Perseverance Finds Potential Chemical Signatures of Ancient Microbial Life on Mars

Introduction

The quest to discover past life on Mars has long captivated scientists and the public alike. With NASA’s Perseverance rover exploring the Jezero Crater, a site believed to have once hosted a lake, researchers are uncovering intriguing evidence that may point to ancient microbial life. A recent publication in Nature details the extensive geological, petrographic, and geochemical investigations conducted by the rover’s suite of instruments, revealing potential biosignatures in rocks of the Bright Angel formation. This article delves into these findings, their significance, and the broader implications for understanding Mars’ ancient habitability.

This artist’s impression shows how Mars may have looked about 4 billion years ago.

Image credit: M. Kornmesser / ESO.

The Geological Context of Jezero Crater

• Jezero Crater as a Window into Mars’ Past

Jezero Crater, approximately 45 kilometers in diameter, was once a lake-rich environment that preserved a diverse array of sedimentary deposits. Its geological makeup offers a unique record of Mars' early climate and potential habitability. The crater’s deposits include mudstones and conglomerates indicative of flowing water and standing lakes, making it an ideal site to search for biosignatures. These sediments have the potential to contain organic molecules and microfossils, providing crucial clues about past life possibilities on Mars. The stratigraphy within Jezero reveals multiple episodes of water activity, including lake formation and sedimentation, which are essential for understanding the planet's climatic evolution. Moreover, the mineralogical composition of these deposits, such as clay minerals and carbonates, further supports the evidence of a once warmer and wetter environment. Studying these geological features helps scientists reconstruct Mars’ climatic history and assess its habitability during the Noachian period, approximately 3.8 to 4.1 billion years ago

Image showing the area of Jezero Crater explored by the Perseverance rover.

Credit: ESA/DLR/FU Berlin

• Bright Angel Formation: A Sedimentary Archive

Within Jezero, the Bright Angel formation comprises sedimentary rocks deposited by aqueous processes. These include fine-grained mudstones, layered beds, and conglomerates. Such rocks form in environments where water interacts with sediments over extended periods, often creating conditions conducive to the preservation of organic molecules and mineralogical signs of biological activity. The layered nature of the Bright Angel formation suggests repeated cycles of sedimentation, possibly related to lake level changes or seasonal variations. The presence of clay minerals within these sediments indicates neutral to slightly alkaline conditions, favorable for preserving organic compounds. Additionally, the conglomerates contain rounded pebbles and cobbles that reveal information about water flow velocities and sediment transport mechanisms. The detailed analysis of these rocks by Perseverance provides insights into the environmental conditions that prevailed during sediment deposition, including water chemistry, temperature, and duration of aqueous episodes. These findings are vital in understanding the habitability potential of Jezero’s past environments and guiding future exploration efforts.

• Exploration of Neretva Vallis

Perseverance’s entry into Neretva Vallis, on the western edge of Jezero, allowed the rover to investigate distinctive outcrops of the Bright Angel formation. The rover’s detailed analyses of these rocks have yielded key insights into their composition and formation history. By examining the mineralogy and texture of the outcrops, scientists have identified signatures of aqueous alteration, such as clay minerals and sulfates, which indicate past interactions with water. The morphology of the outcrops reveals layered structures that suggest episodic sedimentation, possibly during different lake stages or flood events. These observations help reconstruct the paleoenvironmental conditions, including water chemistry, pH, and redox states. Furthermore, the geochemical data obtained from Neretva Vallis outcrops have provided evidence for mineral stabilization processes that may have contributed to the preservation of potential biosignatures. The exploration of this area continues to refine our understanding of Mars’ aqueous history and enhances the search for signs of ancient life in Jezero Crater.

This artist’s concept depicts NASA’s Mars rover Perseverance on the surface of the Red Planet.

Image credit: NASA / JPL-Caltech.

Instrumentation and Methodology

• Perseverance’s Suite of Scientific Instruments

The rover is equipped with a comprehensive array of scientific tools designed for detailed analysis of the Martian surface. In addition to SHERLOC and PIXL, it features the SuperCam, which combines laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS), Raman spectroscopy, and visible/near-infrared (VNIR) spectroscopy, enabling remote mineral identification and organic detection from a distance. The Mastcam-Z camera system provides high-resolution panoramic and stereoscopic imaging for geological context and terrain mapping. The Sample Caching System allows for the collection, sealing, and storage of promising samples for future retrieval and return missions. The MEDA (Mars Environmental Dynamics Analyzer) monitors atmospheric conditions, temperature, humidity, and dust levels, providing essential environmental data to support the interpretation of geological findings.

• Analytical Techniques
  • Spectroscopy: SHERLOC and PIXL provide mineralogical and molecular signatures, including Raman spectra indicative of organic carbon.The suite employs multiple spectroscopic methods, including Raman, LIBS, and X-ray fluorescence, to determine mineral compositions and detect organic compounds. These techniques identify chemical signatures indicative of past habitability and potential biosignatures.
  • Imaging: The high-resolution cameras capture detailed images of rock textures, layering, and mineral veins, revealing geological history and processes. Imaging also helps select optimal sample sites for drilling and analysis.
  • Sample Collection: Perseverance drilled into rocks to collect core samples, such as from Sapphire Canyon, which are stored securely in sealed tubes. These samples are preserved for detailed laboratory analysis upon return to Earth, enabling future detailed studies of Martian geology and potential biosignatures. A core sample named Sapphire Canyon was obtained from the Bright Angel formation and stored in a sealed tube for potential future return to Earth.

Composite image showing some of the sample tubes deposited by the Perseverance rover at 'Three Forks,” a location within Mars’s Jezero Crater.

Credit: NASA JPL-Caltech

Some of the features of Chevaya Falls.

(NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS)

Key Geological and Geochemical Findings

• Detection of Organic Molecules and Redox-Active Minerals

The analytical instruments identified diverse organic molecules—carbon-based compounds—embedded within the rock matrices. These organics include complex hydrocarbons and functionalized carbon compounds that suggest the past presence of biological activity or prebiotic chemistry. Alongside these, minerals such as vivianite (ferrous iron phosphate) and greigite (iron sulfide) were detected. These minerals are indicative of low-temperature, aqueous environments, often forming in conditions that support microbial life. Their presence implies that water-rock interactions played a crucial role in the mineralization process and potentially served as habitats for microbial ecosystems. The redox-active nature of these minerals suggests a dynamic environment where oxidation-reduction reactions could facilitate energy transfer, possibly supporting microbial metabolisms similar to those on early Earth. These findings point toward a past environment conducive to life, characterized by the availability of liquid water, chemical energy sources, and organic building blocks. The coexistence of organics and redox minerals strengthens the hypothesis that these rocks experienced biogeochemical processes, offering valuable insights into the planet’s potential habitability during its geological history.

