Is the presence of oxygen on an exoplanet a reliable biosignature?

We revisit the validity of the presence of O(2) or O(3) in the atmosphere of a rocky planet as being a biosignature. Up to now, the false positive that has been identified applies to a planet during a hot greenhouse runaway, which is restricted to planets outside the habitable zone (HZ) of the star that are closer to the star. In this paper, we explore a new possibility based on abiotic photogeneration of O(2) at the surface of a planet that could occur inside the HZ. The search for such a process is an active field of laboratory investigation that has resulted from an ongoing interest in finding efficient systems with the capacity to harvest solar energy on Earth. Although such a process is energetically viable, we find it to be a very unlikely explanation for the observation of O(2) or O(3) in the atmosphere of a telluric exoplanet in the HZ. It requires an efficient photocatalyst to be present and abundant under natural planetary conditions, which appears unlikely according to our discussion of known mineral photochemical processes. In contrast, a biological system that synthesizes its constituents from abundant raw materials and energy has the inherent adaptation advantage to become widespread and dominant (Darwinist argument). Thus, O(2) appears to continue to be a good biosignature.     

Prebiotic significance of extraterrestrial ice photochemistry: detection of hydantoin in organic residues

The delivery of extraterrestrial organic materials to primitive Earth from meteorites or micrometeorites has long been postulated to be one of the origins of the prebiotic molecules involved in the subsequent apparition of life. Here, we report on experiments in which vacuum UV photo-irradiation of interstellar/circumstellar ice analogues containing H(2)O, CH(3)OH, and NH(3) led to the production of several molecules of prebiotic interest. These were recovered at room temperature in the semi-refractory, water-soluble residues after evaporation of the ice. In particular, we detected small quantities of hydantoin (2,4-imidazolidinedione), a species suspected to play an important role in the formation of poly- and oligopeptides. In addition, hydantoin is known to form under extraterrestrial, abiotic conditions, since it has been detected, along with various other derivatives, in the soluble part of organic matter of primitive carbonaceous meteorites. This result, together with other related experiments reported recently, points to the potential importance of the photochemistry of interstellar "dirty" ices in the formation of organics in Solar System materials. Such molecules could then have been delivered to the surface of primitive Earth, as well as other telluric (exo-) planets, to help trigger first prebiotic reactions with the capacity to lead to some form of primitive biomolecular activity.     

无轨道动力学模型的增强型GPS实时星间相对定位方法

虽然基于卫星轨道动力学模型的增强型GPS实时星间相对定位可获得厘米级精度,但通常在一般条件下难以获取高精度轨道动力学模型.本文提出了一种无轨道动力学模型条件下的高精度实时相对定位方法,即利用GPS三差观测方程获得状态矢量的时间转移矩阵,采用自适应UKF(Unsented Kalman Filter,无迹卡尔曼滤波器)实时估计星间相对位置.仿真结果表明,相比传统的序贯点估计方法分米级的相对定位精度,新方法在星间距离小于5 km时,其相对定位精度可达厘米量级.     

装有自由旋转尾翼的鸭式导弹的滚动发散

用解析的方法研究有自由旋转尾翼和鸭式控制面的导弹的滚动运动,确定了运动的平衡状态;探讨在所施加的铰链力矩不变时小扰动的情况;利用对平衡状态小偏差的线性运动方程,推导出稳定的显式条件,并用全运动方程数值解考察了大扰动情况和在俯仰、偏航上导弹自由度的影响,证明了大偏差的发散特性.研究结果表明,滚动运动在很大的参数范围内是发散的,产生发散的主要因素是气动力滚动阻尼的减少和离心力对控制面的作用.     

FGH95粉末镍基合金热处理后的微观组织与蠕变性能

通过进行蠕变曲线测定和组织形貌观察,研究了FGH95粉末镍基合金的微观组织结构与蠕变行为。结果表明：合金经高温固溶、盐浴冷却处理后,组织结构是由细小的γ’相弥散分布在γ基体所组成,其细小（Nb,Ti）C碳化物在晶内及沿晶界不连续析出。在试验的温度和施加应力范围内,合金表现出明显的施加温度敏感性,并测算出合金在稳态蠕变期间的蠕变激活能和应力指数分别为Q=542．07kJ／mol和n=14．8。合金在蠕变期间的变形特征是孪晶和位错在晶内发生双取向滑移,其切入γ’相内的〈110〉超位错可分解形成（1／3）〈112〉超肖克莱不全位错＋层错的位错组态,发生孪晶变形的孪晶面为（111）晶面。晶界及沿晶界不连续析出的细小（Nb,Ti）C型碳化物可有效阻碍位错运动,是使合金具有较高抗蠕变能力的主要原因。     

