In February 2009, under the same title, published an article on ABC this disturbing possibility. Then, H. Jay Melosh, professor of planetary sciences at the University of Arizona and one of the world's leading authorities on the study of meteorite impacts the Earth, supported the hypothesis that life could have originated on Mars before that in our own world, to travel then to here aboard meteorites. Now researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard University, are completing development of an instrument able to resolve the matter.
The idea, though it may seem far-fetched, actually has a logic. For many biologists and geologists today, in fact, there is no doubt that Mars is, or at least there ever, life. Nearly forty unmanned missions have been sent so far to the Red Planet, a large part of them with the specific mission of finding water (whose presence there has been repeatedly confirmed) and traces of any organic life, whether past or present.
And is that the history of Mars is very similar to our own world. We know that, just as on Earth, there were seas and oceans, however, were lost for lack of an atmosphere the planet can retain and recycle the water evaporated by the sun As they evaporate water from the seas, just was lost in space.
However, it is more than plausible to think that whilst these seas existed, came to hold some form of organic life. A process, moreover, that could take place even before the Earth itself, according to an analysis of the data sent by the spacecraft currently orbiting Mars and robotic vehicles, Spirit and Opportunity, have spent many years "walking" and analysis of the dusty and arid surface.
And then there are the asteroids and comets that continually collide with each and every one of the worlds of the solar system, spraying their surfaces with craters that are visible for many millions of years. When one of these "stray space" strikes a planet, poses a significant cloud of debris and stones, in turn, are launched into space and may collide (in fact do) against other worlds of the planetary system. Here on Earth, have already found a handful of meteorites that have proved to be fragments of Martian soil. Carambola
cosmic
If it is demonstrated that, indeed, before life developed on Mars than on Earth, it would be risky to assume, Melosh claimed in 2009 that could "move" to our own world, taking advantage of some of These "cosmic cannons." Here on Earth, those primitive prebiotic molecules, or perhaps even functional microorganisms, found a more favorable breeding ground in which to develop and prosper.
However, despite the fact that most researchers are convinced that life once flourished on the Red Planet, there is still no irrefutable evidence that in fact happened. Now, Christopher Carr, a scientist at MIT, and Gary Ruvkun, a molecular biologist at Harvard University, proposed a completely new strategy to resolve the issue: look at Mars fragments of DNA or RNA, particularly certain sequences of this molecule that are present in the vast majority of land creatures and can therefore be regarded as universal.
If you find that genetic material on Mars, Carr and Ruvkun say that, thanks to an instrument developed by its teams, could determine whether or not related to life forms on Earth.
The idea is based on a number of well established facts. First, when the solar system was young, the climates of Mars and Earth were much more similar to each other than they are today, so that life arising in any of the two worlds could have easily survived the other . Second, are estimated to have already reached Earth about a billion tons of rock from Mars, blasted into space after the impact of meteorites on the Martian surface. Third, it has been demonstrated that some microbes are able to survive these tremendous impact and, moreover, can be kept "on hold" for the hundreds or thousands of years of duration of their space voyage.
Descendants of Martian microbes, therefore, the idea that life arose in one of the two planets to be then "transported" to the other, is more than plausible. Finally, the orbital dynamics of Mars and Earth make it a hundred times easier for a rock to travel from Mars to Earth than vice versa. As if life there actually came first, some microbes have been able to "transplant" to Earth, so that everyone would be his descendants.
If things happened in this way we could learn important lessons about our own biological studying the complex biochemistry of our neighboring planet, where the first traces of life, hopelessly missing here on Earth, would have been preserved thanks to cold environment.
The spacecraft developed by the MIT would take samples of Martian soil and be able to isolate any living organism or other biological containing DNA and then separating the genetic material and analyze their sequences with standard techniques. "It's a long shot - gives Carr, but if we go to Mars and find life forms that are related to us, it could be that our home was Mars. Or, if life began here, might have been transferred to Mars. "
" In both cases, "concludes the researcher would be related to life on Mars."
