The search for the origins of life continues outside the Earth.
Delving into the world wide web found a very interesting material.
To answer this question “Is there life on Mars?” Scientists are studying the microstructure of Martian meteorites. In these meteorites, under an electron microscope, little bodies are found that are surprisingly similar in shape to fossil terrestrial bacteria.
Vladimir Sergeev, a leading researcher at the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, tells us about what education is found in meteorites:
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- These findings in meteorites, depending on the mood of the researchers are trying to pass or nutrients, or biogenic structures. There are optimists, and there are pessimists. These meteorites have been studied for quite some time. In the years 1960-1970, one of the famous Precambrian researchers, Bartholomew Unagi, specially studied meteorites collected by the NASA program, but then his research gave a negative result: he did not find anything alive, although there are structures there that look like bacteria.
But outwardly similar to the remnants of bacteria - spherical or ruled form - may be inorganic formations. The last meteorite boom was associated with the discovery in Antarctica of a meteorite, flown from Mars. If a sufficiently powerful meteorite hits the surface of Mars, then since the atmosphere on the planet is very rarefied, the fragments may well reach the second cosmic velocity, fly away from the planet and begin to wander around the Solar System. And in the end, such a fragment can be attracted by the Earth and fall. There are already quite a lot of such lunar meteorites. But there are meteorites that are considered to be Martian. One of these meteorites was found in 1984 in Antarctica in the rocks, whose age is estimated at four and a half billion years. In the fissure of this meteorite, fragments of some kind of carbon matter were found, and the smallest remains were found, which were interpreted as bacteria. They were discovered in 1996. This caused a whole boom and a lot of questions: including whether there can be microorganisms of such small size when they hit a meteorite crack - on Mars or already on Earth.
The fact is that the carbon residues that were found in the Antarctic meteorite have anomalously small dimensions, on the order of nanometers. The discussion of whether living organisms can have such dimensions is still incomplete.
The smallest bacteria more than 10 times - this is a submicron size, but it is much smaller, for example, cyanobacteria.
- Is it possible to say that fossil bacteria have been discovered on the Antarctic meteorites?
- In any case, the findings of astrobiology from NASA interpreted this way. The question is: if cyanobacteria really appeared more than three billion years ago, could they have come to us from another planet? Previously, there were objections that no bacteria could reach the Earth - they would boil when entering the atmosphere. But now it is shown that due to evaporation and reduced pressure, water begins to boil not at 100, but at 60 degrees. That is, fundamentally, the Earth’s surface ice meteorites could reach with the remnants of life. This was demonstrated by the staff of the Institute of Microbiology - Orleans and his colleagues. That is, there are no theoretical objections to the possibility of hitting life on Earth.
- Life could be brought to Earth from other planets?
- For a person who is engaged in Precambrian paleontology, the most ancient microorganisms, it is extremely interesting to see what could be in meteorites or in the nearest planets of the Solar System, including Mars. But while there is no fundamental breakthrough. Any discovery of life outside the Earth can give a big leap for the development of science and even new technologies, including military ones.
I am sure that if we could create an artificial life, then the research would immediately be classified. Because it gives the country or the scientists who created it huge advantages in obtaining new biological weapons.
- It can be assumed that life forms brought to Earth from space were not even cyanobacteria, but some earlier forms.
- 4 - 4 and a half billion years ago Mars very much reminded the Earth. It was a planet with a dense atmosphere, where volcanoes were actively working, rivers flowed over the surface, and then the planet died, the atmosphere was gone, the rivers dried out. Mars became what it is about three and a half billion years ago. This is exactly what Professor Nuvan of Harvard University is keen on. When he last visited us in 2005, he spoke in great detail about the Martian program. And showed what the rovers found. Strictly speaking, they have so far found almost nothing. Found the oldest sequence of sedimentary rocks outside the Earth, caused by the wind three and a half billion years ago.
- Is there hope that somewhere on Mars life forms are preserved? Maybe in the depths?
- It may well be. We now know that for the life of organisms absolutely not necessarily such wonderful conditions as on Earth. They can be living in very harsh conditions with the elementary availability of water. They can live well under the surface of Mars, even in modern conditions. Not only on Mars, but also on Jupiter’s moons, life can exist. It was the birth of life that could have happened not on Earth-like planets, but, say, on Jupiter’s satellite Europe, where there are volcanoes, there is water, and this satellite may be promising for the search for modern extraterrestrial life, or it may be fossil, assuming that in ancient times the sun stronger. In addition, there is an atmosphere in Europe. But even the atmosphere is not necessary for the existence of life. But life on Venus is unlikely, since at this temperature everything should be welded. But on the satellites of Jupiter and Marsk - it is quite possible. Even the giants Jupiter and Saturn cannot be excluded - and there may be primitive bacterial forms.
Now for the study would help the core of the Martian breed. For me, as a Precambrian paleontologist, who works largely with cyanobacteria, it would be very interesting to get such a sample from Mars, even if he gave a negative answer.
- Space research can shed light on the origin of life on Earth?
- According to some estimates, life appeared on Earth about four and a half billion years ago. The oldest sediments on the Earth’s surface in Greenland are 3.8 billion years old. At one time, the remains of microorganisms were described there, including those that are fairly highly organized. Then it turned out that these deposits are so strongly metamorphosed that nothing can remain there. Unfortunately, the problem of the origin of life on earth by paleontological methods is not solved.
