Posted on 11/06/2021 2:23:48 AM PDT by blueplum
NASA's Curiosity rover has discovered previously unknown organic molecules, ammonia and benzoic acid, on Mars that could be possible indicators of ancient life.
The findings stem from a new technique used by the American space agency in 2017 when the rover's drill stopped working, but the team re-routed Curiosity to place dirt samples into cups pre-filled with a chemical mixture instead of the typical empty containers.
The molecules are not biosignatures, evidence of past or present life, but according Maëva Millan, a postdoctoral fellow at NASA's Goddard Spaceflight Center, they are good indicators of the presence of biosignatures....
The dirt showed traces of benzoic acid and ammonia, both of which occur naturally in plants and animals, including humans....
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
It’s true, ammonia is not organic, at least according to the NIH. It is however produced biologically rather routinely, even in our own bodies, so it is discussed in organic chemistry all the time.
https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/Ammonia
Until it went "woke."
The Martian government has been corrupted by the Belters...
(ref: The Expanse... :-) ).
Some alien relieved themselves.....
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