You can make a bet now: we human are not alone in the universe with high intelligence!
In addition to organic molecules, the Curiosity rover has found another key chemical lurking in the martian soil: nitrates—the NO3-bearing compounds that are crucial ingredients for life on Earth and a chief component in fertilizer. The nitrogen is thought to come from the martian atmosphere, which, though depleted today, was much thicker in ancient times. On Earth, microbes tend to do most of the nitrogen "fixing": taking it out of the atmosphere and making it available in the soil to be used by life. On Mars, the nitrates could have been fixed without life—through the energy of asteroid impacts, for instance. But the discovery nonetheless means that another crucial nutrient was available in Mars's ancient past. Author: Eric Hand
View article...<http://www.sciencemag.org/content/347/6229/1403.1.summary?rss=1>
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Posted on: Friday, 27 March 2015 11:00 AM
Author: Eric Hand
Subject: [In Depth] Mars rover finds long-chain organic compounds
Scientists working with NASA's Curiosity rover have made the most definitive detections of organic molecules on Mars yet: a six-carbon compound called chlorobenzene at levels of up to 300 parts per billion. Moreover, they have found hints of heavier, longer-chain molecules—even a possible 10-carbon carboxylic acid resembling a fatty acid, a type of molecule found in cell walls. Although the detected molecules do not necessarily indicate past or present life—the compounds could also come from asteroid impacts or rocks exhumed from Mars's mantle—they show that fragile organic materials can survive in the harsh environment. The method used to isolate the more complex organics turns what had heretofore been a contamination issue—leakage of a solvent used in Curiosity's "wet labs"—into a new tool for discovery. Author: Eric Hand
View article...<http://www.sciencemag.org/content/347/6229/1402.summary?rss=1>
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