Rohit Bhartia

TL;DR: In this paper, a reformulation of the submarine alkaline hydrothermal theory for the emergence of life in response to recent experimental findings is presented, which views life, like other self-organizing systems in the Universe, as an inevitable outcome of particular disequilibria, i.e., in redox potential, between hydrogen plus methane with the circuit-completing electron acceptors such as nitrite, nitrate, ferric iron, and carbon dioxide.

TL;DR: The NASA Mars 2020 rover mission will explore an astrobiologically relevant martian site to investigate regional geology, evaluate past habitability, seek signs of ancient life, and assemble a returnable cache of samples as mentioned in this paper.

TL;DR: DUV-laser-induced native fluorescence can detect bacteria on opaque surfaces at spatial scales ranging from tens of centimeters to micrometers and from communities to single cells, and this technique enables rapid imaging of bacterial communities and cells without irreversible sample alteration or destruction.

TL;DR: This report documents discussions and conclusions from a workshop held in 2012, which followed a public conference focused on current capabilities for performing life-detection studies on Mars samples, that developed a strong consensus that the same measurements could be employed to effectively inform both science and planetary protection.

TL;DR: SHERLOC as discussed by the authors is an arm-mounted fluorescence and Raman spectrometer that was recently selected to be part of the payload for the next proposed NASA rover mission to Mars, scheduled for launch in 2020.