Mars is often seen as the most likely place in the solar system to have, or have had,
life.
This could be indigenous life, or life that was delivered either to Mars through Panspermia,
or perhaps more intriguingly from Mars to here.
Are we Martians?
And while there are plenty of candidates for other life in the solar system, Mars is the
one that most strongly hints that there may be biological activity on that world.
It’s been known for a while that the gas methane is present on Mars and its levels
behave strangely.
They rise significantly during the summer months, and strange spikes have been reported
that are not easily explained.
But the idea that methane emissions behave seasonally on Mars differently from other
gases tends to paint a picture more like life than any abiotic atmospheric variation, and
tends to stand against volcanism producing the methane.
But now we have a new development.
A second gas is behaving strangely at Mars, and it too is a biosignature similar to methane.
It’s oxygen.
On earth, our oxygen is a product of life, photosynthesis, and while you don’t necessarily
need biological processes to produce oxygen, or for that matter methane, it remains a major
source for it here on earth.
It might be so on Mars, and when the levels of the two gases begin to correlate, then
it begins to hint that Mars is exhibiting a possible biosignature.
Possibly even a strong one.
In a study by Melissa Trainer and colleagues, link below, they detail that the Sample Analysis
at Mars, or SAM instrument showed that while there are seasonal patterns to gas levels
in Mars atmosphere, Oxygen stood out in following a different pattern.
It rose higher than predicted in Spring and summer, and fell below expected levels in
winter, though it’s never very high, averaging about .16 percent, so whatever is producing
it doesn’t produce much.
The researchers looked into abiotic ways where this might happen, such as if CO2 or Water
vapor were being split in the Martian atmosphere, but this ended up not explaining the effect.
One thing that was noted was that the effect varied each year, and thus made the idea of
abiotic atmospheric variation less likely.
While not a dead ringer biosignature, it does deepen the mystery of whether there could
still be life on Mars producing methane and possibly oxygen.
And, there are other possible biosignatures supporting this possibility.
In 2005, researchers using Mars Express found formaldehyde in the atmosphere of Mars.
This could be chemically produced by the oxidation of methane, but would require that Mars would
have to be a lot more geologically active than it appears.
Or, the formaldehyde could be a product of life.
And, in 2018, complex organics were finally found in quantity on Mars, again in Gale Crater
by Curiosity, though these are possibly fossils of sorts left from when Mars was young, and
far more habitable than today.
Other odd possible hints include strange levels of carbon 13 as opposed to Carbon 12.
There may be non-biological reasons for this, but it is worth noting that biological activity
can cause that, and the question remains open.
Another is rover images of what appear to be stromatolites, or fossil bacterial mats
on Mars.
But one indicator stands out from the rest, the labeled release experiment.
In 1976 NASA’s Viking landers arrived at Mars with direct life-detecting experiments.
One of these, the labeled release experiment, yielded positive detections of microbial life
on Mars.
It’s been debated ever since if these were indeed detections rather than false positives
caused by Martian soil chemistry, but evidence mounts that they were indeed a positive detection.
I discussed this very topic with one of the co-investigators on this experiment, Dr. Patricia
Ann Straat recently.
That interview, plus bonus material, will debut next week on my other channel, Event
Horizon, link below.
See you there.
Thanks for listening!
I am futurist and science fiction author John Michael Godier currently worried about the
Martian microbes.
If they are indeed present on Mars, then they would be tough.
And they probably would have co-evolved with equally tough viruses.
Just what I need, a Martian cold that lasts for 30 years.
If it will happen to anybody, it’ll be me and be sure to check out my books at your
favorite online book retailer and subscribe to my channels for regular, in depth explorations
into the interesting, weird and unknown aspects of this amazing universe in which we live.