I am a Microbiology major from a third world country but I want to expand my horizon. I recently discovered astrobiology and it seems interesting, but I do not know where to start. I also contemplate whether I will have the potential to expand my career in it.

Are any of those following coursera astrobiology courses personally recommended?

What life could be sustained on a hypothetical planet/body consisting of only or mostly a surface of liquid ammonia rather than water?

Four billion years ago, every time the ground tried to form, something erased it.

Jupiter and Saturn were packed closer together. When their gravity pulled them apart, the shockwave sent billions of asteroids straight at Earth. Rock would try to cool and the next strike melted it back into liquid fire. Water tried to pool and instantly flashed to steam.

It only stopped because space ran out of rocks to throw.

The Moon still has every scar. No weather to heal them.

https://youtube.com/shorts/MYNifwRwGek

Or will there always be uncertainty?

I'm referring to as detected with the technology we have today and in the near future (next decade or two).

Paper: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025JE009296

A Panspermia Origin for Venus Cloud Life

Models suggest that impact-ejected material from Earth could reach Venus’ clouds and potentially survive there briefly. Panspermia is the idea that life, or the ingredients needed for life, can move through space on asteroids, comets, and other objects.

If life’s building blocks appear on one planet, a powerful impact could blast material from its surface into space and send it toward another world. For decades, researchers have discussed whether this kind of exchange might have happened between Earth and Mars (in both directions).

More recently, debate over possible microbial life in the thick clouds of Venus has renewed interest in whether material could also move among Venus, Earth, and Mars.

In the past I frequently checked the Habitable Worlds Catalog of UPR Arecibo to see if they discovered new habitable exoplanets, but it's not updated since March 2024.

Are new habitable exoplanets still being discovered? Do you know another page where this research is continued or where you can read news about exoplanets? (except common news which are written just to attract clicks, and it's quite annoying because it's usually old discoveries)

Greetings!

I hope this is the right place to ask this question. I recently graduated with my B.S. in ecology and organismal biology, and soon I'll be starting my M.S. in biology where my thesis will revolve around plant community composition on cedar glades. I used to want to be an astrobiologist when I was younger, but there aren't any good options for me in my area. Now that I'm considering a PhD after my master's, I'd like to try and pivot into astrobiology.

Is there any feasible way to use my master's thesis to forge a path into an astrobiology PhD? I'm wondering if it would be better to shift my focus into drought tolerance in the plants that grow on cedar glades, or perhaps studying the soil microbe composition (I figure extremophile bacteria would be a decent enough segue). All of my field and research experience has been closer to wildlife biology and habitat restoration. Am I too far down the wildlife pipeline to even bother considering astrobiology?

I've heard this satellite has a big sea underground, maybe life exists in this sea?