January Arxivery.

High Resolution Search for KBO Binaries from New Horizons 

This one is (https://arxiv.org/pdf/2201.05940.pdf) a very normal report. The cameras on New Horizons (and the pointing systems, the telecomms, etc) are being used to image a variety of KBO objects as it flies on. This observing report is about those which have been identified (with some degree of confidence) as binaries.

2 of the 5 systems examined showed evidence of being "equal brightness" binaries, so closer to the class of bodies of Arrakoth ("MU69"), flown past in 2020.

The sub-text is ; they've finished draining the memory from the Arrakoth flypast, so can use the communications system at no risk, and they are consuming the fuel reserves for the pointing process - which is a irreplaceable resource. I infer that their search for other KBOs within the travel cone of NH has been unsuccessful, and they are turning the spacecraft's resources to other research subjects.

The Sun to planetary centre of mass distance is coherent with solar activity on
the decade, centennial and millennium time scales when Planet 9 is included in
the solar system.

This author links solar activity cycles to the effect of "Planet 9" on solar system dynamics. Which isn't actually insane, but is looking to amplify a very small signal into quite a large system. As the author says, "The direct gravitational effect is, however, very small resulting in tides on the Sun of the order of only 1 mm. Whether tides of this magnitude could result in any significant acceleration on the Sun is regarded with some scepticism"

Yep, I'm sceptical too. 

They use the Brown-Batygin 2016 parameters for their P9, (noting that BB updated their estimate in 2021).

Well, it's a theory, but it's not very convincing.  IF P9 is identified (an attractive idea, but maybe not true), it would be worth revisiting.

Building Terrestrial Planets: Why results of perfect-merging simulations are not quantitatively reliable approximations to accurate modelling of terrestrial planet formation

 Planet-merging models of solar system formation are models, with significant simplifications from the current state of the Solar system, and we don't know what the actual state of the early Solar system reall was. Well, yes, we did know that. Probably it was strictly necessary to prove it at least once, but it's hardly an urgent demonstration.

Next?

Blue marble, stagnant lid: Could dynamic topography avert a waterworld?

OK, SF planet builders have never had a problem with having a water world with some above-waterline topography, which they've hand-waved away or just ignored. With some modelling about convection, hot mountain roots, isostasy, and the like, it looks like the SF-ian Handwavium is reasonably justified. I'll remember it if I'm ever looking for references for a story I'm writing. 

A Material-based Panspermia Hypothesis: The Potential of Polymer Gels and Membraneless Droplets

Now you may not know that I trust Panspermia less than I trust a crooked bookie who throws the dice where you can't see them, but I know that and I trust what I think. The annoying thing is, panspermia isn't impossible, just quite unlikely and it moves the genuine problem of how life originated to somewhere we don't know, under conditions we don't have any realistic constraints on. So, as a hypothesis generating and testing scenario, it's worth jack shit.

So, these authors add a (relatively) new component to the mix : polymeric abiogenic gels to help provide some cushioning for the proto-bugs in their rocky or droplet-y transport vehicles. Yeah, a plausible component, a good excuse. Nice try. But essentially still untestable.

Sorry, not untestable - we'd need to put a spacecraft into contact with an interstellar (or interplanetary) rock, and then find a bug (or proto-bug) in the rock. But it's a pretty hard test to apply. And finding a billion sterilized rocks wouldn't make it impossible for the billion-and-first rock to hold the proof of panspermia. Or Willy Wonka's Golden Ticket. 

Meh.