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Early Mars 'too salty' for life

Fri, 02/15/2008 - 23:31 - NLN

The Red Planet was too salty to sustain life for much of its history, according to the latest evidence gathered by rovers on the Martian surface.

High concentration of minerals in water on early Mars would have made it inhospitable to even the toughest micro organisms, a leading Nasa expert says.

Clues preserved in rocks that were once awash with water suggest the environment was both acidic and briny.

The observations were made by the US space agency's Opportunity rover.

Read full story in BBC News.


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Sat, 02/16/2008 - 00:14 — quantum_flux

Too Salty to Support Life?

Didn't think that was possible. What if their cell membranes were made out of stainless steel instead of lipids, and conducting electricity was their mechanism for motility?

Sat, 02/16/2008 - 23:46 — quantum_flux

Other forms of Evolution!?

What if their cell membranes were made out of iron or manganous compounds instead of lipids, and conducting electricity was their mechanism for motility? What if ultraviolet radiation was their energy source? What makes carbon-bonds and hydroxide-hydrogen bonds so special? Surely there are many other methods by which live can evolve, no? Don't our nerve cells require vitamins and minerals which are indigenous to our planet, and wouldn't one expect alien nerve cells to be indigenous to the energy transfer of that planet?

My method of looking for life would be to do experiments on earth with all different kinds of compounds, cellular automaton simulations, and maybe trying to create biological hybrids between Earth's microorganisms with certain rare chemical elements found here on Earth. Target the nerve cells of microorganisms, that's what makes them move, put them in other environments and see how they adapt, there is nothing magical here!

Perhaps it would be wise to fiddle with human-indigenous organisms and cockroach indigenous organisms (they thrive on human wastes), and see how adaption to alien environments goes. This is just as cheap as chemistry, because these bugs don't have any rights, although it would be smart to do such experiments in isolation so that the alien life forms don't destroy our technologies as being food.

One guess would be that iron eating bacteria might be able to thrive on mars if it were given some form of ultraviolet receptive mechanism for causing a chemical reaction (look at the various glowing organisms for something that radiates in the ultraviolet range). I think that tuna organisms are resistant to mercury, or at least some day they will be, right!? Maybe a hybrid of tuna organisms and glow worm organisms could create a cell membrane that is made out of carbon-mercury bonds, and that can synthesise ultraviolet sunlight!? It would, of course, pose a direct threat to humanity, but it might thrive on mars.

Imagination + Experimentation = Discoverying Alien Life Possibilities

Sat, 02/16/2008 - 00:53 — terren

short-sightedness

I don't know about steel membranes, but I do agree with your skepticism. It has certainly been the case that we've found lifeforms just about everywhere we look on earth, including extremely hot conditions, extremely acidic, and so on. It seems a bit short-sighted to rule life out because we can't imagine how it could arise in conditions we consider extreme.

Sat, 02/16/2008 - 23:42 — RobDinsmore

Was it always so salty?

Although I agree that life could conceivably exist in a non earth like environment, I also find it hard to believe that any sea could become instantly salty and acidic. What they found was what was left behind and tells little about the martian aquatic environment throughout its entire history. Life could have evolved under more hospitable conditions and later adapted to life in one of these type of seas, which may just be a special case anyhow.

So in short they really need more data so they can paint a more thorough picture of what the areological history of the planet actually was. Heck they just found out there was water there a few years ago.

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