Life on Earth’s Final Frontier
Alan Boyle
Cosmic Log
“A strange breed of bacteria that has been found living alone, nearly two miles underground, is just the kind of creature suited to survive far beneath the surface of Mars, scientists say.
“The rod-shaped microbe, dubbed Desulforudis audaxviator, can survive in complete darkness, without oxygen, in temperatures around 140 degrees Fahrenheit (60 degrees Celsius) - as long as it has a trickle of water flowing through radioactive rocks. It was found living under such conditions in a 1.75-mile-deep (2.8-kilometer-deep) gold mine in South Africa.”
Bold Traveler’s Journey Toward the Center of the Earth
Berkeley Lab Press Release
The first ecosystem ever found having only a single biological species has been discovered 2.8 kilometers (1.74 miles) beneath the surface of the earth in the Mponeng gold mine near Johannesburg, South Africa. There the rod-shaped bacterium Desulforudis audaxviator exists in complete isolation, total darkness, a lack of oxygen, and 60-degree-Celsius heat (140 degrees Fahrenheit).
Continue reading ‘Is This What Life on Mars Looks Like?’
Astrobiology Magazine has some interesting articles about possible life elsewhere in the Solar System….
Mawrth Vallis Water
“Layers of clay have been discovered in the martian highlands using the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. The data indicate that liquid water was once widespread on early Mars.”
The Stuff of Life on Titan
“Could tholins formed in Titan’s atmosphere react with liquid water temporarily exposed by meteor impacts or ice volcanoes to produce potentially probiotic complex organic molecules - before the water freezes? Until this year, no one knew.
“Now, laboratory research by Catherine Neish, a graduate student working on her doctorate in planetary science at the University of Arizona, shows in the journal Astrobiology that, over a period of days, compounds similar to tholins can be hydrolyzed (i.e., react with water) at near-freezing temperatures.”
Cracking the Question of Alien Life
“New research is providing clues about the potential for life on Europa. By studying Europa’s surface, scientists hope to determine the best places to search for life and whether or not the moon is geologically active.”
These trenches on Mars glisten with white spots of ice.
White House Briefed On Potential For Mars Life
Craig Covault
Aviation Week & Space Technology
“The White House has been alerted by NASA about plans to make an announcement soon on major new Phoenix lander discoveries concerning the ‘potential for life’ on Mars, scientists tell Aviation Week & Space Technology.
“Sources say the new data do not indicate the discovery of existing or past life on Mars. Rather the data relate to habitability–the ‘potential’ for Mars to support life–at the Phoenix arctic landing site, sources say.”
As Phoenix settles down to begin its search for organic compounds on Mars, a new study indicates that the oceans that once covered Mars were far too briny to support life as we know it.
“Our sense has been that while Mars is a lousy environment for supporting life today, long ago it might have more closely resembled Earth,” Andrew Knoll, Fisher Professor of Natural Sciences and professor of Earth and planetary sciences at Harvard, said in a press release.
“But this result suggests quite strongly that even as long as four billion years ago, the surface of Mars would have been challenging for life. No matter how far back we peer into Mars’ history, we may never see a point at which the planet really looked like Earth,” he added.
“This doesn’t rule out life forms of a type we’ve never encountered,” Knoll says, “but life that could originate and persist in such a salty setting would require biochemistry distinct from any known among even the most robust halophiles on Earth.”
The study, done in collaboration with scientists at Stony Brook University, was published in the journal Science (subscription required). Harvard University has a summary of the study here, as does Sky & Telescope.
NASA PRESS RELEASE
PASADENA, Calif. - NASA’s Cassini spacecraft has discovered evidence that points to the existence of an underground ocean of water and ammonia on Saturn’s moon Titan. The findings, made using radar measurements of Titan’s rotation, will appear in the March 21 issue of the journal Science.
“With its organic dunes, lakes, channels and mountains, Titan has one of the most varied, active and Earth-like surfaces in the solar system,” said Ralph Lorenz, lead author of the paper and Cassini radar scientist at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Md., “Now we see changes in the way Titan rotates, giving us a window into Titan’s interior beneath the surface.”
Continue reading ‘Cassini Finds Evidence of Underground Ocean on Titan’
NASA PRESS RELEASE
WASHINGTON - NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter has found evidence of salt deposits. These deposits point to places where water once was abundant and where evidence might exist of possible Martian life from the Red Planet’s past.
A team led by Mikki Osterloo of the University of Hawaii, Honolulu, found approximately 200 places on southern Mars that show spectral characteristics consistent with chloride minerals. Chloride is part of many types of salt, such as sodium chloride or table salt. The sites range from about half of a square mile to 25 times that size.
“They could come from groundwater reaching the surface in low spots,” Osterloo said. “The water would evaporate and leave mineral deposits, which build up over years. The sites are disconnected, so they are unlikely to be the remnants of a global ocean.”
Continue reading ‘NASA Orbiter Finds Salt Deposits on Mars; Points to Possible Life’
Credit: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona
UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA PRESS RELEASE
Scientists on the HiRISE team have discovered never-before-seen impact “megabreccia” and a possibly once-habitable ancient lake on Mars at a place called Holden crater.
The megabreccia is topped by layers of fine sediments that formed in what apparently was a long-lived, calm lake that filled Holden crater on early Mars, HiRISE scientists say.
“Holden crater has some of the best-exposed lake deposits and ancient megabreccia known on Mars,” said HiRISE’s principal investigator, professor Alfred McEwen of the UA’s Lunar and Planetary Laboratory. ”Both contain minerals that formed in the presence of water and mark potentially habitable environments. This would be an excellent place to send a rover or sample-return mission to make major advances in understanding if Mars supported life.“
Continue reading ‘Scientists Find Possible Ancient Habitable Lake on Mars’