Reference to the source: www.svobodanews.ru/Article/2007/07/16/20070716152118350.html
To answer this question “Is there life on Mars?” Scientists are studying the microstructure of Martian meteorites. In these meteorites, under an electron microscope, little bodies are found that are surprisingly similar in shape to fossil terrestrial bacteria.
Vladimir Sergeev, a leading researcher at the Geological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences, tells us about what education is found in meteorites:
')
- These findings in meteorites, depending on the mood of the researchers are trying to pass or nutrients, or biogenic structures. There are optimists, and there are pessimists. These meteorites have been studied for quite some time. In the years 1960-1970, one of the famous Precambrian researchers, Bartholomew Unagi, specially studied meteorites collected by the NASA program, but then his research gave a negative result: he did not find anything alive, although there are structures there that look like bacteria.
But outwardly similar to the remnants of bacteria - spherical or ruled form - may be inorganic formations. The last meteorite boom was associated with the discovery in Antarctica of a meteorite, flown from Mars. If a sufficiently powerful meteorite hits the surface of Mars, then since the atmosphere on the planet is very rarefied, the fragments may well reach the second cosmic velocity, fly away from the planet and begin to wander around the Solar System. And in the end, such a fragment can be attracted by the Earth and fall. There are already quite a lot of such lunar meteorites. But there are meteorites that are considered to be Martian. One of these meteorites was found in 1984 in Antarctica in the rocks, whose age is estimated at four and a half billion years. In the fissure of this meteorite, fragments of some kind of carbon matter were found, and the smallest remains were found, which were interpreted as bacteria. They were discovered in 1996. This caused a whole boom and a lot of questions: including whether there can be microorganisms of such small size when they hit a meteorite crack - on Mars or already on Earth.
The fact is that the carbon residues that were found in the Antarctic meteorite have anomalously small dimensions, on the order of nanometers. The discussion of whether living organisms can have such dimensions is still incomplete.
The smallest bacteria more than 10 times - this is a submicron size, but it is much smaller, for example, cyanobacteria.
- Is it possible to say that fossil bacteria have been discovered on the Antarctic meteorites?
- In any case, the findings of astrobiology from NASA interpreted this way. The question is: if cyanobacteria really appeared more than three billion years ago, could they have come to us from another planet? Previously, there were objections that no bacteria could reach the Earth - they would boil when entering the atmosphere. But now it is shown that due to evaporation and reduced pressure, water begins to boil not at 100, but at 60 degrees. That is, fundamentally, the Earth’s surface ice meteorites could reach with the remnants of life. This was demonstrated by the staff of the Institute of Microbiology - Orleans and his colleagues. That is, there are no theoretical objections to the possibility of hitting life on Earth.
- Life could be brought to Earth from other planets?
- For a person who is engaged in Precambrian paleontology, the most ancient microorganisms, it is extremely interesting to see what could be in meteorites or in the nearest planets of the Solar System, including Mars. But while there is no fundamental breakthrough. Any discovery of life outside the Earth can give a big leap for the development of science and even new technologies, including military ones.
I am sure that if we could create an artificial life, then the research would immediately be classified. Because it gives the country or the scientists who created it huge advantages in obtaining new biological weapons.
- It can be assumed that life forms brought to Earth from space were not even cyanobacteria, but some earlier forms.
- 4 - 4 and a half billion years ago Mars very much reminded the Earth. It was a planet with a dense atmosphere, where volcanoes were actively working, rivers flowed over the surface, and then the planet died, the atmosphere was gone, the rivers dried out. Mars became what it is about three and a half billion years ago. This is exactly what Professor Nuvan of Harvard University is keen on. When he last visited us in 2005, he spoke in great detail about the Martian program. And showed what the rovers found. Strictly speaking, they have so far found almost nothing. Found the oldest sequence of sedimentary rocks outside the Earth, caused by the wind three and a half billion years ago.
- Is there hope that somewhere on Mars life forms are preserved? Maybe in the depths?
- It may well be. We now know that for the life of organisms absolutely not necessarily such wonderful conditions as on Earth. They can be living in very harsh conditions with the elementary availability of water. They can live well under the surface of Mars, even in modern conditions. Not only on Mars, but also on Jupiter’s moons, life can exist. It was the birth of life that could have happened not on Earth-like planets, but, say, on Jupiter’s satellite Europe, where there are volcanoes, there is water, and this satellite may be promising for the search for modern extraterrestrial life, or it may be fossil, assuming that in ancient times the sun stronger. In addition, there is an atmosphere in Europe. But even the atmosphere is not necessary for the existence of life. But life on Venus is unlikely, since at this temperature everything should be welded. But on the satellites of Jupiter and Marsk - it is quite possible. Even the giants Jupiter and Saturn cannot be excluded - and there may be primitive bacterial forms.
Now for the study would help the core of the Martian breed. For me, as a Precambrian paleontologist, who works largely with cyanobacteria, it would be very interesting to get such a sample from Mars, even if he gave a negative answer.
- Space research can shed light on the origin of life on Earth?
- According to some estimates, life appeared on Earth about four and a half billion years ago. The oldest sediments on the Earth’s surface in Greenland are 3.8 billion years old. At one time, the remains of microorganisms were described there, including those that are fairly highly organized. Then it turned out that these deposits are so strongly metamorphosed that nothing can remain there. Unfortunately, the problem of the origin of life on earth by paleontological methods is not solved.
Reference to the source: www.svobodanews.ru/Article/2007/07/16/20070716152118350.html
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/12275/
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