There is another point that, in general, scientists agree. If indeed there is still something alive on Mars, it is likely that something is not on the surface, too cold and dry, but under it. "on Mars today," says Carr, the best place to find life is in the basement. "So the talent being developed by the MIT team is specially designed to obtain groundwater samples.
The idea, though it may seem far-fetched, actually has a logic. For many biologists and geologists today, in fact, there is no doubt that Mars is, or at least there ever, life. Nearly forty unmanned missions have been sent so far to the Red Planet, a large part of them with the specific mission of finding water (whose presence there has been repeatedly confirmed) and traces of any organic life, whether past or present.
And is that the history of Mars is very similar to our own world. We know that, just as on Earth, there were seas and oceans, however, were lost for lack of an atmosphere the planet can retain and recycle the water evaporated by the sun As they evaporate water from the seas, just was lost in space.
However, it is more than plausible to think that whilst these seas existed, came to hold some form of organic life. A process, moreover, that could take place even before the Earth itself, according to an analysis of the data sent by the spacecraft currently orbiting Mars and robotic vehicles, Spirit and Opportunity, have spent many years "walking" and analysis of the dusty and arid surface.
And then there are the asteroids and comets that continually collide with each and every one of the worlds of the solar system, spraying their surfaces with craters that are visible for many millions of years. When one of these "stray space" strikes a planet, poses a significant cloud of debris and stones, in turn, are launched into space and may collide (in fact do) against other worlds of the planetary system. Here on Earth, have already found a handful of meteorites that have proved to be fragments of Martian soil. Carambola
cosmic
If it is demonstrated that, indeed, before life developed on Mars than on Earth, it would be risky to assume, Melosh claimed in 2009 that could "move" to our own world, taking advantage of some of These "cosmic cannons." Here on Earth, those primitive prebiotic molecules, or perhaps even functional microorganisms, found a more favorable breeding ground in which to develop and prosper.
However, despite the fact that most researchers are convinced that life once flourished on the Red Planet, there is still no irrefutable evidence that in fact happened. Now, Christopher Carr, a scientist at MIT, and Gary Ruvkun, a molecular biologist at Harvard University, proposed a completely new strategy to resolve the issue: look at Mars fragments of DNA or RNA, particularly certain sequences of this molecule that are present in the vast majority of land creatures and can therefore be regarded as universal.
If you find that genetic material on Mars, Carr and Ruvkun say that, thanks to an instrument developed by its teams, could determine whether or not related to life forms on Earth.
The idea is based on a number of well established facts. First, when the solar system was young, the climates of Mars and Earth were much more similar to each other than they are today, so that life arising in any of the two worlds could have easily survived the other . Second, are estimated to have already reached Earth about a billion tons of rock from Mars, blasted into space after the impact of meteorites on the Martian surface. Third, it has been demonstrated that some microbes are able to survive these tremendous impact and, moreover, can be kept "on hold" for the hundreds or thousands of years of duration of their space voyage.
Descendants of Martian microbes, therefore, the idea that life arose in one of the two planets to be then "transported" to the other, is more than plausible. Finally, the orbital dynamics of Mars and Earth make it a hundred times easier for a rock to travel from Mars to Earth than vice versa. As if life there actually came first, some microbes have been able to "transplant" to Earth, so that everyone would be his descendants.
If things happened in this way we could learn important lessons about our own biological studying the complex biochemistry of our neighboring planet, where the first traces of life, hopelessly missing here on Earth, would have been preserved thanks to cold environment.
The spacecraft developed by the MIT would take samples of Martian soil and be able to isolate any living organism or other biological containing DNA and then separating the genetic material and analyze their sequences with standard techniques. "It's a long shot - gives Carr, but if we go to Mars and find life forms that are related to us, it could be that our home was Mars. Or, if life began here, might have been transferred to Mars. "
" In both cases, "concludes the researcher would be related to life on Mars."
There is another point that, in general, scientists agree. If indeed there is still something alive on Mars, it is likely that something is not on the surface, too cold and dry, but under it. "on Mars today," says Carr, the best place to find life is in the basement. "So the talent being developed by the MIT team is specially designed to obtain groundwater samples.
ABC Science.
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