• Structural Features: ‘Poppy Seeds’ and ‘Leopard Spots’

Microscopic imaging revealed distinctive textures within the rocks, notably tiny nodules called 'poppy seeds' and reaction fronts known as 'leopard spots.' The 'poppy seeds' are small, spherical inclusions enriched in ferrous iron phosphate, which suggest localized mineralization possibly driven by biological or chemical processes. The 'leopard spots' display mottled patterns of mineral alteration, often associated with zones of redox change. These features are significant because they are typically formed through redox reactions involving electron transfer, processes often mediated by microbial activity. Their spatial distribution and mineralogy imply that microbial communities might have influenced mineral deposition and alteration, leaving biosignatures embedded within the rock fabric. Such features serve as microscopic indicators of past biological processes and environments. Their study provides clues about the extent and nature of microbial life in ancient aqueous systems, contributing to our understanding of extraterrestrial habitability.

• Organic Signatures and the G-Band

The SHERLOC instrument detected a prominent Raman spectral feature known as the G-band within multiple Bright Angel rocks. The G-band, centered around 1580 cm^-1, is a diagnostic marker of graphitic or amorphous organic carbon. Its presence indicates that organic molecules are not only present but have undergone some degree of carbonization or graphitization, processes associated with biological activity or diagenetic alteration. The strongest G-band signals were observed at Apollo Temple, correlating with a mineral assemblage rich in carbonaceous material and redox-sensitive minerals. The detection of the G-band provides compelling evidence for the past existence of organic matter, which could have originated from biological sources or abiotic synthesis pathways. The spatial distribution of the G-band, alongside mineralogy, helps reconstruct potential environments where organics were preserved—such as low-temperature, water-rich settings that favor organic stability. These findings bolster the case for ancient habitable environments and highlight the importance of organic preservation in the geological record, both on Mars and in astrobiological research.

Interpreting the Geological and Chemical Evidence

• Redox Reactions and Microbial Metabolisms

The spatial association of organic molecules with redox-sensitive minerals suggests that chemical processes similar to microbial metabolisms on Earth could have occurred on Mars. On Earth, microbes metabolize organic matter by "breathing" iron and sulfate, leading to mineral formation. The presence of these features on Mars raises the tantalizing possibility that similar processes took place.

• Abiotic versus Biotic Origins

The findings prompt two main hypotheses:

1. Abiotic (Geochemical) Processes: The mineral structures and organic signatures could result from purely chemical reactions driven by environmental conditions, such as water chemistry, temperature, and mineral interactions, without biological intervention.

2. Biological Influence: Alternatively, microbial activity could have influenced mineral formation, with microbes metabolizing organic molecules and mediating redox reactions, leaving behind biosignatures.

• Constraints on Temperature and Formation Conditions

One critical aspect is the temperature history of these rocks. Many mineral features associated with microbial processes on Earth only form at relatively low temperatures. The analysis suggests that the rocks were never subjected to high-temperature heating, which would have obliterated delicate biosignatures. This supports the hypothesis that if life existed, it could have thrived in the aqueous environments represented by these rocks.

Perseverance’s path through Neretva Vallis and views of the Bright Angel formation.

Image credit: Hurowitz et al., doi: 10.1038/s41586-025-09413-0.

Implications for Past Life on Mars

• Potential Biosignatures and Their Significance

While the evidence remains inconclusive as definitive proof of past life, the observed features align with NASA’s criteria for potential biosignatures—molecular or mineralogical indicators that suggest biological activity in the planet's history. The co-occurrence of organic molecules with minerals formed in water-rich, redox-active environments is particularly noteworthy, as it points to conditions that could have supported microbial life. These signatures, especially when found in specific mineral matrices, increase the likelihood that biological processes may have contributed to their formation. Understanding these biosignatures enhances our knowledge of Mars’ ancient habitability and guides future exploratory missions. Further laboratory analysis will be crucial to determine whether these features originated biologically or through abiotic processes, helping to refine our criteria for detecting life beyond Earth.

• Comparison with Terrestrial Analogues

 On Earth, similar mineral-organic associations are prevalent in ancient sedimentary deposits where microbial communities thrived under comparable environmental conditions. For example, iron-rich banded iron formations and sulfur-rich sediments often host microfossils and biogenic mineral structures. These terrestrial analogues demonstrate how microbial metabolisms can influence mineral precipitation and organic preservation over geological timescales. The parallels suggest that if life ever existed on Mars, it might have employed similar metabolic pathways, particularly involving iron and sulfur cycling, which are abundant in the planet's ancient crust. Studying Earth's early ecosystems provides valuable insights into the potential biological processes that could have operated on Mars, informing the search for life and interpreting potential biosignatures.

• Sample Return and Future Research

 The core sample from Sapphire Canyon is carefully stored for eventual return to Earth, marking a significant milestone in planetary exploration. Once retrieved, comprehensive analyses in terrestrial laboratories will enable high-precision isotopic studies to determine biogenic versus abiotic origins of the detected features. Advanced techniques such as microfossil identification, mineralogical characterization, and molecular analysis will be employed, surpassing the capabilities of rover-based instruments. These investigations aim to confirm whether the observed features are indeed the result of past biological activity or are products of non-biological processes. Such definitive evidence would profoundly impact our understanding of Mars’ history and its potential to have harbored life. Moreover, the findings will guide future missions, refining biosignature detection strategies and expanding our search for extraterrestrial life elsewhere in the universe. 

Broader Scientific and Astrobiological Context

• Understanding Mars’ Habitability

The findings reinforce the idea that early Mars had environments suitable for life: persistent liquid water, chemically rich sediments, and energy sources. The presence of organic molecules and microbial-like mineral signatures suggests that habitable conditions may have persisted long enough for microbial communities to develop. These conditions provide a compelling case for Mars being a potentially life-supporting environment in its past. The detection of water-related minerals, such as clays and sulfates, indicates that Mars experienced prolonged aqueous activity, which is essential for the emergence and sustenance of life. Moreover, the chemical richness of sediments points to the availability of nutrients necessary for microbial metabolism. The energy sources, possibly derived from volcanic activity or chemical gradients, could have powered biological processes. Understanding these factors helps scientists reconstruct the planet’s ancient climate and assess its capacity to harbor life, guiding future exploration efforts to identify specific sites with the highest potential for biosignatures. Such insights are crucial in establishing Mars’ role in the broader narrative of life's origins in the universe and assessing the planet’s potential as a future habitat for human exploration. 

NASA's Perseverance rover captured this selfie on 23 July 2024, near a rock known as Cheyava Falls, which shows evidence that it may have once been home to microbial life.

Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

• Astrobiological Significance

Discovering potential biosignatures on Mars has profound implications for understanding the universality of life. If microbial processes can form mineral-Organic associations in Martian environments, it broadens the scope of where life could exist or have existed elsewhere in the universe. These findings suggest that life may not be confined to Earth-like conditions but could potentially thrive in a variety of extraterrestrial settings. The detection of organic molecules, combined with mineral signatures indicative of biological activity, supports the hypothesis that life’s building blocks are widespread and that similar processes might occur on other planetary bodies, such as Europa or Enceladus. This expands the astrobiological search beyond traditional habitable zones, encouraging scientists to explore diverse environments that may harbor life. Additionally, understanding how biosignatures form and are preserved on Mars provides critical insights into the longevity and detectability of extraterrestrial life signals. These discoveries fuel the scientific quest to answer whether life exists beyond Earth, shaping future missions aimed at detecting definitive signs of past or present life on other planets and moons.

