NASA Funded Research Shows Existence Of Reduced Carbon On Mars
NASA-funded research on Mars meteorites that landed on Earth shows strong evidence that very large molecules containing carbon, which is a key ingredient for the building blocks of life, can originate on the Red Planet. These macromolecules are not of biological origin, but they are indicators that complex carbon chemistry has taken place on Mars. Researchers from the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington who found reduced carbon molecules now have better insight into the chemical processes taking place on Mars. Reduced carbon is carbon that is bonded to hydrogen or itself. Their findings also may assist in future quests for evidence of life on the Red Planet. The findings are published in Thursday's online edition of Science Express. Read more
Bottled carbon from Mars bodes well for ancient aliens
Tiny carbon nuggets in meteorites from Mars were formed by cooling magma, not left by ancient alien microbes. That's both good news and bad news for astrobiologists. The 1996 discovery of carbonate structures in meteorite ALH-84001 - which travelled to Earth from Mars more than 13,000 years ago - was hailed at the time as evidence that alien microbes once lived on the red planet. However, subsequent studies of both the carbonate structures and tiny nuggets of macromolecular carbon (MMC) in the meteorite cast doubt on the claims. To better understand where Martian carbon might have come from, Andrew Steele and colleagues at the Carnegie Institution of Washington in Washington DC examined samples from 11 Martian meteorites - including the famed ALH-84001. Read more