The establishment of cosmology as a science provides a parallel to the building-up of the scientific status of astrobiology. The rise of astrobiological studies is explicitly based on a transdisciplinary approach that reminds of the Copernican Revolution, which eroded the basis of a closed Aristotelian worldview and reinforced the notion that the frontiers between disciplines are artificial. Given the intrinsic complexity of the astrobiological studies, with its multifactorial evidences and theoretical/experimental approaches, multi- and interdisciplinary perspectives are mandatory. Insulated expertise cannot grasp the vastness of the astrobiological issues. This need for integration among disciplines and research areas is antagonistic to excessive specialization and compartmentalization, allowing astrobiology to be qualified as a truly transdisciplinary enterprise. The present paper discusses the scientific status of astrobiological studies, based on the view that every kind of life, Earth-based or not, should be considered in a cosmic context. A confluence between ‘astro’ and ‘bio’ seeks the understanding of life as an emerging phenomenon in the universe. Thus, a new epistemological niche is opened, pointing to the development of a pluralistic vision for the philosophy of astrobiology.

A ‘habitable zone’ of a star is defined as a range of orbits within which a rocky planet can support liquid water on its surface. The most intriguing question driving the search for habitable planets is whether they host life. But is the age of the planet important for its habitability? If we define habitability as the ability of a planet to beget life, then probably it is not. After all, life on Earth has developed within only ~800 Myr after its formation – the carbon isotope change detected in the oldest rocks indicates the existence of already active life at least 3.8 Gyr ago. If, however, we define habitability as our ability to detect life on the surface of exoplanets, then age becomes a crucial parameter. Only after life had evolved sufficiently complex to change its environment on a planetary scale, can we detect it remotely through its imprint on the atmosphere – the so-called biosignatures, out of which the photosynthetic oxygen is the most prominent indicator of developed (complex) life as we know it. Thus, photosynthesis is a powerful biogenic engine that is known to have changed our planet's global atmospheric properties. The importance of planetary age for the detectability of life as we know it follows from the fact that this primary process, photosynthesis, is endothermic with an activation energy higher than temperatures in habitable zones, and is sensitive to the particular thermal conditions of the planet. Therefore, the onset of photosynthesis on planets in habitable zones may take much longer time than the planetary age. The knowledge of the age of a planet is necessary for developing a strategy to search for exoplanets carrying complex (developed) life – many confirmed potentially habitable planets are too young (orbiting Population I stars) and may not have had enough time to develop and/or sustain detectable life. In the last decade, many planets orbiting old (9–13 Gyr) metal-poor Population II stars have been discovered. Such planets had had enough time to develop necessary chains of chemical reactions and may carry detectable life if located in a habitable zone. These old planets should be primary targets in search for the extraterrestrial life.

Genetic inter-communication of the nucleic-organellar dual in eukaryotes is dominated by DNA-directed phenomena. RNA regulatory circuits have also been observed in artificial laboratory prototypes where gene transfer events are reconstructed, but they are excluded from the primary norm due to their rarity. Recent technical advances in organellar biotechnology, genome engineering and single-molecule tracking give novel experimental insights on RNA metabolism not only at cellular level, but also on organismal survival. Here, I put forward a hypothesis for RNA's involvement in gene piece transfer, taken together the current knowledge on the primitive RNA character as a biochemical modulator with model organisms from peculiar natural habitats. It is proposed that RNA molecules of special structural signature and functional identity can drive evolution, integrating the ecological pressure of environmental oscillations into genome imprinting by buffering-out epigenetic aberrancies.