• Challenges and Limitations

Despite the excitement, scientists emphasize caution. The features observed could result from non-biological processes, such as mineralization, chemical reactions, or abiotic mineral formation. Differentiating between biological and abiotic origins of potential biosignatures remains a significant challenge, requiring rigorous analysis and multiple lines of evidence. Definitive proof of past life necessitates unambiguous biosignatures, such as microfossils—tiny, cell-like structures—or isotopic ratios characteristic of biological activity, which are difficult to confirm remotely. Contamination, preservation biases, and the complexity of planetary geology complicate interpretations. Future sample analyses, potentially conducted on return missions, are expected to provide more conclusive evidence. They aim to identify complex organic molecules, specific microscopic structures, and isotopic signatures that can only be attributed to biological processes. Until then, findings remain promising but provisional, emphasizing the importance of cautious scientific interpretation. These limitations highlight the need for advanced instrumentation, meticulous data collection, and comprehensive analysis to confidently establish whether life once existed—or still exists—on Mars.

Concluding Remarks

The Perseverance rover’s exploration of the Bright Angel formation has provided compelling evidence that ancient Martian environments could have supported microbial life. The detection of complex organic molecules is particularly significant, as these are fundamental building blocks of life. Additionally, the identification of minerals such as clay and sulfates—known to form in the presence of water—indicates that Mars once had a habitable environment with the necessary conditions for microbial life to thrive. Structural features observed within the rock formations resemble biosignatures, further strengthening the case for past life, although they are not definitive proof on their own.

These findings are crucial because they suggest that Mars's ancient environment was more hospitable than previously thought, potentially allowing microbial organisms to exist or have existed. The significance of these discoveries extends beyond Mars; they contribute to the broader search for life beyond Earth and inform future exploration strategies. The upcoming analysis of samples returned to Earth will be critical in verifying these initial findings.

Advanced laboratory techniques can detect subtle biosignatures that in-situ instruments cannot, offering the possibility of conclusive evidence of past life. Ultimately, these discoveries challenge our understanding of life's distribution in the universe, opening new avenues for scientific inquiry and existential reflection. Continued research is essential to fully unravel Mars’s ancient habitability and to answer one of humanity’s most profound questions: Are we alone?

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14-09-2025 om 23:31 geschreven door peter  

Camera trap in Chile detects strange lights blazing through the wilderness. Researchers are scrambling to explain them.

Kusch is one of the leaders of the Public Baseline project, which uses 65 camera traps distributed between continental Patagonia and Tierra del Fuego, on the southern tip of Chile, to record terrestrial animals, particularly felines. Since the project began in November 2023, at least 365,000 images and videos have been collected; however, only these three photographs show this phenomenon.

UMAG shared the images with a variety of organizations, from Chile's General Directorate of Civil Aeronautics (SEFAA)to the La Serena UFO Museum, and to several people who analyze anomalous aerial phenomena.

Potential explanations ranged from an arachnid coming very close to the camera lens to that of a "plasmoid," a short-lived form of plasma rarely observed in nature that may be behind phenomena such as ball lightning. However, all specialists agreed: for now, there is no conclusive explanation.

This sighting is unique because it was recorded within the framework of a scientific project, said Rodrigo Bravo, a researcher with the Environmental Studies Group (GEA) at UMAG and a member of the Public Baseline project. That means there is no possibility of fraud or manipulation, as the camera traps operate under rigorous protocols and are equipped with an infrared system, motion sensor, and other features that would preclude people tampering with them, he argued.

"This is not the first time these phenomena have been described in the area, but it is the first time they have been recorded in this way," Bravo told Live Science.

Related: 

• No aliens in NASA's debut UFO report — but big questions remain

Bad lights

The local Mapuche people traditionally speak of "bad lights," which they believe are spirits that appear in the fields. This raises the possibility that the camera traps are finally capturing a phenomenon that has long been recognized in the region.

But even if these strange flashes are the "bad lights" the Mapuche speak of, what are they?

One possibility is that the lights are unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP), possibly from a mysterious flying object. Some declassified Pentagon files on UAP show similar characteristics, Bravo added. Generally poor-quality data means that most UAP sightings cannot be confirmed or explained, but common explanations include foreign spy drones and "airborne clutter" such as birds and weather balloons.

To address that possibility, UMAG sent photos and video to Freddy Alexis, who discusses UFOs and other unknown phenomena on his TV programs on UCVTV, the station of the Catholic University of Valparaíso.

Alexis wrote two reports on his findings, which included trajectory, spectrographic, and relief analyses of the photographs and videos. In the second report, he wrote that only a single "luminous stimulus" is visible, not two, and that the other "lights" are internal lens reflections.

According to Alexis, the primary light may be a plasmoid, or a bubble of incandescent ionized gas that is confined by Earth's local magnetic field, and that can remain stable for a few seconds. The most familiar atmospheric example is ball lightning, usually associated with storms. But that is where his explanation hits a wall. "It was summer, with 48  degrees Fahrenheit [8 degrees Celsius], and there were no electrical storms," Alexis told Live Science. "There were no atmospheric conditions for a storm, so it is very unlikely that ball lightning could have formed."

But more exotic plasmoids have been proposed under special conditions, such as transient, localized changes in Earth's magnetic field.

Still, Alexis noted that there may be other, poorly understood atmospheric plasmoids, similar to the "mysterious lights" of Hessdalen, Norway. Like the Magallanes phenomenon, these lights defy conventional explanations and could involve plasma structures that are still poorly understood.

In one of his reports, Alexis also calculated that, assuming this was a distant, flying object, it would have been moving at a speed of 590 mph (947 km/h), or roughly 0.7 times the speed of sound. Alexis suggested that the lights might not be a flying object, but some plasmoids can move at high speeds, he added.

A strange creature

In a separate report, technicians from La Serena UFO Museum suggested that a spider or moth may have inadvertently tripped the camera's sensor. That's because in the first photo, what appears to be an insect or arachnid can be seen along one edge of the image. However, the insect does not appear in the subsequent photos.

While one possibility is that the insect triggered the camera, this would only explain why the photo was taken, not why a bright, blob-like light appears, said

Cristian Riffo, director of the La Serena UFO Museum, who was also consulted for the UMAG report.

Riffo noted that the camera traps are designed to minimize false positives caused by insects, lasers or other stimuli. He thinks the rapid sequence of photos, in which the light appears to move toward the camera, is baffling and hard to explain.

"It could be two different phenomena: one natural, which triggered the camera, and the other, a light phenomenon, which remains unexplained," Riffo told Live Science.

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12-09-2025 om 22:09 geschreven door peter  

3-4 billion years ago, Mars’ volcanoes spewed large amounts of sulfur-containing gases. And it was not sulfur oxide, as previously thought, but hydrogen sulfide and sulfur hexafluoride. These are much stronger greenhouse gases and could well have created a climate on the planet conducive to life.

Sulfur-containing gases and the early climate of Mars

Although the early climate of Mars remains an open question, new research suggests that its atmosphere may have been hospitable to life thanks to volcanic activity that released sulfur gases that contributed to the greenhouse effect.

