Life on MARS: Historic breakthrough after the discovery of fossilized bacteria on Red Planet | Science | New



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Experts say they discovered microfilaments created by fossilized Martian microbes on the meteorite, known as ALH-77005, after using advanced imaging techniques. Dr. Ildiko Gyollai and his team at the Center for Research on Astronomy and Earth Sciences of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (HAS) used light microscopy and infrared technology to study textures and images. characteristics of the end sample of ALH-77005. The textures and features left by the organizations call "biosignatures".

They also analyzed the minerals contained in the stone and performed isotope tests to determine if chemical compounds were necessary for survival.

The rock they had examined was discovered in Antarctica by the Japanese National Institute of Polar Research during a 1977-1978 mission.

The researchers concluded that microscopic filaments could be evidence of surviving bacteria by eating iron dust.

The authors of the study stated in this article: "By comparing recent results and interpretation with other meteorites, it can be argued that, on these similarities, microbial-mediated biosignatures can be proposed as microbial mediation by bacteria oxidizing iron on Mars. "

But this is only the latest in a series of revelations about the possibility of a life on Mars.

In 1996, NASA made similar discoveries on another space rock that crashed into the Earth 13,000 years ago and that had been manufactured by the red planet four billion years ago. years earlier.

Bill Clinton, who was president of the United States at the time, supported the scientists in the pursuit of their research, claiming that he could offer "the most amazing information" on the universe.

He said: "Today, 84001 rock speaks to us for billions of years and millions of kilometers.

"It's about the possibility of life. If this discovery is confirmed, it will surely be one of the most amazing discoveries of our universe ever revealed by science.

"Its implications are as profound and as impressive as one can imagine. While he promises answers to some of our oldest questions, he raises even more fundamental ones. "

But hopes that the discovery could signal a scientific breakthrough were dashed when it was claimed that it would be impossible to prove that "biosignatures" were not made by non-biological processes.

The NASA Curiosity robot is digging on the red planet to collect samples of Martian clay, which scientists believe they have formed in the presence of water.

On April 6, the space agency confirmed that Curiosity had recovered rock samples from a rock nicknamed Aberlady.

The rover then sent the soil samples to his onboard lab equipment on April 10 and scientists eagerly await the results of the analysis.

Water is one of the most basic building blocks of life by human standards and is essential for discovering extraterrestrial life in other parts of the cosmos.

Scientists had long suspected that Mars had once housed a lush, humid atmosphere with a landscape not very different from that of the Earth.

But now, the planet is an inhospitable desert with a paper-like atmosphere swept by intense solar radiation.

The only water signs on Mars were found in the form of ice caps around the frozen south pole.

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