Kant was not the first in whom the ‘starry heavens’ above us inspired awe and wonder. For Kant, who was firmly convinced of the existence of inhabitants of other worlds, these heavens were inhabited. He is certain that ‘If it were possible to settle by any sort of experience whether there are inhabitants of at least some of the planets that we see, I might well bet everything that I have on it. Hence I say that it is not merely an opinion but a strong belief (on the correctness of which I would wager many advantages in life) that there are also inhabitants of other worlds.’ In this statement by Kant in no less a work than the Critique of Pure Reason one can, on the one hand, recognize a reflection of Kant's earlier convictions and expositions, on the other hand, the context of the citation and the contemporary background are, of course, relevant. Following the example of Kant, this paper investigates the meaning of such reflections about inhabitants of alien worlds, which due to advances in planetary astronomy are today again on the agenda. Consideration of this subject also represents a challenge for theology.

Lipid biomarkers have been extensively applied for tracing organisms and evolutionary processes through Earth's history. They have become especially important for the reconstruction of early life on Earth and, potentially, for the detection of life in the extraterrestrial realm. However, it is not always clear how exactly biomarkers reflect a paleoecosystem as their preservation may be influenced by increasing temperatures (T) and pressures (P) during burial. While a number of biomarker indices reflecting thermal maturity have been established, it is often less well constrained to which extent biomarker ratios used for paleoreconstruction are compromised by T and P processes. In this study we conducted hydrous pyrolysis of Green River Shale (GRS) kerogen in gold capsules for 2–2400 h at 300°C to assess the maturation behaviour of several compounds used as life tracers and for the reconstruction of paleoenvironments (n-alkanes, pristane, phytane, gammacerane, steranes, hopanes and cheilanthanes). Lignite samples were maturated in parallel with the GRS kerogen to obtain exact vitrinite reflectance data at every sampling point. Our experiment confirms the applicability of biomarker-based indices and ratios as maturity indicators (e.g. total cheilanthanes/hopanes ratio; sterane and hopane isomerization indices). However, several biomarker ratios that are commonly used for paleoreconstructions (e.g. pristane/phytane, pristane/n-C17, phytane/n-C18 and total steranes/hopanes) were considerably affected by differences in the thermal degradation behaviour of the respective compounds. Short-term experiments (48 h) performed at 400°C also revealed that biomarkers >C15 (especially steranes and hopanes) and ‘biological’ chain length preferences for n-alkanes are vanished at a vitrinite reflectance between 1.38 and 1.83% RO. Our data highlight that ‘thermal taphonomy’ effects have to be carefully considered in the interpretation of biomarkers in ancient rocks and, potentially, extraterrestrial materials.

Motivated by findings of new mineral related water sources for organisms under extremely dry conditions on Earth we studied in an interdisciplinary approach the water sorption behaviour of halite, soil component and terrestrial Nostoc commune biofilm under Mars relevant environmental conditions. Physicochemical methods served for the determination of water sorption equilibrium data and survival of heterotrophic bacteria in biofilm samples with different water contents was assured by recultivation. Deliquescence of halite provides liquid water at temperatures <273 K and may serve as water source on Mars during the morning stabilized by the CO2 atmosphere for a few hours. The protecting biofilm of N. commune is rather hygroscopic and tends to store water at lower humidity values. Survival tests showed that a large proportion of the Alphaproteobacteria dominated microbiota associated to N. commune is very desiccation tolerant and water uptake from saturated NaCl solutions (either by direct uptake of brine or adsorption of humidity) did not enhance recultivability in long-time desiccated samples. Still, a minor part can grow under highly saline conditions. However, the salinity level, although unfavourable for the host organism, might be for parts of the heterotrophic microbiota no serious hindrance for growing in salty Mars-like environments.

Cells from the three domains of life produce extracellular membrane vesicles (EMVs), suggesting that EMV production is an important aspect of cellular physiology. EMVs have been implicated in many aspects of cellular life in all domains, including stress response, toxicity against competing strains, pathogenicity, detoxification and resistance against viral attack. These EMVs represent an important mode of inter-cellular communication by serving as vehicles for transfer of DNA, RNA, proteins and lipids between cells. Here, we review recent progress in the understanding of EMV biology and their various roles. We focus on the role of membrane vesicles in early cellular evolution and how they would have helped shape the nature of the last universal common ancestor. A membrane-protected micro-environment would have been a key to the survival of spontaneous molecular systems and efficient metabolic reactions. Interestingly, the morphology of EMVs is strongly reminiscent of the morphology of some virions. It is thus tempting to make a link between the origin of the first protocell via the formation of vesicles and the origin of viruses.