Using data from the composition of Martian meteorites, researchers conducted more than 40 computer simulations with different temperatures, concentrations, and chemistry to estimate how much carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur gases could have been released on early Mars.

Instead of the high concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) predicted by previous climate models of Mars, their research shows that volcanic activity on Mars approximately 3-4 billion years ago could have led to high concentrations of several chemically “reduced” forms of sulfur, which are extremely reactive. These include hydrogen sulfide (H2S), disulfur (S2), and possibly sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), an extremely potent greenhouse gas.

According to lead author Lucia Bellino, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Jackson School of Geosciences, this could have led to a unique environment on Mars – one that could have been hospitable to certain forms of life. This means that the presence of “reduced sulfur” could have caused a foggy environment, leading to the formation of greenhouse gases such as SF6, which trap heat and liquid water. This could have created hydrothermal systems that support diverse microbial life.

The role of sulfur in the chemical processes of ancient Mars

Previous studies of Mars have examined how the release of gases on the surface, often as a result of volcanic eruptions, could have affected the planet’s atmosphere. This study, in turn, simulated how sulfur changed during geological processes, including how it separated from other minerals when incorporated into magma layers beneath the planet’s surface. This is important because it provides a more realistic picture of the chemical state of the gas before it was released onto the surface, where it could have shaped the early climate conditions on Mars.

The study also showed that sulfur may have frequently changed its form. While Martian meteorites have high concentrations of reduced sulfur, the Martian surface contains sulfur that is chemically bound to oxygen. “This suggests that sulfur cycling – the transition of sulfur into different forms – may have been a dominant process on early Mars,” Bellino said.

Last year, while the team was conducting its research, NASA made a discovery that seemed to confirm their findings. NASA’s Curiosity rover turned over and cracked a rock, revealing elemental sulfur. Although Mars is known for its abundance of sulfur minerals, this was the first time the mineral had been found in its pure form, unbound to oxygen. This was one of the confirmations of the research team’s hypotheses.

Further climate modeling

As the team continues its work, it will use its computer simulations to investigate other processes that would have been necessary to support life on Mars, including sources of water on early Mars and whether volcanic activity could have provided a large reservoir of water on the planet’s surface. They also seek to understand whether reduced forms of sulfur could have served as a food source for microbes in an early climate that resembled Earth’s hydrothermal systems.

Mars is far from the Sun, and today its temperature is typically cold, averaging -80°F. Bellino hopes that climate modeling experts will be able to use her team’s research to predict how warm the early Martian climate might have been, and if microbes were present, how long they could have survived in a warmer atmosphere.

• Provided by: phys.org

• Posted in News, Science

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12-09-2025 om 21:54 geschreven door peter  

3-4 billion years ago, Mars’ volcanoes spewed large amounts of sulfur-containing gases. And it was not sulfur oxide, as previously thought, but hydrogen sulfide and sulfur hexafluoride. These are much stronger greenhouse gases and could well have created a climate on the planet conducive to life.

Sulfur-containing gases and the early climate of Mars

Although the early climate of Mars remains an open question, new research suggests that its atmosphere may have been hospitable to life thanks to volcanic activity that released sulfur gases that contributed to the greenhouse effect.

Using data from the composition of Martian meteorites, researchers conducted more than 40 computer simulations with different temperatures, concentrations, and chemistry to estimate how much carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur gases could have been released on early Mars.

Instead of the high concentrations of sulfur dioxide (SO₂) predicted by previous climate models of Mars, their research shows that volcanic activity on Mars approximately 3-4 billion years ago could have led to high concentrations of several chemically “reduced” forms of sulfur, which are extremely reactive. These include hydrogen sulfide (H2S), disulfur (S2), and possibly sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), an extremely potent greenhouse gas.

According to lead author Lucia Bellino, a graduate student at the University of Texas at Jackson School of Geosciences, this could have led to a unique environment on Mars – one that could have been hospitable to certain forms of life. This means that the presence of “reduced sulfur” could have caused a foggy environment, leading to the formation of greenhouse gases such as SF6, which trap heat and liquid water. This could have created hydrothermal systems that support diverse microbial life.

The role of sulfur in the chemical processes of ancient Mars

Previous studies of Mars have examined how the release of gases on the surface, often as a result of volcanic eruptions, could have affected the planet’s atmosphere. This study, in turn, simulated how sulfur changed during geological processes, including how it separated from other minerals when incorporated into magma layers beneath the planet’s surface. This is important because it provides a more realistic picture of the chemical state of the gas before it was released onto the surface, where it could have shaped the early climate conditions on Mars.

The study also showed that sulfur may have frequently changed its form. While Martian meteorites have high concentrations of reduced sulfur, the Martian surface contains sulfur that is chemically bound to oxygen. “This suggests that sulfur cycling – the transition of sulfur into different forms – may have been a dominant process on early Mars,” Bellino said.

Last year, while the team was conducting its research, NASA made a discovery that seemed to confirm their findings. NASA’s Curiosity rover turned over and cracked a rock, revealing elemental sulfur. Although Mars is known for its abundance of sulfur minerals, this was the first time the mineral had been found in its pure form, unbound to oxygen. This was one of the confirmations of the research team’s hypotheses.

Further climate modeling

As the team continues its work, it will use its computer simulations to investigate other processes that would have been necessary to support life on Mars, including sources of water on early Mars and whether volcanic activity could have provided a large reservoir of water on the planet’s surface. They also seek to understand whether reduced forms of sulfur could have served as a food source for microbes in an early climate that resembled Earth’s hydrothermal systems.

Mars is far from the Sun, and today its temperature is typically cold, averaging -80°F. Bellino hopes that climate modeling experts will be able to use her team’s research to predict how warm the early Martian climate might have been, and if microbes were present, how long they could have survived in a warmer atmosphere.

• Provided by: phys.org

• Posted in News, Science

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12-09-2025 om 21:54 geschreven door peter  

Scientists reveal exactly what will happen if the Earth continues to spin faster - including devastating earthquakes and catastrophic flooding

• READ MORE: Experts blame climate change for the record–breaking summer

By JONATHAN CHADWICK, ASSISTANT SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY EDITOR 

You may already feel as if there’s not enough time in the day. 

But it's not just your imagination – the days have been getting shorter. 

According to scientists, July 9, July 22 and August 5 this year were between 1.3 and 1.51 milliseconds shorter than the standard 24-hour day. 

Although the exact reason is still a mystery, there could be several causes, such as changes in the atmosphere, the melting of glaciers, motion in the Earth's core, and a weakening magnetic field.

While the loss of a few milliseconds is not a cause for too much concern, a frightening new book imagines a world literally 'spinning out of control'.

In 'Circular Motion' by Alex Foster, days on Earth last 23 hours, then 20 hours, and then eventually two hours.

Like a supercharged spinning top, the planet spins so fast that even gravity loses its grip, as the sun rises and sets ever faster. 

Now, experts reveal the real implications of such a terrifying scenario, from large-scale disasters, floods and earthquakes. 

