Astrobiology Science Conference (AbSciCon26) Media Tips 2: Technosignatures, Life in Space, Existential Questions, Robot Explorers

This media advisory is available online at: https://news.agu.org/press-release/abscicon26-tipsheet-2-technosignatures-life-in-space-existential-questions-robot-explorers/

Astrobiology Science Conference 2026 
Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center
One John Nolen Drive
Madison, Wisconsin 53703
17 – 22 May 2026

Press contact:
Sean Cummings, +1 (202) 777-7373, [email protected]

WASHINGTON — The 2026 Astrobiology Science Conference, hosted by the American Geophysical Union (AGU), will convene next week in Madison, Wisconsin, USA. The biennial conference brings together a diverse, international astrobiology community to share new research investigating life’s potential, from Earth’s extreme environments and deep past to our Solar System’s icy moons and distant exoplanets.

Tips in this advisory:

• Robot explorers
• Planetary protection
• Technosignatures
• The astronaut life
• What is life? culture, science, philosophy

Reporters and press officers interested in press registration should email [email protected]. Please include a link to a byline, masthead or a staff page listing your name and position. Freelancers should provide a link to a portfolio or links to at least three bylined science news stories published in the last 12 months. Let us know whether you plan to attend AbSciCon26 online or to come to Madison in person. Media access to the meeting is issued at the discretion of AGU Media Relations. Learn about AGU’s press eligibility requirements.

AbSciCon26 will host about 900 scientific posters, talks, town halls and plenary lectures. Browse the conference program for a preview of the scientific sessions. Registered attendees can log in to build a personal schedule in the conference desktop planner and mobile app.

Although AbSciCon26 is primarily an in-person meeting, remote reporters can join a small set of online-only discussion sessions on Zoom via the conference app by registering to attend the conference virtually. Recordings of the audio and slide presentations from in-person town halls, plenaries and oral sessions will be available on demand on the conference app about 72 hours after each session is finished. AGU media relations will be on site to help reporters connect with attending scientists.

Recommended sessions part 2: [view online for expanded highlights of top tips]

*Sessions listed in conference local Central Daylight Time (GMT – 5 hours)

Robot explorers for Mars, icy worlds and beyond

A proposed heli drone to explore the lava tube caves of Mars
Monday 10:00 AM abstract | app schedule
Online Session: Missions to Mars: Life Detection and Habitability IRoger Wiens [email protected]

Underwater charging station keeps Icefin robot diving longer
Monday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Accessing Ocean Worlds: Challenges and Technologies for Sub-ice Exploration and Science I PosterHenry Wolf [email protected]

Expedition to Juneau icefield samples 300-meter deep subglacial reservoir in test run for Europa
Monday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Accessing Ocean Worlds: Challenges and Technologies for Sub-ice Exploration and Science I PosterSamuel Howell [email protected]

A drill-equipped payload will let Mars landers search 15 meters below the surface
Wednesday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Sample Collection and Handling: The Critical Path for Astrobiology Missions I Poster
Joey Palmowski [email protected]

How specialized robots could help us spelunk Mars’ caves for signs of life
Thursday 2:00 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Planetary Caves and Voids as Targets for Astrobiology Science I eLightning
Jennifer Blank [email protected]

Planetary protection

Icy worlds get new planetary protection guidelines 
Monday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Accessing Ocean Worlds: Challenges and Technologies for Sub-ice Exploration and Science I Poster
Peter Doran [email protected]

Students launch dirt into space to test which microbes pose contamination threats
Thursday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Planetary Protection for Crewed Missions: New Strategies, Emerging Technologies, and Lessons Learned II Poster
Joshua Hardesty [email protected]

Technosignatures: signs of civilization

Local space weather could distort radio transmissions from alien civilizations
Monday 10:00 AM abstract | app schedule
Session: Searching for Technological Signatures of Life Beyond Earth I Oral
Vishal Gajjar [email protected]

Which exoplanets could observe Earth using our most popular exoplanet detection method?
Monday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Searching for Technological Signatures of Life Beyond Earth II PosterDiana Solano-Oropeza [email protected]

Are spider pulsars massive spaceships for escaping dying solar systems?
Monday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Searching for Technological Signatures of Life Beyond Earth II Poster
Clément Vidal [email protected]

A software package to detect massive mirrors deployed around exoplanets
Monday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Searching for Technological Signatures of Life Beyond Earth II Poster
Shauna Sallmen [email protected]

The astronaut life

Need medicine in space? Just add water.

