NASA’s curiosity rover has found the largest organic compounds on Mars so far, raising questions about whether life had emerged on the red planet billions of years ago.
The compound address was found in the 3.7bn -year -old rock samples deposited in the Yellow Kanif Bay, an ancient Martin Lake that sheltered all the essential ingredients for life in the hot, wet past of the planet.
But the tests on the ship have found that the rock has long chain alkins, the remains of fatty acids on organic molecules. Compounds can be created through lifeless chemical reactions, but in all the earth’s organisms are the main ingredients of cell membranes.
Researchers have not claimed that they have found a bio -scorch – a “smoking gun” that shows that life was present once – but one expert said that the content represented the best opportunity that scientists had ever offered to identify the rest of life on Mars.
“These can be created by molecular chemistry or biology,” said Dr. Caroline Fercenate, an analytical chemist who guides research in the Laboratory of Environment and Space Observations in Gyancort, said Dr. Caroline Frecant. “If we have a long chain fatty acid on Mars, they can come-and this is the only assumption-4.7 bn years ago due to lack of cell membranes.”
Curiosity Rover has surrounded more than 20 miles (32 km) since landing on Mars in 2012. For six years in this mission, he detected organic marks in ancient soil stone, but all of these were relatively short carbon chains.
For the latest study, the Pharisees and his colleagues developed a new method to further test the dust -extinguished sample. This time, curiosity discovered very large organic, namely the decay, the Indicine and the Dodican.
Work on the ground shows that the Martin Rock sample, known as Cambland, probably contained carboxylic acid, or fatty acids, which turned into alkaline in heating processes. Scientists wrote, “Although the Abyatic process can create these acidity, they are considered to be the global products of biochemistry, Pradesh and perhaps Martin.” The action of the National Academy of Sciences.
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Further organic analysis deepeted the conspiracy only. When the organisms on the earth make fatty acids, the compounds have a higher number of carbon atoms. The reason for this is that some enzymes make fatty acids by adding two carbon atoms at a time. Scientists also saw his gestures in the Martin Organic. “Kimberland is teasing us.” In the middle, a 12 carbon in the middle is greater than the other two. We have the same trend on Mars, but the trend of three molecules is not a real trend. Still, this is very interesting. “
This detection shows that, at least, the organic signatures of life can be stored in Martin Rock for billions of years, reinforcing the hope that life should ever emerge on the planet, its remains can still be found.
The question is what to do next. Curiosity is carrying the second sample of the rock that scientists want to analyze for even bigger organic. This can promote more fatty acids, including carbon. But it will not be final.
John Eller, a professor of geology and geopolitics at the California Institute of Technology, said that analysis of various carbon and hydrogen oysteros in organic can showcase their origin. However, tests require only a handful of goods on the ground. “Currently, there is no proud way to measure such a place on Mars using a device tool,” he said. He will have to wait for a return mission from Mars.
“The results reported in this article have given Mars a great opportunity to identify the remains of life,” said Eller. “But such patterns need to return to the ground to seal this deal.”