A new novel called 'Circular Motion' by Alex Foster imagines a world literally spinning out of control, until a day last just two hours 

In Foster's new novel, Earth's rotation speeds up due to a network of massive aircraft that orbit the Earth at 30,000 feet, revolutionising global transportation. 

The acceleration of Earth’s spin begins gradually, and days are just a few seconds shorter than normal, so nobody initially notices. 

However, Earth’s spin progressively gets faster and faster until a day lasts just two hours – triggering a global catastrophe. 

If Earth's spin really did get faster, experts say it cause a 'centrifugal effect' where the things start to swing away from the planet's axis, much like the hanging chairs on a spinning carousel ride.

Earth's oceans would start to bulge around the equator, giving the planet more of a diamond shape, with sloping northern and southern hemispheres. 

Water pulled from the polar regions (where centrifugal force is low) would cause the Arctic Ocean to become shallower and send the equatorial region underwater. 

Even land around the equator that's not underwater could have a greatly increased chance of tsunamis and flooding. 

Duncan Agnew, professor of geophysics at the University of California San Diego, said the 'largest changes would be in the ocean tides'. 

This long-exposure photo of the northern night sky above the Nepali Himalayas shows the apparent paths of the stars as Earth rotates. If Earth spun fast enough, is this what we would see?

According to scientists, July 9, July 22 and August 5 this year were between 1.3 and 1.51 milliseconds shorter than the standard 24-hour day . Although the exact reason is still a mystery, there could be several causes, such as changes in the atmosphere, the melting of glaciers, motion in the Earth's core, and a weakening magnetic field (stock image)

As any beach-goer knows, in coastal areas around the world there are high tides and low tides, which are due to the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun, combined with the rotation of Earth.  

The daily rotation of the Earth produces two high tides and two low tides every 24 hours and 50 minutes. 

'Change that by 10 per cent and the tides in some places would get larger and in others smaller,' Professor Agnew told the Daily Mail. 

Also, the faster the Earth's spin, the faster tectonic plates would move, would could add to more geological stress and 'a lot of earthquakes', the academic added. 

It’s worth remembering that the equator (where Earth’s circumference is the widest) spins faster than elsewhere, such as the tropics or the poles. 

The equator spins at about 1,025 miles (1,650km) per hour, while the poles spin barely above zero miles per hour. 

As Earth spins and we go around with it, we are held into place by gravity, but if the Earth spun fast enough, centrifugal force would overcome gravity, causing objects to be flung into space. 

'The faster Earth turns, the more gravity will be canceled out and the lighter you’ll feel,' said Foster in a piece for New Scientist. 

Hurricanes will spin faster and carry more energy if the world's spin greatly increases, researchers claim. In this picture from space, a swirling hurricane forms

The faster Earth's spin, the faster tectonic plates would move, would could add to more geological stress and 'a lot of earthquakes'. Pictured, damage from Afghanistan earthquake, September 4, 2025

NASA astronomer Dr Sten Odenwald also warned that weather phenomena would become more extreme, capable of causing more damage. 

As the planet spins faster, an apparent force known as the Coriolis effect, which gives hurricanes their spin, intensifies. 

'Hurricanes will spin faster and carry more energy,' Dr Odenwald said.

If Earth’s spin increased, there would of course also be both less sunlight in the day and less time to sleep at night, which might make humans less productive. 

People would have keep putting their clocks back as the days shortened, or come up with a whole new time-keeping system.

Humans have a 'circadian rhythm' – an internal clock that is closely attuned to the 24-hour day – which can cause physical and mental issues if disrupted (by factors like plane travel).

Additionally, many satellites would no longer be positioned correctly, which could disrupt satellite communications, internet, TV broadcasting and more.

Luckily, Professor Agnew said the idea of Earth's rotation speeding up to the extent portrayed in the new novel is a 'particularly absurd premise'. 

Each day on Earth contains 86,400 seconds, but the rotation isn't uniform, which means over the course of a year, each day has a fraction of a second more or less

'This cannot happen and nothing like it has ever been observed for any planet or star,' Professor Agnew told the Daily Mail. 

In actual fact, the Earth has been rotating more and more slowly over the long-term, but this change has been very gradual.

'A billion years ago the day was maybe 19 hours long,' he told the Daily Mail. 

'If you went back to when there were dinosaurs and didn't have a clock you wouldn't probably notice that the day was 30 minutes shorter.' 

Dr Judah Levine, Fellow of the US government's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in Maryland, also questioned how close the book's premise is to 'real physics'. 

'If the story is loosely connected to reality, then the speed-up of Earth had to be accompanied by something else losing angular momentum, maybe the orbit of the moon,' he told the Daily Mail. 

'This is a fundamental principle.'

Maybe the orbit of the moon losing angular momentum could cause the speed-up of Earth, he added.  

'If that is what happens, the moon gets a lot closer, and the tidal effects become much stronger and more frequent because the periods are driven by the length of the day.' 

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

12-09-2025 om 21:21 geschreven door peter  

Scientists have issued a breathtaking new update on the mysterious 'interstellar object' racing through the solar system.

This visitor from another solar system, named 3I/ATLAS, is currently rushing towards the sun at 137,000 miles per hour (221,000 km/h).

Now, scientists at the Gemini South Observatory in Chile have captured the clearest images of 3I/ATLAS yet.

And the images reveal one feature which could finally put an end to speculation about whether the object is an alien spacecraft.

The images, taken on August 27 when the object was about 240 million miles (380 million km) from Earth, are some of the first multi-coloured images of 3I/ATLAS.

They reveal a dense icy nucleus surrounded by a broad halo of gas and dust known as a coma.

Most importantly, they also reveal that the object has a long tail stretching behind 3I/ATLAS in the direction opposite to the sun.

This tail measures about one 120th of a degree in the sky, where one degree is about the width of your little finger on an outstretched arm.

Scientists have captured the clearest images yet of the interstellar object 3I/ATLAS as it races through our solar system at 137,000 miles per hour (221,000 km/h)

Scientists from the Gemini South Observatory in Chile captured these images of 3I/ATLAS while it was around 240 million miles (380 million km) from Earth, revealing its clear cometary tail stretching out away from the sun 

Dr Mark Norris, an astronomer from the University of Lancashire who was not involved in the study, told The Daily Mail: 'These new images very clearly demonstrate that 3I/ATLAS is a comet.'

In our own solar system, comets are balls of ice and dust that travel around the sun in very long elliptical orbits, with some only returning every few hundred years.

When comets approach the sun, the heat causes ice made of water or carbon dioxide to sublimate, meaning it turns directly from a solid into a gas.

This cloud of gas and dust that is ejected from the comet's surface collects around the frozen core in the form of a coma and is swept out behind the comet to form a tail.

Since this cloud of particles is highly reflective, comets appear much brighter than rocky asteroids of similar sizes.

The closer the comet gets to the sun, and the more heat it is exposed to, the larger and brighter these features become.

Dr Norris says: 'Early images showed evidence for cometary activity, but the activity was quite weak while it was far from the Sun.

'As 3I/ATLAS approaches the Sun, it is being bathed in more and more sunlight, which increases the amount of material outgassing from the comet, which increases the coma and tail of the comet significantly.'

