Tootfinder

Testing Origin-of-Life Theories with the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO)
Sukrit Ranjan, Martin Schlecker, Nicholas Wogan, Michael Wong
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.00164

Testing Origin-of-Life Theories with the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO)
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) aims to telescopically constrain the frequency and abundance of biospheres in the solar neighborhood. Origin-of-life theories vary in their predictions for the environmental requirements and the expected frequency of abiogenesis, meaning that constraints on the frequency and distribution of life on exoplanets from HWO can in principle directly test theories of abiogenesis. We categorize origin-of-life theories into three broad classes and discuss how HWO c…

Prebiosignatures with the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO)
Sukrit Ranjan, Danica Adams, Michael Wong, Martin Schlecker, Nicholas Wogan, Jessica M. Weber
https://arxiv.org/abs/2507.00165

Prebiosignatures with the Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO)
The Habitable Worlds Observatory (HWO) aims to characterize habitable exoplanets in search of signs of life. However, detectable life may be rare, either because abiogenesis is intrinsically contingent and unlikely, or because biospheres may efficiently recycle their products. Here, we explore the potential of HWO to test theories of life in the universe even if detectable life is rare by searching for "prebiosignature gases". Prebiosignatures gases are gases whose detection constrains theories…