The search for life on other planets is an active area of research. Many of the likeliest planetary bodies, such as Europa, Enceladus, and Mars are characterized by cold surface environments and ice-rich terrains. Both Raman and ultraviolet-induced fluorescence (UIF) spectroscopies have been proposed as promising tools for the detection of various kinds of bioindicators in these environments. We examined whether macro-scale Raman and UIF spectroscopy could be applied to the analysis of unprocessed terrestrial frozen peat and clear ground ice samples for detection of bioindicators. It was found that this approach did not provide unambiguous detection of bioindicators, likely for a number of reasons, particularly due to strong broadband induced fluorescence. Other contributing factors may include degradation of organic matter in frozen peat to the point that compound-specific emitted fluorescence or Raman peaks were not resolvable. Our study does not downgrade the utility of either UIF or Raman spectroscopy for astrobiological investigations (which has been demonstrated in previous studies), but does suggest that the choice of instrumentation, operational conditions and sample preparation are important factors in ensuring the success of these techniques.

This paper analyses the use of wonder in the TV-series Cosmos: A Personal Voyage (1980). Popular science has been studied extensively (e.g. Broks 2006; Leane 2007; Perrault 2013), and wonder has been studied moderately (e.g. Daston & Park 1998; Fuller 2006; Vasalou 2015). However, there are very few studies of wonder in popular science. This paper explores how and why wonder is used in Cosmos, with the wider aim of understanding uses of wonder in popular science. The studies that discuss wonder in popular science (Fahnestock 1986; Perrault 2013) argue that wonder is used to enthuse the audience about science, but they do not discuss why wonder has this ability, nor whether wonder has other functions. This paper argues that Fuller's (2006) psychological and evolutionary account of wonder can elucidate why wonder has the ability to enthuse; it discerns three senses of ‘wonder’ (related to objects, emotions and attitudes); and it discusses other functions of wonder (existential, aesthetic and ethical). Due to the centrality of astrobiological questions in Cosmos, this paper also highlights the relation of these questions to the senses and functions of wonder in Cosmos.

Sedimentary and magmatic rocks and their distinct sulphur isotopic signatures indicate the sources and processes of sulphur cycling, in particular through the analysis of all four stable sulphur isotopes (32S, 33S, 34S and 36S). Research over the past 15 years has substantially advanced our understanding of sulphur cycling on the early Earth, most notably through the discovery of mass-independently fractionated sulphur isotopic signatures. A strong atmospheric influence on the early Archean global sulphur cycle is apparent, much in contrast to the modern world. Diverse microbially driven sulphur cycling is clearly discernible, but its importance for Earth surface environments remains to be quantified.

Assuming the possibility of existence of a supercivilization we extend the idea of Freeman Dyson considering pulsars instead of stars. It is shown that instead of a spherical shell the supercivilization must use ring-like constructions. We have found that a size of the ‘ring’ should be of the order of (10−4–10−1) AU with temperature interval (300–600) K for relatively slowly rotating pulsars and (10–350) AU with temperature interval (300–700) K for rapidly spinning neutron stars, respectively. Although for the latter the Dyson construction is unrealistically massive and cannot be considered seriously. Analyzing the stresses in terms of the radiation and wind flows it has been argued that they cannot significantly affect the ring construction. On the other hand, the ring in-plane unstable equilibrium can be restored by the energy which is small compared with the energy extracted from the star. This indicates that the search for infrared ring-like sources close to slowly rotating pulsars seems to be quite promising.