The new images show that the comet has become significantly more active since previous observations, such as this image taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in July 

These new images show that the tail is now significantly larger than it had been in earlier observations, such as those taken by the James Webb Space Telescope.

Additionally, by taking the images in colour, scientists were able to capture the wavelengths of light that the comet emits, known as its spectrum.

The spectrum tells scientists what kinds of chemicals can be found in the comet and in what proportions - telling us how it formed and how it changes as it passes through the solar system.

Interestingly, this analysis reveals that the ice and dust which make up 3I/ATLAS are broadly similar to those found in comets in our own solar system, with a few important differences.

Dr Matthew Genge, a planetary scientist from Imperial College London who was not involved in the study, told The Daily Mail: '3I/ATLAS has a CO2-rich atmosphere with less water than most home-grown comets.

'This might indicate it formed far from its parent star. Ice forms in early planetary systems by raining out of gas as snow. Water ice forms closer to the star and CO2 ice further away.'

This gives scientists an intriguing insight into the processes of planetary formation taking place around distant stars.

Bryce Bolin, research scientist from Eureka Scientific who was part of the team behind the images, says: 'Every interstellar comet is a messenger from another star system, and by studying their light and colour, we can begin to understand the diversity of worlds beyond our own.'

This is proof that the object is either a comet or a very rare type of icy asteroid, clearly demonstrating that it is a natural object and not some form of alien craft 

There is only a short window in which 3I/ATLAS will be observable, so scientists are trying to gather as much data as they can to learn about these distant worlds.

Importantly, these observations also conclusively dismiss the theories that 3I/ATLAS is some sort of alien craft.

Previously, researchers such as Harvard physicist Professor Avi Loeb had suggested that 3I/ATLAS might be an artificial spacecraft of some kind.

Professor Loeb has publicly discussed the possibility that 3I/ATLAS could be a giant, nuclear-powered vessel.

This claim was largely based on the fact that 3I/ATLAS was supposedly too large and too bright to be produced by natural forces.

However, the evidence of a bright coma and a tail is a clear natural explanation for the object's unexpected brightness and seemingly impossible size.

Dr Genge says that the Gemini South images clearly indicate that 3I/ATLAS is a natural object.

'Little green men certainly aren't responsible!' he added.

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

11-09-2025 om 16:16 geschreven door peter  

NASA has announced the discovery of what it believes to be ancient microbial life on Mars. 

The new administrator for the space agency, Sean Duffy, said a sample collected by the Perseverance rover has been declared the 'clearest sign of life' ever found on the Red Planet.

In a Wednesday news conference, NASA's Associate Administrator Nicky Fox said: 'This is the kind of signature that we would see that was made by something biological.'

Specifically, researchers have been looking at unusual spots and seed-like shapes in ancient Martian rocks that might point to the existence of tiny life forms in the distant past.

These features, nicknamed 'poppy seeds' and 'leopard spots,' were spotted in mud-like rocks in Neretva Vallis, part of the Jezero crater, where a river existed billions of years ago.

Scientist Joel Hurowitz revealed how these tiny signatures found in the crater pointed to the existence of life on Mars long before most organisms emerged on Earth.

Although the findings have been discussed for months, Hurowitz noted that scientists needed to gather more data from Neretva Vallis and confirm the results with other researchers before releasing the conclusion that this could be Martian life.

'We are here to say this is exciting, and we want to share that news. This could be very real,' Duffy continued. 

In 2024, Perseverance spotted a vein-filled arrowhead-shaped rock that featured chemical signatures and structures likely formed by microbial life billions of years ago

NASA Administrator Sean Duffy (center) revealed that a sample collected by Perseverance is the 'clearest sign of life' on Mars ever found in 30 years

The rover's tools detected chemicals like iron and phosphorus in these spots, which can form when tiny microbes break down organic material, a sign of life here on Earth. 

The NASA robot has been beaming back images to Earth since 2021, revealing crystalline solids left over from water flowing on the surface of Mars, and a reddish area that contained organic compounds and an energy source for what could have been microbial life.

Perseverance collected the new life-proving rocks on July 21, 2024, while exploring the northern edge of Neretva Vallis, the ancient river valley formed roughly 3.7billion years ago.

Scientists noticed the vein-like structures throughout, finding they were white calcium sulfate.

The crystalline solids on the Martian surface are hard-water deposits left behind by ancient groundwater flowing through the now-dusty landscape.

Between those veins were bands of material with a reddish color suggesting the presence of hematite, one of the minerals that gives Mars its distinctive rusty hue.

Duffy noted that the announcement on Wednesday was the culmination of 30 years of research on the Red Planet.

He added that the latest findings went through a peer-review process, just like scientific studies in all fields, which proved the samples likely had a biological origin.

NASA officials revealed new findings by the Perseverance rover, which has been exploring Mars (pictured) since 2021

Perseverance took a selfie in the Jezero crater on Mars when it found the biological samples

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When asked if NASA plans to retrieve the potential organic samples from Mars, Duffy said the space agency was still looking at how and when they could get the rocks back to Earth, adding that 'we're going to look at our budgets'.

The new administrator appointed by President Trump noted that 'the president loves space' and believed NASA has the money to complete its work, which is now focused on manned space missions.

Duffy noted the space agency's mission was going to be 'a little more focused' but felt comfortable asking the White House for more funding if it was needed to confirm the findings on Mars.

'At no point has this administration said "we don't care about samples,"' Fox added while addressing questions about NASA's changing priorities regarding Mars exploration.

Previously, the Trump administration had cut the Mars sample retrieval mission from its budget proposal for NASA.

It was part of $6billion slashed from NASA's future budget in the May proposal to Congress, even though the ongoing sample study had already cost billions.

Duffy said NASA was now looking at a faster and more cost-effective way of getting Perseverance's samples back for examination.

As for NASA's upcoming space missions, Duffy revealed that four astronauts will circle the moon 'early next year' as part of the Artemis II lunar mission.

'We're going back to the moon,' the administrator declared.

Duffy added that 'about a year and a half' after the Artemis II mission, the Artemis III astronaut mission will 'land and establish a long-term presence of life on the moon led by America'.

NASA's new leader continued by saying that what astronauts learn from the renewed missions to the moon will help in future efforts to 'put American boots on Mars'.

Marked by seven benchmarks, the Confidence of Life Detection, or CoLD, scale outlines a progression in confidence that a set of observations stands as evidence of life. 

Credit: NASA

This animation depicts water disappearing over time in the Martian river valley Neretva Vallis, where NASA’s Perseverance Mars takes the rock sample named “Sapphire Canyon” from a rock called “Cheyava Falls,” which was found in the “Bright Angel” formation.

Credit: NASA

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

11-09-2025 om 15:16 geschreven door peter  

Scientists reveal what ancient Martians might have looked like - as NASA announces strongest evidence yet for life on the Red Planet

• READ MORE: NASA finds clearest sign of life on Mars

By WILIAM HUNTER, SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY REPORTER

Yesterday, NASA made the startling announcement that its scientists have uncovered the 'clearest evidence' yet for the existence of life on Mars.

