Toward a Universal Biology: The Search for Life on Mars

There are eight columns in the Periodic Table. The eighth column is comprised of the rare gases, so-called because they are the rarest elements on earth. They are also called the inert or noble gases because, like nobility, they do no work. They are colorless, odorless, invisible gases which do not react with anything, and were thought to be unimportant until the early 1960s. Starting in that era, David Fisher has spent roughly fifty years doing research on these gases, publishing nearly a hundred papers in the scientific journals, applying them to problems in geophysics and cosmochemistry, and learning how other scientists have utilized them to change our ideas about the universe, the sun, and our own planet. Much Ado about (Practically) Nothing will cover this spectrum of ideas, interspersed with the author's own work which will serve to introduce each gas and the important work others have done with them. The rare gases have participated in a wide range of scientific advances-even revolutions-but no book has ever recorded the entire story. Fisher will range from the intricacies of the atomic nucleus and the tiniest of elementary particles, the neutrino, to the energy source of the stars; from the age of the earth to its future energies; from life on Mars to cancer here on earth. A whole panoply that has never before been told as an entity.

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Origin of Life on Mars: Suitability and Opportunities

Life ◽

10.3390/life11060539 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (6) ◽

pp. 539

Author(s):

Benton C. Clark ◽

Vera M. Kolb ◽

Andrew Steele ◽

Christopher H. House ◽

Nina L. Lanza ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Origin Of Life ◽

Energy Sources ◽

Early Earth ◽

Sediment Samples ◽

Life On Mars ◽

Eventual Return ◽

History Of ◽

Early Mars ◽

Chemical Conditions ◽

Physical And Chemical

Although the habitability of early Mars is now well established, its suitability for conditions favorable to an independent origin of life (OoL) has been less certain. With continued exploration, evidence has mounted for a widespread diversity of physical and chemical conditions on Mars that mimic those variously hypothesized as settings in which life first arose on Earth. Mars has also provided water, energy sources, CHNOPS elements, critical catalytic transition metal elements, as well as B, Mg, Ca, Na and K, all of which are elements associated with life as we know it. With its highly favorable sulfur abundance and land/ocean ratio, early wet Mars remains a prime candidate for its own OoL, in many respects superior to Earth. The relatively well-preserved ancient surface of planet Mars helps inform the range of possible analogous conditions during the now-obliterated history of early Earth. Continued exploration of Mars also contributes to the understanding of the opportunities for settings enabling an OoL on exoplanets. Favoring geochemical sediment samples for eventual return to Earth will enhance assessments of the likelihood of a Martian OoL.

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Life on Mars: a clue to life on Earth?

Chemistry & Biology ◽

10.1016/s1074-5521(97)90231-3 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

pp. 9-12 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

André Brack

Keyword(s):

Life On Mars ◽

Life On Earth

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The use of mineral crystals as bio-markers in the search for life on Mars

Advances in Space Research ◽

10.1016/0273-1177(92)90164-s ◽

1992 ◽

Vol 12 (4) ◽

pp. 117-119 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

D.E. Schwartz ◽

R.L. Mancinelli ◽

E.S. Kaneshiro

Keyword(s):

Life On Mars

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Astrobiological Field Campaign to a Volcanosedimentary Mars Analogue Methane Producing Subsurface Protected Ecosystem: Imuruk Lake (Alaska)

Advances in Astronomy ◽

10.1155/2011/953936 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 2011 ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

F. Gómez ◽

O. Prieto-Ballesteros ◽

D. Fernández-Remolar ◽

J. A. Rodríguez-Manfredi ◽

M. Fernández-Sampedro ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Molecular Ecology ◽

Point Of View ◽

Land Bridge ◽

High Hydrogen ◽

Adverse Conditions ◽

Life On Mars ◽

Life Detection ◽

National Preserve ◽

Mars Exploration Rovers

Viking missions reported adverse conditions for life in Mars surface. High hydrogen signal obtained by Mars orbiters has increased the interest in subsurface prospection as putative protected Mars environment with life potential. Permafrost has attracted considerable interest from an astrobiological point of view due to the recently reported results from the Mars exploration rovers. Considerable studies have been developed on extreme ecosystems and permafrost in particular, to evaluate the possibility of life on Mars and to test specific automated life detection instruments for space missions. The biodiversity of permafrost located on the Bering Land Bridge National Preserve has been studied as an example of subsurface protected niche of astrobiological interest. Different conventional (enrichment and isolation) and molecular ecology techniques (cloning, fluorescence“in situ”probe hybridization, FISH) have been used for isolation and bacterial identification.

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