the temperatures and pressures tested. M. wolfeii demonstrated the highest methane concentration following exposure to pressure of 800 atm and a temperature of 65°C. We found that the stable carbon isotopic fractionation of methane, δ13C(CH4), was slightly more enriched in 12C at 1 atm and 55°C than the carbon isotopic data obtained in other temperature and pressure conditions. A comparison of the images of the cells before and after the exposure to different temperatures and pressures did not show any obvious alteration in the morphology of M. wolfeii. The research reported here suggests that at least one methanogen, M. wolfeii, may be able to survive under hypothetical Martian subsurface conditions with respect to temperature and pressure.

Astrobioethics is an emerging discipline that studies, evaluates and analyses the moral, legal and social issues of the search for life in the Universe. As a new field of study, it requires an epistemological foundation to be able to be recognized as an academic discipline. In order to achieve this, it is important to understand the disciplinary nature of astrobiology as a transdisciplinary form of research, above the multi and interdisciplinary levels, although this does not necessarily mean discarding them. In addition, the questions and topics of each subdivision of astrobioethics studies are specified and explained in this paper.

The eclectic range of artefacts and ‘messages’ we dispatch into the vast expanse of space may become one of the most enduring remnants of our present civilization, but how does his protracted legacy adequately document the plurality of societal values and common, cultural heritage on our heterogeneous world? For decades now, this rendition of the egalitarian principle has been explored by the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence community in order to draft theoretical responses to ‘who speaks for Earth?’ for hypothetical extra-terrestrial communication strategies. However, besides the moral, ethical and democratic advancements made by this particular enterprise, there remains little practical exemplars of implementing this garnered knowledge into other experimental elements that could function as mutual emissaries of Earth; physical artefacts that could provide accessible details about our present world for future archaeological observations by our space-faring progeny, potential visiting extrasolar denizens or even for posterity. While some initiatives have been founded to investigate this enduring dilemma of humanity over the last half-century, there are very few comparative studies in regards to how these objects, time capsules and transmission events collectively disseminate content about the aggregate of our species and the Earth system it inhabits. This catalogue, assembled for extended study as part of the Beyond the Earth foundation, is intended as an initial, dialogic step towards evaluating such a ‘profile of humanity’. This investigation will endeavour to collate all cultural resources that can presently be garnered from spacecraft (non-mission orientated, cultural material that conveys an impression of Earth) and non-terrestrial transmissions (electromagnetic signals that are intentionally aimed off-world to embody humanities’ evolving, philosophical identity) in the expanse beyond our planetary borders in order to cross-analyse how we presently illustrate the diversity of our planet before, subsequently, deducing how we could appropriately depict our collective human civilization [and biosphere] within deep space and cosmic time.

Mars lacks a substantial magnetic field; as a result, the solar wind ablates the Martian atmosphere, and cosmic rays from solar flares make the surface uninhabitable. Therefore, any terraforming attempt will require an artificial Martian magnetic shield. The fundamental challenge of building an artificial magnetosphere is to condense planetary-scale currents and magnetic fields down to the smallest mass possible. Superconducting electromagnets offer a way to do this. However, the underlying physics of superconductors and electromagnets limits this concentration. Based upon these fundamental limitations, we show that the amount of superconducting material is proportional to $B_{\rm c}^{-2}a^{-3}$, where Bc is the critical magnetic field for the superconductor and a is the loop radius of a solenoid. Since Bc is set by fundamental physics, the only truly adjustable parameter for the design is the loop radius; a larger loop radius minimizes the amount of superconducting material required. This non-intuitive result means that the ‘intuitive’ strategy of building a compact electromagnet and placing it between Mars and the Sun at the first Lagrange point is unfeasible. Considering reasonable limits on Bc, the smallest possible loop radius is ~10 km, and the magnetic shield would have a mass of ~ 1019 g. Most high-temperature superconductors are constructed of rare elements; given solar system abundances, building a superconductor with ~ 1019 g would require mining a solar system body with several times 1025 g; this is approximately 10% of Mars. We find that the most feasible design is to encircle Mars with a superconducting wire with a loop radius of ~3400 km. The resulting wire diameter can be as small as ~5 cm. With this design, the magnetic shield would have a mass of ~ 1012 g and would require mining ~ 1018 g, or only 0.1% of Olympus Mons.

The modification of minerals with metals can promote changes in their surface and, consequently, in their physicochemical properties. Minerals could have played an important role in the origin of life as they can protect molecules against degradation by radiation and hydrolysis, pre-concentrate molecules from dilute solutions and catalyse the formation of polymers. Thus, the current work studied the modification of montmorillonite with Cu2+ and Fe3+ ions. These modified montmorillonites were used to study the interaction with adenine dissolved in distilled water and artificial seawater 4.0 Gy (Gy = billion years ago). The most important result of this work is that the adsorption of adenine onto modified montmorillonites is a complex interaction among adenine, salts in seawater and Cu2+/Fe3+-montmorillonite (Cu2+/Fe3+-Mont) . The adsorption of Cu2+ and Fe3+ onto montmorillonite decreased its surface area and pore volume. The Sips isotherm model showed the best fit of the data and n values indicate that the adenine adsorption process was homogeneous. The highest adenine adsorption was obtained in artificial seawater 4.0 Gy onto Fe3+-Mont at 60°C and the lowest in distilled water or artificial seawater 4.0 Gy onto montmorillonite [montmorillonite washed with distilled water (Mont-STD)] at 60°C. Adenine adsorption onto Mont-STD/montmorillonite modified with 500 ml of 0.1 mol l−1 of CuCl2 and Fe3+-Mont was an exothermic process and an endothermic process, respectively. For all adsorptions ΔG was negative. The adsorption of adenine onto Fe3+-Mont was ruled out by entropy and the other samples by enthalpy and entropy, being a major contribution for Gibbs free energy from enthalpy. The Fourier transform-infrared data indicate that the interaction of adenine with minerals may occur through the NH2 functional group.

Lipids are among the organic substances that can work as biosignatures, indicating life in an environment. We present an experimental investigation concerning analysis of lipids from a microbial source deposited on the Mars Global Simulant (MGS-1) regolith by geomatrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometry (GALDI-MS). Our results indicate that lipids from intact microbial cells of a black yeast strain can be detected in these mimetic samples of Martian soil. These lipid molecules are predominantly associated with the occurrence of adducts in the GALDI-MS spectra. The results can be helpful in the planning of future planetary missions.

We propose that retinal-based phototrophy arose early in the evolution of life on Earth, profoundly impacting the development of photosynthesis and creating implications for the search for life beyond our planet. While the early evolutionary history of phototrophy is largely in the realm of the unknown, the onset of oxygenic photosynthesis in primitive cyanobacteria significantly altered the Earth's atmosphere by contributing to the rise of oxygen ~2.3 billion years ago. However, photosynthetic chlorophyll and bacterio chlorophyll pigments lack appreciable absorption at wavelengths about 500–600 nm, an energy-rich region of the solar spectrum. By contrast, simpler retinal-based light-harvesting systems such as the haloarchaeal purple membrane protein bacteriorhodopsin show a strong well-defined peak of absorbance centred at 568 nm, which is complementary to that of chlorophyll pigments. We propose a scenario where simple retinal-based light-harvesting systems like that of the purple chromoprotein bacteriorhodopsin, originally discovered in halophilic Archaea, may have dominated prior to the development of photosynthesis. We explore this hypothesis, termed the ‘Purple Earth,’ and discuss how retinal photopigments may serve as remote biosignatures for exoplanet research.