NASA's Curiosity finds signs of ancient life on Mars. Or maybe not. More data needed
- Reference: 1642597987
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/01/19/nasa_curiosity_carbon/
- Source link:
Is it a sign of ancient life? Well… maybe. It could be the result of methane having been released into the atmosphere of Mars by bacteria. That methane was then maybe converted into "larger, more complex molecules" by ultraviolet light, which rained down to the surface and were preserved (replete with distinctive carbon signature) in the rocks.
At least that's how it works on Earth. The explanation could also be non-biological. It could be down to the interaction of carbon dioxide gas in the atmosphere with ultraviolet light, or perhaps millions of years ago the solar system passed through a giant molecular cloud rich in the type of carbon detected.
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As ever, more data is needed and scientists can't make conclusions based on Earth examples.
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The findings were published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal yesterday.
[5]It's fake ooze, don't fall for fake ooze: Alien fossils found on Mars might just be simple chemistry, uni pair warn
[6]FYI: Catastrophic flooding helped carve Martian valleys, not just rivers of water
[7]NASA halts Mars comms for two weeks as Sun gets in way of Red Planet
[8]NASA talks up Perseverance Mars rover's self-driving rock-avoiding abilities
Curiosity has rolled around Mars since 2012 covering over 16 miles. On board is the Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) instrument suite which can analyse organics and gases from atmospheric and solid samples. In this instance, the team used SAM to heat up 24 samples taken from geologically diverse locations in Curiosity's Gale Crater home and heated them to 850°C to release the gases within.
The isotopes were measured using the Tunable Laser Spectrometer (TLS) and, according to the team, "researchers found that nearly half of their samples had surprisingly large amounts of carbon-12 compared to what scientists have measured in the Martian atmosphere and meteorites."
This is significant since, on Earth, processes that would produce this carbon signal tend to be biological. However, the same explanation might not apply to Mars. The planet might have started off with a different set of carbon isotopes than Earth and the carbon might be cycling without any life involved. Again, more data is needed as scientists seek to let go of Earthly biases when looking at Martian processes and chemistry.
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Scientists would also really like to check out the carbon content of a methane plume released from the surface. Curiosity happened across one in 2019, but there's no way to know if it will do so again. In the meantime, the study will provide some pointers to the Perseverance rover team on the types of samples to collect for a possible return to Earth. ®
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[1] https://mars.nasa.gov/news/9113/nasas-curiosity-rover-measures-intriguing-carbon-signature-on-mars/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2YehDuFB-GDN1Sp2lvNsXYAAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YehDuFB-GDN1Sp2lvNsXYAAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
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[5] https://www.theregister.com/2021/11/18/martian_fossil_mistakes/
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/29/floods_mars_paper/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2021/09/29/nasa_mars_conjunction/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2021/07/02/nasas_perseverance_driving/
[9] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offbeat/science&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44YehDuFB-GDN1Sp2lvNsXYAAAANA&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[10] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
NASA don't exactly help themselves.
They issue press releases like "MASSIVE NEW LIFE CHANGING DISCOVERY DISCOVERED BY OUR SPACE BOFFINS!!! OMG!1! Tune in at 6 to have your understanding of the universe turned upside down. Have we met ET? We aren't saying. Wink wink. [X-files theme plays out]"
The actual announcement is that they've found some trace evidence of the possible existence of a compound that might have been produced by ancient bacteria but probably wasn't that they previously thought was 95% likely but can now upgrade that to 97%.
"very primitive life, likely never beyond lichen if that"
So, pretty much on par with what sits between a politician's ears then...
Re: "very primitive life, likely never beyond lichen if that"
So, pretty much on par with what sits between a politician's ears then..
I think the lichen's lawyers might be knocking at your door - that's probably libel!
I gather that a probe from a galaxy far. far away landed in the middle of the Sahara desert recently and concluded that there are no signs of life on this planet.
A probe from anywhere far , far away could land in almost any capital city and conclude there is no intelligent life.on this planet.
I can help with that...
'Scientists would also really like to check out the carbon content of a methane plume released from the surface' give me a moment to load up on cabbage and pears...
Re: I can help with that...
Maybe there are martian cows wandering around which avoid anything mechanical, or they are just very hard to see.
Groundless Comment Alert
Ok. So, maybe a couple weeks ago (confined temporal dilation) I was talking to my brother, who opens the convo with "didjya hear that NASA went to a bunch of religious leaders to ask about the consequences of the discovery of extra terrestrial life?"
Take my word, much speculative hilarity ensued. Now, this.
I just love being humbled by knowledge. Never takes much, and it's always fun.
Not bad
for a machine designed to last for two years. And Opportunity lasted 14 years, on a designed lifespan of 90 days!
If NASA built cars, we'd still be driving roadworthy Model-T Fords.
Re: Not bad
Well, to be fair, there are collectors in North America with "roadworthy Model-T Fords" being driven around. I believe there is even one here in Yorkton, SK that does (or did) the Exhibition parade in the summer.
Re: Not bad
If NASA built cars, we'd still be driving roadworthy Model-T Fords.
If NASA built cars, we would have no pollution problem here on earth as we would all prefer to walk. I can walk further in one day with gammy knees than Curiosity has gone in 10 years. In my misspent youth I walked around Wales doing 25miles a day and that was up hills and down dales (unless dales only exist in Yorkshire). I still try to walk at least a mile a every day simply because my GP says it is movement that keeps the knees from getting worse. I often do 4 miles (after dosing up on high strength paracetamol) so that's a week and a bit to do the same as Curiosity.
Much though I appreciate the research they're doing, I have to laugh at how the media just jumps on any hint of the rovers having encountered signs of life.
Fortunately the scientists doing the work seem to be a bit more level headed, couching the slim chance with all the equally plausible explanations.
Personally I think Mars had life on it at one point, but very primitive life, likely never beyond lichen if that.