Last year, NASA's Perseverance rover discovered that a dry riverbed just north of the Martian equator is dotted with rusty circular markings known as 'leopard spots'.

According to NASA administrator Sean Duffy, the space agency now believes these marks could have been left by ancient lifeforms which lived billions of years ago.

Now, scientists have revealed what these alien organisms might have looked like. 

Any life that evolved on Mars would have had to contend with harsh radiation, weak gravity, and temperatures that can swing between 20°C (70°F) in the day and -153°C (-225°F) at night. 

However, the scientists behind this groundbreaking research say that it is still possible for some forms of life to evolve. 

If there were life on Mars, it would almost certainly consist of very simple microbial organisms like bacteria.

In the unlikely case that more complex life did evolve somewhere on the Red Planet, it would need to develop special adaptations to survive this impossibly harsh climate.

NASA has revealed the 'clearest evidence' yet for the existence of life on Mars, as it claims that 'leopard spots' on Martian rocks could have been created by ancient microbes

Scientists say that Mars' Jezero Crater was once filled with water that would have been 'clement' for microbial life to develop. Pictured: AI-generated impression 

What did NASA find on Mars?

While investigating a region known as the 'Bright Angel', NASA's Perseverance rover spotted a group of unusual markings that resemble leopard spots.

Scientists call these spots 'reaction fronts', and they are points of contact where chemical and physical reactions have occurred in the past. 

Critically, Perseverance's on-board lab found that these spots contained two iron-rich minerals: Vivianite, which is found in decaying organic matter, and greigite, which is produced by microbes on Earth.

Dr Keyron Hickman-Lewis, an Earth scientist from Birkbeck, University of London and co-author of the NASA report, told Daily Mail: 'The kinds of organic–mineral associations observed at Bright Angel that are reported in this paper are known to be generated by microbial life on Earth, and so it is a very promising observation to see something so similar on Mars.

'Certainly, I think that this is the most compelling potential evidence of life on Mars found to date.'

The scientists can't yet rule out that these spots could be caused by non-biological processes, and Dr Hickman-Lewis says that this is not a 'smoking gun'.

However, after spending a year reviewing the evidence and looking for alternative explanations, the researchers are now confident enough to say that this could be a 'biosignature', an elusive sign which proves the existence of life.

These signs of life were found by the Perseverance rover in a region called 'Bright Angel'. Researchers say that chemicals found in the leopard spots are produced by biological processes on Earth 

Although Mars is now a barren desert, billions of years ago, it would have been covered with rivers and lakes that could have supported life 

Dr Hickman-Lewis adds: 'The Mars 2020 team does not use the term "potential biosignature" lightly.'

What would this life look like?

The potential signs of life were found in a region called Jezero Crater, an impact basin just north of the equator.

Although it is now a barren wasteland, billions of years ago, the Jezero Crater was filled with water that could have been home to life.

If life did exist in these waters, the most plausible explanation is that it was some sort of simple microorganism.

Dr Hickman-Lewis says: 'The environment in which these potential biosignatures were found seems to be a low-temperature water-rich setting and therefore very clement for microbial life.'

In their paper, published in Nature, the researchers suggest that microbes could have fed on the naturally occurring carbon, sulphur, and phosphorus in the rocks.

These microbes would have then 'excreted' the minerals which we now see as leopard spots.

NASA Administrator Sean Duffy (center) revealed that a sample collected by Perseverance is the 'clearest sign of life' on Mars ever found in 30 years

The Jezero Crater, where the potential signs of life were found, was once a river delta. Observations from orbiting spacecraft show patterns of sediment that are similar to those made by rivers on Earth. Pictured: AI-generated impression 

As microbes fed on the carbon, sulphur, and phosphorus in the rocks, they might have released iron-rich chemicals which permanently stained the rocks to leave 'leopard spots'. Pictured: AI-generated impression 

The conditions on the surface would have been incredibly harsh, but the researchers say that life still could have eked out a simple existence.

Dr Sanjeev Gupta, an Earth scientist from Imperial College London and member of the research team, told Daily Mail: 'There was liquid water present at the surface at the time billions of years ago, so it was a habitable environment. 

'This would have been simple microbial life. We can say much more than that.'

Since we can only see the possible traces left behind by these microorganisms, it's difficult to know what they might have looked like or how they behaved.

However, it is possible to make some very general predictions based on parallels from Earth.

Professor Michael Garrett, an astronomer from the University of Manchester and Director of Jodrell Bank Centre for Astrophysics who was not involved in the study, told Daily Mail: 'Think of hardy bacteria, similar to terrestrial extremophiles that thrive in very salty, cold, or low-oxygen conditions here on Earth.

'Good analogues are the microbial mats in very salty lakes or microbes that live kilometres underground in Earth’s crust or in the high desert in Chile.

'These examples show us that life can be tough, minimalistic, and persistent even in places where surface conditions are brutal.'

Scientists say that the best parallels for what life might have looked like are the microbial mats that form in extremely salty lakes on Earth. Pictured: AI-generated impression 

It is unlikely that more complex life could have evolved since Mars' climate changed rapidly about a billion years after the first microbes could have appeared. This means complex organisms like animals probably didn't have time to develop. Pictured: AI-generated impression 

Could more complex life have evolved? 

If these leopard spots really are biosignatures, then the researchers say it's unlikely that they only existed in one place.

Perseverance is currently studying very ancient rocks outside of the Jezero Crater to look for signs of more widespread life.

However, it is extremely unlikely that more complex life evolved anywhere on the Red Planet.

The researchers think that microbes emerged on Mars around the same time that life was getting started on Earth.

However, after about one billion years, Mars' climate began to change rapidly as solar winds stripped away its atmosphere - leaving the planet very cold and dry.

Professor Garrett says: 'Those harsh conditions on Mars after 1 billion years would put strong limits on body size and complexity of any lifeform.

'It took really complex life, like animals, another 3 billion years before they appeared on the Earth, where the conditions were much better to support energy-hungry complex life forms.'

If complex life had emerged, it would have needed to develop adaptations like thick skin or live underground to avoid the intense radiation of the Martian surface. Pictured: AI-generated impression 

On Earth, some of the first animals to evolve were simple filter feeders. Filter feeders also survive in extreme environments such as hydrothermal vents, so complex Martian life might have followed a similar evolutionary trajectory. Pictured: AI-generated impression 

In the unlikely case that more complex life did evolve, Mars' harsh conditions would also put strong constraints on what it might look like.

'It would need to be adapted to survive the intense UV radiation from the Sun, extreme cold, and limited liquid water - we don’t really see complicated animal life in such environments,' says Professor Garret.

He adds: 'If they were present, they would need protection from the UV radiation from the sun – maybe a thick skin, for example, or perhaps mostly living under the Martian soil.'

That means complex life might resemble creatures on Earth that live in exceptionally harsh environments, such as desert-dwelling lizards or the simple filter-feeders that survive near hydrothermal vents.  