基于迭代信息传递的PN码快速捕获方法研究

在扩频通信系统中,低信噪比情况下,长伪码序列的快速捕获成为急需解决的一个关键问题。为了解决该问题,提出一种基于迭代信息传递算法的伪码快速捕获方法,给出了该算法伪码快速捕获的原理和实现方法,仿真分析了该方法的捕获性能。该方法采用软件实现,实现的复杂度较低。仿真结果表明该方法具有较快的捕获速度,较高的捕获概率,并能够在低信噪比下稳定工作。     

Searching for life on Mars: selection of molecular targets for ESA's aurora ExoMars mission

The European Space Agency's ExoMars mission will seek evidence of organic compounds of biological and non-biological origin at the martian surface. One of the instruments in the Pasteur payload may be a Life Marker Chip that utilizes an immunoassay approach to detect specific organic molecules or classes of molecules. Therefore, it is necessary to define and prioritize specific molecular targets for antibody development. Target compounds have been selected to represent meteoritic input, fossil organic matter, extant (living, recently dead) organic matter, and contamination. Once organic molecules are detected on Mars, further information is likely to derive from the detailed distribution of compounds rather than from single molecular identification. This will include concentration gradients beneath the surface and gradients from generic to specific compounds. The choice of biomarkers is informed by terrestrial biology but is wide ranging, and nonterrestrial biology may be evident from unexpected molecular distributions. One of the most important requirements is to sample where irradiation and oxidation are minimized, either by drilling or by using naturally excavated exposures. Analyzing regolith samples will allow for the search of both extant and fossil biomarkers, but sequential extraction would be required to optimize the analysis of each of these in turn.     

Bacterial community in ancient Siberian permafrost as characterized by culture and culture-independent methods

The microbial composition of ancient permafrost sediments from the Kolyma lowland of Northeast Eurasia was examined through culture and culture-independent approaches. These sediments have been continuously frozen for 5,000 to 2-3 million years. A total of 265 Bacteria 16S rRNA gene sequences were amplified from the permafrost total-community genomic DNA and screened by amplified ribosomal 16S rRNA restriction analysis. Members of three major lineages were found: gamma-Proteobacteria (mostly Xanthomonadaceae), Actinobacteria, and Firmicutes. We also determined partial 16S rRNA gene sequences of 49 isolates from a collection of 462 aerobes isolated from these sediments. The bacteria included Actinomycetales (Arthrobacter and Microbacteriaceae); followed by the Firmicutes (Exiguobacterium and Planomicrobium); the Bacteroidetes (Flavobacterium); the gamma-Proteobacteria (Psychrobacter); and the alpha-Proteobacteria (Sphingomonas). Both culture and culture-independent approaches showed the presence of high and low G+C Gram-positive bacteria and gamma-Proteobacteria. Some of the 16S rRNA gene sequences of environmental clones matched those of Arthrobacter isolates. Two-thirds of the isolates grew at -2.5 degrees C, indicating that they are psychroactive, and all are closely related to phylogenetic groups with strains from other cold environments, mostly commonly from Antarctica. The culturable and non-culturable microorganisms found in the terrestrial permafrost provide a prototype for possible life on the cryogenic planets of the Solar System.     

The Physical Foundation of Forecasting Disturbances in the Geospace From Solar Disk Characteristics

The five main types of antisunward propagating energetic fluxes (particles and emission) may be thought of as well established to date, the effects of which lead to a particilar character of disturbance in the near-terrestrial environment (the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere and atmosphere). The strongest global restructuring of the magnetosphere and ionosphere is caused by fluxes of relatively dense n of 1-70 cm-3 at the Earth's orbit) Solar Wind (SW) quasi-neutral, low-energy (E ＜ 10 keV) plasma which cause magnetospheric and ionospheric storms lasting 24 hours or longer. For that reason, main attention is given to their study at the initial stage of research. The physical essence of the method of predicting disturbances in the near-terrestrial space environment, the amplitude of which can be expressed in, for example, the Kp index units, involves:(1) identifying all the most geo-effective SW streams of type, (2) determing their sources on the solar disk,and (3) quantifying the correlations between the characteristics of their solar sources with a maximum value of the Kp-index that is caused by the concerned type of SW stream. Semi-phenomenological relations have been obtained, which relate parameters of type SW stream sources to characteristics of geomagnetic storms:storm commencement, the time at which the storm intensity reaches its maximum values, the storm duration,as well as to the storm amplitude expressed in terms of geomagnetic indeces.