Wednesday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Microbial and Human Habitability of Mars: Is Synthetic Biology the Solution? I Poster
Adrianna Hudyma [email protected]

Forget washing machines: astronauts may clean their clothes with plasma guns
Thursday 10:00 AM abstract | app schedule
Session: Planetary Protection for Crewed Missions: New Strategies, Emerging Technologies, and Lessons Learned I Oral
Gabe Xu [email protected]

A blind astronaut crew runs a simulated space mission on Earth
Wednesday 2:00 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Fostering the Astrobiology/Humanities Connection I Oral
Sheri Wells-Jensen [email protected]

Martian water is toxic. Bacteria may hold the clues to cleaning it.
Wednesday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Microbial and Human Habitability of Mars: Is Synthetic Biology the Solution? I PosterGarrett Roberts Kingman [email protected]

Future habitats on Mars could be made from bioplastics
Wednesday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Microbial and Human Habitability of Mars: Is Synthetic Biology the Solution? I PosterRobin Wordsworth [email protected]

Plants on Earth can recognize their families. Can they do so in space?
Wednesday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Microbial and Human Habitability of Mars: Is Synthetic Biology the Solution? I PosterAllona Yehiav [email protected]

This astronaut health monitor needs only a drop of blood
Thursday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Planetary Protection for Crewed Missions: New Strategies, Emerging Technologies, and Lessons Learned II PosterSilvana Pinna [email protected]

What is life? and other philosophical musings

How science influenced classical music composition in the Space Age
Monday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: The Cosmic Mirror: How Astrobiology and Cosmology Shape Human Understanding I Poster
Lydia Kivrak [email protected]

Ethics, ET, movies and the public imagination
Monday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: The Cosmic Mirror: How Astrobiology and Cosmology Shape Human Understanding I PosterMichael Tuite [email protected]

Artistic conceptions of dark matter bias how we imagine life beyond Earth
Monday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: The Cosmic Mirror: How Astrobiology and Cosmology Shape Human Understanding I PosterElisaveta Ernst [email protected]

Do space sciences endanger humanity’s sense of self?
Monday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: The Cosmic Mirror: How Astrobiology and Cosmology Shape Human Understanding I PosterJacques Arnould [email protected]

Astrobiology images may already be deciding how humanity would react to the discovery of alien life
Wednesday 2:00 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: Fostering the Astrobiology/Humanities Connection I OralUlrike Ernst-Auga [email protected]

Why haven’t we met any aliens? They may have become so advanced that they lost their reason to live
Wednesday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule

Session: The Past, Present, and Future of Astrobiology and Society: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives and Contributions from the Social Sciences and Humanities I Poster
James Pugsley [email protected]

Personifying the environment may help, not hinder, science
Thursday 3:45 PM abstract | app schedule
Online Session: The Past, Present, and Future of Astrobiology and Society: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives and Contributions from the Social Sciences and Humanities II
Medha Prakash [email protected]

How the military-industrial complex shapes astronomy
Friday 12:15 PM abstract | app schedule
Session: The Past, Present, and Future of Astrobiology and Society: Historical and Philosophical Perspectives and Contributions from the Social Sciences and Humanities IV Oral
Jack Madden [email protected]

Searching for life in the stars is controversial, putting some scientists’ safety at risk
Thursday 10:00 AM – 11:30 AM session abstracts | app schedule
Online Session: Safety for Scientists: Astrobiology, a Global Issue, and a Call to Action

Save the date for more 2026 science

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