In the latest study of a 4.5 billion-year-old Martian meteorite, researchers have presented new evidence confirming that 25 percent of the magnetic material in the meteorite was produced by ancient bacteria on Mars. These latest results were published in the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. The researchers used six physical properties they refer to as the Magnetite Assay for Biogenicity (MAB) to compare all the magnetic material found in the ancient meteorite -- using the MAB as a biosignature. A biosignature is a physical and/or chemical marker of life that does not occur through random processes or human intervention. "No non-biologic magnetite population, whether produced by nature or in the laboratory, has ever met the MAB criteria," said Kathie Thomas-Keprta, an astrobiologist at NASAs Johnson Space Center (JSC) in Houston and the lead researcher on the study. "This means that one-quarter of the magnetite crystals embedded in the carbonates in Martian meteorite ALH84001 require the intervention of biology to explain their presence."
http://spaceflightnow.com/news/n0208/04marslife/
Popular Posts
-
... or, Decemberween. Whatever. http://www.homestarrunner.com/xmas04.html
-
"The fish was delish and it made quite a dish." http://www.homestarrunner.com/sbemail120.html
-
Very dry, dull book with some basic financial info like ROI and cash flow. Not a lot here.
-
After a year of hell, I've been given a reprieve. I've spent the last year dealing with contracts, negotiation, budgeting, and confl...
-
It's been almost exaclty three years since I've updated this blog. In that three years, I've achieved a lot -- I've gone aft...
-
Humanclock.com runs on a Radio Shack 2.4mhz TRS-80 Model 100 portable computer, using a stripped-down version of the Apache webserver softwa...
-
C reported on his recent talks in Washington. There was a perceptible shift in attitude. Military action was now seen as inevitable. Bush wa...
-
Robots are being let loose in a colony of machines in an attempt to find out whether they can learn from their experiences. The scientists b...
-
I had the pleasure to attend the IBM Think conference in wet and chilly San Fran from Feb 11-14th of this year. The event overall was ...
-
Not a bad audio book, but I expected more. Big ideas: Build a high performance, high-trust culture; Identify desired results and un...
