New discoveries offer mixed hopes for Mars life
Posted: Thu, Jan 17, 2002, 2:08 PM ET (1908 GMT)
Two separate studies published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature provide both good and bad news for the prospects of microbial life on Mars. One report in Nature discussed the discovery of microbes that live 200 meters below the surface in Idaho, subsisting only on hydrogen and carbon dioxide gasses dissolved in groundwater. The conditions there would be similar to those below the Martian surface, provided subsurface liquid water is found there, raising hopes that such life could exist there and possibly other worlds. However, in a separate study also published in Nature, European astronomers reported the discovery of carbonates around a dying star that, contrary to previously thought, could not have formed in the presence of liquid water. The discovery of carbonates in meteorites, such as the infamous Martian meteorite ALH84001, has been presented as evidence that liquid water, a critical component of life, was abundant in the early solar system. The new discovery does not rule out the formation of carbonates in liquid water, but does show that this is not the only mechanism, and thus carbonates may not be as strong an indicator of hospitable conditions for life as previously thought.
Two separate studies published in Thursday's issue of the journal Nature provide both good and bad news for the prospects of microbial life on Mars. One report in Nature discussed the discovery of microbes that live 200 meters below the surface in Idaho, subsisting only on hydrogen and carbon dioxide gasses dissolved in groundwater. The conditions there would be similar to those below the Martian surface, provided subsurface liquid water is found there, raising hopes that such life could exist there and possibly other worlds. However, in a separate study also published in Nature, European astronomers reported the discovery of carbonates around a dying star that, contrary to previously thought, could not have formed in the presence of liquid water. The discovery of carbonates in meteorites, such as the infamous Martian meteorite ALH84001, has been presented as evidence that liquid water, a critical component of life, was abundant in the early solar system. The new discovery does not rule out the formation of carbonates in liquid water, but does show that this is not the only mechanism, and thus carbonates may not be as strong an indicator of hospitable conditions for life as previously thought.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
Senate seeks to add $10 billion to NASA human spaceflight programs
Posted: Sat, Jun 7 10:46 AM ET (1446 GMT) |
|
news links
|
|
Tuesday, June 17
Starlink speeds rise, but still fall (mostly) short of FCC standards
RCR Wireless News — 1:18 am ET (0518 GMT) Chinese satellite achieves 5 times Starlink speed with 2-watt laser from 36,000km orbit
South China Morning Post — 1:17 am ET (0517 GMT) Does satellite broadband have a business case in the UK and EU?
ITPro — 1:17 am ET (0517 GMT) President Trump was talking to Alabama congressman in Space Command speculation post
Huntsville Times — 1:16 am ET (0516 GMT) Rocket Lab Adds Two New Missions to 2025 Electron Launch Manifest, Schedules First Launch in Four Days’ Time
Business Wire — 1:11 am ET (0511 GMT) |