Ribonucleotides (RMPs) are the building blocks of genetic material consisting of a sugar group, a phosphate group and a nucleobase. Prussian blue (PB) is an ancient compound which is supposed to have formed under the conditions of primitive Earth. The interaction between nucleotides and mineral surfaces is of primary importance in the context of prebiotic chemistry. In the present work, the adsorption of RMPs on PB has been studied in the concentration range 0.4 × 10−4–3.0 × 10−4 M of RMPs at pH 7.5, T = 27°C and found to be 53.1, 41.7, 25.8 and 24.0% for adenosine 5′-monophosphate (5′-AMP), guanosine 5′-monophosphate, cytidine 5′-monophosphate and uridine 5′-monophosphate, respectively. Optimum conditions for the adsorption were studied as a function of concentration, time, amount of adsorbent and pH and data obtained were found to fit the Langmuir adsorption isotherm. Langmuir constants (KL and Xm) values were calculated. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy, field-emission scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffractometry techniques were used to investigate the interaction of RMPs on PB surface. Adsorption kinetics of 5′-AMP on PB has been found to be pseudo-second order. Results obtained from this study should prove valuable for a better understanding of the mechanism of RMP–PB interaction.

Cleland and Chyba published a classic piece in 2002 that began a movement I call definitional pessimism, where it is argued that there is no point in attempting anything like a general definition of life. This paper offers a critical response to the pessimist position in general and the influential arguments offered by Cleland and her collaborators in particular. One such argument is that all definitions of life fall short of an ideal in which necessary and sufficient conditions produce unambiguous categorizations that dispose of all counterexamples. But this concept of definition is controversial within philosophy; a fact that greatly diminishes the force of the admonition that biologists should conform to such an ideal. Moreover, biology may well be fundamentally different from logic and the physical sciences from which this ideal is drawn, to the point where definitional conformity misrepresents biological reality. Another idea often pushed is that the prospects for definitional success concerning life are on a par with medieval alchemy's attempts to define matter – that is, doomed to fail for lack of a unifying scientific theory. But this comparison to alchemy is both historically inaccurate and unfair. Planetary science before the discovery of the first exoplanets offers a much better analogy, with much more optimistic conclusions. The pessimists also make much of the desirability of using microbes as models for any universal concept of life, from which they conclude that certain types of ‘Darwinian’ evolutionary definitions are inadequate. But this argument posits an unrealistic ideal, as no account of life can both be universal and do justice to the sorts of precise causal mechanisms microbes exemplify. The character of biology and the demand for universality in definitions of life thus probably accords better with functional rather than structural categories. The bottom line is that there is simply no viable alternative, either pragmatically or theoretically, to the pursuit of definitions. If nothing else, the empirical data the pessimists demand will be a very long time coming and scientists will of necessity continue to employ definitions of life in the interim. Chastising them for this will only drive their ideas underground where they can escape critical analysis, making the problems caused by problematic conceptions of life worse.

Life on Earth has existed for at least 3.5 billion years. Yet, relatively little is known of its evolution during the first two billion years, due to the scarceness and generally poor preservation of fossilized biological material. Cyanobacteria, formerly known as blue green algae were among the first crown Eubacteria to evolve and for more than 2.5 billion years they have strongly influenced Earth's biosphere. Being the only organism where oxygenic photosynthesis has originated, they have oxygenated Earth's atmosphere and hydrosphere, triggered the evolution of plants --being ancestral to chloroplasts-- and enabled the evolution of complex life based on aerobic respiration. Having such a strong impact on early life, one might expect that the evolutionary success of this group may also have triggered further biosphere changes during early Earth history. However, very little is known about the early evolution of this phylum and ongoing debates about cyanobacterial fossils, biomarkers and molecular clock analyses highlight the difficulties in this field of research. Although phylogenomic analyses have provided promising glimpses into the early evolution of cyanobacteria, estimated divergence ages are often very uncertain, because of vague and insufficient tree-calibrations. Results of molecular clock analyses are intrinsically tied to these prior calibration points, hence improving calibrations will enable more precise divergence time estimations. Here we provide a review of previously described Precambrian microfossils, biomarkers and geochemical markers that inform upon the early evolution of cyanobacteria. Future research in micropalaeontology will require novel analyses and imaging techniques to improve taxonomic affiliation of many Precambrian microfossils. Consequently, a better understanding of early cyanobacterial evolution will not only allow for a more specific calibration of cyanobacterial and eubacterial phylogenies, but also provide new dates for the tree of life.

