Posted on 04/05/2002 11:04:40 AM PST by GeneD
Scientists have found "intriguing" new evidence that may indicate there is life on Mars.
An analysis of data obtained by the Pathfinder mission to the Red Planet in 1997 suggests there could be chlorophyll - the molecule used by plants and other organisms on Earth to extract energy from sunlight - in the soil close to the landing site.
Researchers stress their work is in a very preliminary state and they are far from making definite claims.
Even so, the work is attracting much attention in the scientific community and will come under intense scrutiny when it is presented to an astrobiology conference in the US next week.
Dr Carol Stoker, from the American space agency's (Nasa) Ames Research Center, confirmed the findings to BBC News Online but cautioned that they were "not ready for the big time".
Early data
Mars Pathfinder mission touched down in the Ares Vallis region of Mars in July 1997. It took many images of the surrounding area and released a small rover to sample rocks.
A detailed analysis of the images of the landing site now reveals two areas close to Pathfinder that have the spectral signature of chlorophyll.
According to experts it might be highly significant - or could be just a patch of coloured soil.
Dr Stoker's team scrutinised the so-called Superpan, which is a high-resolution, highly processed series of superimposed images produced by Pathfinder's camera.
It is a multispectral panorama of the landing site recorded in 15 regions of the spectrum, and contains a wealth of information about rock types, colours and textures.
Knowing the spectral signature of chlorophyll, the researchers wrote a computer program that systematically scanned the Superpan for any pixels of interest.
Specifically, the program looked for the spectral signature associated with red light absorption by chlorophyll.
Previous searches for evidence of chlorophyll in Pathfinder's pictures were carried out shortly after it landed.
Some tentative indications were seen but they were later dismissed as "possible image misregistration".
Two patches
In Dr Stoker's study six regions of the Superpan matched positive for the chlorophyll signature.
For each of the regions, a full spectrum was plotted out and their exact position in the Superpan was then carefully examined.
All of the detections occurred close to the camera. This is to be expected say the researchers, as these are the areas where the camera has the highest sensitivity and resolution.
Close examination revealed that four of the cases occurred on the Pathfinder spacecraft itself. But two regions showed a chlorophyll signature in the soil around Pathfinder.
Given the controversial nature of their findings and the early stage of the research, the scientists want to hold back any claims about what they may have found until they have done more work and prepared a detailed paper for submission in a scientific journal.
Intelligent life is even rarer - witness the Democratic Party.
Life, ah yes, chlorophyl, and perhaps we should cut the Tree of Liberty, or what's left of it, so this precious life form can continue, unhampered by the sight of man.
Wouldn't it be something if this new life form resembled a fetus! Our beloved scientists would find themselves with a quandary--how to submit this find to the journals while simultaneously straddling the life begins at question.
Things could really begin to get curious should some televangelist suggest that this new find is really evidence that the concept of evolution may in fact have a life beyond earth, a kind of spiritual evolution never conceived of before.
The plot thickens.
How about building blocks of life? Amino acids, remote sensing techniques, of course. And what about the disputed Mars meteorite with its Mars bacillum fossil? Huh?
Still, astrobiologists are scarce, but there is a ton of data and more arriving every day. There are also exobiologists and zenobiologists, and specialists within the fields. Don't forget the wheat experiment to be launched to the ISS, and the many experimental closed-loop life support systems being developed for Mars exploration. Astrobiologists are developing crops that will grow in the fields of Mars. That is a lot to keep up with.
Probe Into Cuba's Possible 'Sunken City' Advances
BY ANDREW CAWTHORNE
HAVANA - (Reuters) - Scientific investigators said on Friday they hope to better determine later this year if an unusual rock formation deep off Cuba's coast could be a sunken city from a previously unknown ancient civilization.
``These are extremely peculiar structures ... They have captured all our imagination,'' Cuban geologist Manuel Iturralde said at a conference after a week on a boat over the site.
Hey, maybe we can be the new colonist, and leave the socialists to their own thirld world planet, aye? Wow. "A new land."
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