OoL digest — December 23 edition
This week we have 24 new papers on the origin of life. Enjoy!
Artificial life
Modeling the Mutation and Competition of Certain Nutrient-Producing Protocells by Means of Specific Turing Machines
Kicsiny et al. — Artificial Life
Automating the Search for Artificial Life with Foundation Models
Kumar et al. — preprint
Astrobiology
Potential habitability of present-day Mars subsurface for terrestrial-like methanogens
Butturini et al. — preprint
Energy-ordered resource stratification as an agnostic signature of life
Goyal et al. — preprint
The effect of a biosphere on the habitable timespan of stagnant-lid planets and implications for the atmospheric spectrum
Höning et al. — Astronomy & Astrophysics
Applications of microbial bioplastic polyhydroxyalkanoates as biosignatures for astrobiological detection
Wang et al. — International Journal of Astrobiology
Astrochemistry
Hydrogenation of acetaldehyde on interstellar ice analogs reveals limited destruction
Molpeceres et al. — preprint
Astrophysics
Reliable Detections of Atmospheres on Rocky Exoplanets with Photometric JWST Phase Curves
Hammond et al. — preprint
Constraints on the evolution of the Triton atmosphere from occultations: 1989–2022
Sicardy et al. — Astronomy & Astrophysics
Biochemistry
Fool’s gold: ligand-receptor interactions and the origins of life
Adams et al. — preprint
Structural Enzymology, Phylogenetics, Differentiation, and Symbolic Reflexivity at the Dawn of Biology
Carter et al. — preprint
Conversion of pyridoxal to pyridoxamine with NH3 and H2 on nickel generates a protometabolic nitrogen shuttle under serpentinizing conditions
Schlikker et al. — The FEBS Journal
A Possible Origin of Life in Nonpolar Environments
Vitas et al. — BioSystems
Biology
Milestones at the Origin of Life
Toxvaerd — preprint
Biophysics
The matter/life nexus in biological cells
Sivasankar et al. — preprint
Geoscience
Ultramafic-influenced submarine venting on basaltic seafloor at the Polaris site, 87°N, Gakkel Ridge
Albers et al. — Earth and Planetary Science Letters
Mathematical biology
Minimum nonlinearity for pattern-forming Turing instability in a mathematical autocatalytic model
López-Pedrares et al. — preprint
Microbiology
Young volcanic terrains are windows into early microbial colonization
Hadland et al. — Communications Earth & Environment
Living in Their Heyday: Iron‐Oxidizing Bacteria Bloomed in Shallow‐Marine, Subtidal Environments at ca. 1.88 Ga
Kovalick et al. — Geobiology
A global comparison of surface and subsurface microbiomes reveals large-scale biodiversity gradients, and a marine-terrestrial divide
Ruff et al. — Science Advances
Quantifying the global biodiversity of Proterozoic eukaryotes
Tang et al. — Science
Physics
“Assembly Theory” in Life Origin Models: A Critical Review
Abel — BioSystems
Planetary sciences
Crustal thickness effects on chemical differentiation and hydrology on Mars
Lee et al. — Earth and Planetary Science Letters
On the equilibrium limit of liquid stability in pressurized aqueous systems
Zarriz et al. — Nature Communications