Techniques enabling in situ elemental and mineralogical analysis on extraterrestrial planets are strongly required for upcoming missions and are being continuously developed. There is ample need for quantitative and high-sensitivity analysis of elemental as well as isotopic composition of heterogeneous materials. Here we present in situ spatial and depth elemental profiles of a heterogeneous rock sample on a depth-scale of nanometres using a miniaturized laser ablation mass spectrometer (LMS) designed for planetary space missions. We show that the LMS spectra alone could provide highly detailed compositional, three-dimensional information and oxidation properties of a natural, heterogeneous rock sample. We also show that a combination of the LMS and Raman spectroscopy provide comprehensive mineralogical details of the investigated sample. These findings are of great importance for future space missions where quick, in situ determination of the mineralogy could play a role in the process of selecting a suitable spot for drilling.

The question of the origin of life interested people for centuries. All existing views on this subject can be classified into different areas of human knowledge about the world: natural sciences, philosophy, and theology (religion). It is interesting to look at them closer and to classify all the typical groups of the theories about the origins of life. We can then see links existing between them and relationships that indicate their own nature. Nowadays, driving forces of prebiological chemical evolution and the mode of explanation of the transition ‘non-life into life’ give a great variety of solutions. The differences between the theories, however, as well as the current controversies in the scientific community (what ‘in the beginning’ was?; where and when the prebiotic evolution may took place? etc.) will be shown as of secondary importance for the theories’ systematization in comparison with several much more profound philosophical assumptions underlying the origin-of-life-studies. My proposal to organize and classify different types of the theories of genesis of life allows for extracting conceptions of different kind: metaphysical and scientific, and also for comparing them with each other. Some of them answer the question of the emergence of life in general and others on the question of the origin of life on the Earth only. In the perspective of contemporary scientific research on the origin of life it seems interesting that two main ideas concerning the problem of the origin of life, spontaneous generation and panspermia, are still present as presuppositions of certain theories but have been modified. Thus a ‘philosophical key’ seems to be the most appropriate to systematize all kinds of theories on the origin of life. This paper is an attempt to justify the position adopted. Most important conclusion is that the philosophical basis or implications, which are irreducibly present and possible to be found within the scientific theories of the origin of life, indicates that this problem is not just the strictly scientific one; it is the philosophical problem, too; thus it cannot be fully solved merely through referring to the empirical aspect of biogenesis.

The search for understanding the biological nature of the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) has been a theoretical challenge and has sparked intense debate in the scientific community. We reconstructed the ancestral sequences of tRNAs in order to test the hypothesis that these molecules originated the first genes. The results showed that the proteome before LUCA may have been composed of basal energy metabolism, namely, compounds with three carbons in the glycolytic pathway, which operated as a distribution centre of substrates for the development of metabolic pathways of nucleotides, lipids and amino acids. Thus, we present a proposal for metabolism in organisms before LUCA that was the initial core for the assembly of further metabolic pathways.

Early Earth processes are typically identified through the study of mineralogical, elemental and isotopic features in the rock record, including Precambrian banded iron formations (BIF). However, post-depositional processes often obscure the primary geochemical signals, making the use of BIF as proxies for paleo-seawater and the paleo-biosphere potentially imprecise. Thus, alternative approaches are required to complement the information gained from the rock record in order to fully understand the distinctive biogeochemical processes on ancient Earth. Simulating these conditions in the laboratory is one approach, but this approach can never fully replicate the complexity of a natural environment. Therefore, finding modern environments with a unique set of geochemical and microbiological characteristics to use as analogues for BIF depositional environments can provide invaluable information. In this review, we provide an overview of the chemical, physical and biological parameters of modern, ferruginous lakes that have been used as analogue BIF environments.