{ https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/index.html }

11-09-2025 om 14:40 geschreven door peter  

Scientists are finally learning what's inside mysterious 'halo' barrels submerged off Los Angeles

By Chris Simms

At first thought to hold the pesticide DDT, some mysterious barrels dumped in the deep sea near Los Angeles actually contain caustic alkaline waste that stops most life from living nearby.

The toxic barrels, which came to public attention in 2020, appear to have "halos" around them — and researchers have finally figured out why. 

(Image credit: Schmidt Ocean Institute.)

Thousands of barrels of industrial waste litter the ocean floor off Los Angeles and have been there for decades — but scientists still don't fully understand what chemicals this junkyard is leaking into the environment.

Now, research has revealed that some of the chemicals leaking from the barrel graveyard have been identified as strongly alkaline, the chemical opposite of acidic — and they are still concentrated enough to stop most life living nearby.

Between the 1930s and early 1970s, radioactive waste, refinery waste, chemical waste, oil-drilling waste and military explosives were dropped into 14 dump sites in deep water off the coast of Southern California, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

This huge underground junkyard came into the public consciousness in 2020, when an LA Times article revealed that deep-sea robot surveys had discovered dozens of barrels littered over the sea floor. Then, in 2021 and 2023, follow-up surveys by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in California identified some 27,000 shapes that seemed to be barrels and more than 100,000 total debris objects on the seafloor. Some suspected that the barrels, many of which were encircled by whitish haloes in the sediment, contained the now-banned pesticide DDT, because the area is heavily contaminated with it.

But to this day, the total number of barrels on the seafloor — and what most of them contain — remains unknown.

Now, Johanna Gutleben, a microbiologist at the Scripps Institution, and her colleagues have revealed the results of sediment samples taken near five barrels using a remotely operated vehicle in 2021. They found that levels of DDT contamination didn't increase closer to the barrels, so they say the drums didn't contain that chemical.

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Three of the barrels they checked had white halos around them and all the samples from near these barrels had an extremely high pH (around 12) and very few microbes living there, so the team say the barrels contained caustic alkaline waste, which can damage organic matter and leach out high concentrations of potentially toxic metals.

The team's study was published Tuesday (Sept. 9) in the journal PNAS Nexus.

"Up to this point we have mostly been looking for DDT. Nobody was thinking about alkaline waste before this and we may have to start looking for other things as well," Gutleben said in a statement.

The sampling didn't identify which specific chemicals were in the barrels, but notably, DDT manufacturing produces alkaline waste, as does oil refining.

"One of the main waste streams from DDT production was acid and they didn't put that into barrels," said Gutleben. "It makes you wonder: What was worse than DDT acid waste to deserve being put into barrels?"

As the researchers found very limited levels of microbial DNA near the barrels, they say the alkali waste likely transformed parts of the seafloor into extreme environments where most life can't survive. They did find traces of some specialized bacteria, though — species from families adapted to alkaline environments, like deep-sea hydrothermal vents and alkaline hot springs.

The team also discovered how the weird haloes form. When the alkaline waste leaks from the barrels, it reacts with magnesium in the water and creates a mineral form of magnesium hydroxide, called brucite, forming a concrete-like crust. The brucite then slowly dissolves, keeping the pH in the sediments high while leading to reactions in surrounding seawater. This results in the formation of calcium carbonate, which settles as white dust around the barrels.

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Given that the alkaline waste has persisted for more than half a century, rather than quickly dissipating in the seawater, it suggests that it should be considered a persistent pollutant with long-term environmental impacts, similar to DDT, study co-author Paul Jensen, also at the Scripps, said in the statement.

"It's shocking that 50-plus years later you're still seeing these effects," he said.

The researchers suggest using the white halos to identify which barrels contain alkaline waste so the overall extent of contamination can be assessed. Jensen said roughly one-third of the barrels that have been seen so far have halos, but it's unclear if this ratio will hold as more barrels are uncovered.

{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

10-09-2025 om 22:17 geschreven door peter  

NASA spots bizarre 'turtle' on Mars

The featured rock has garnered comparisons to a turtle, thanks to a head with two eyes that look as if it has protruded from a protective "shell" with a pair of "front legs" on either side (see image below).

It is currently unclear which geological processes have shaped the rock into this unusual shape.

Related:

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The Mars rovers have collectively captured tens of thousands of photos of Mars' surface, most of which feature multiple different rocks or other geological features that have been sculpted into unique shapes by ancient water sources or millenia of strong winds. Every once in a while, one of these rocks bears a resemblance to something we can see on Earth, such as blueberries, human-like fingerprints, a mysterious doorway and even a "Star Trek" symbol, to name a few.

These associations are often made due to pareidolia — a psychological phenomenon where the human mind perceives a familiar pattern, such as a face or image, in random objects or structures, such as clouds.

Perseverance has been particularly good at spotting these weird rocks during its five-year mission. Its other recent finds include a bizarre medieval "helmet" that it wheeled past in August and an out-of-place "skull" that is snapped in April.

The Martian turtle is not the only "animal" to be spotted on the Red Planet. In recent years, Mars-orbiting spacecraft have also spotted larger geological features with a zoological appearance, including a Dog-shaped blob beneath the planet's North Pole, a grinning cartoon-like teddy bear and seasonal swarms of "spiders" crawling across the Martian surface.

{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

10-09-2025 om 22:06 geschreven door peter  

'Incredibly exciting': NASA claims it's found the 'clearest sign' yet of past life on Mars

By Ben Turner  

NASA scientists have found more intriguing details on speckled Martian rocks spotted by the Perseverance rover. But bringing samples back to Earth will be key.

A selfie taken by NASA's Perseverance Rover while on Mars. 

(Image credit: NASA)

Strange nodules of unusual minerals found on speckled rocks on Mars have offered more tantalizing clues that ancient life may have once thrived on the now-dead planet, NASA says.

NASA's Perseverance rover found one such arrow-shaped rock, nicknamed Cheyava Falls, in 2024 along the northern bank of Neretva Vallis, the dried-up remnants of an ancient river that once rushed into Mars' Jezero crater.

An initial analysis of the rock, which appeared in a lake bed formation known as Bright Angel, revealed it was crammed with organic compounds, had evidence that water once flowed through it, and contained flecks of leopard-like spots from chemical reactions that ancient microbes could have used for energy.

These features may result from non-biological processes occurring over millions of years. But now, in a new study published Sept. 10 in the journal Nature, NASA scientists have announced intriguing details about additional rock samples found at two nearby sites — and they say these clues bolster the case for past life on Mars.

"After a year of review, they have come back and they said, listen, we can't find another explanation," Acting NASA Administrator Sean Duffy, said during a news briefing following the announcement. "So this very well could be the clearest sign of life that we've ever found on Mars, which is incredibly exciting."

Since arriving on Mars in 2021, Perseverance has been trundling across the 30-mile-wide (50 kilometers) Jezero crater, collecting dozens of rock samples for eventual return to Earth. Upon finding the leopard-spotted rock, scans by the rover's Scanning Habitable Environments with Raman and Luminescence for Organics and Chemicals (SHERLOC) instrument showed that the specimen contained carbon-based molecules, alongside bands of reddish hematite that featured spots of iron and phosphate.

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"When the rover entered Bright Angel and started measuring the compositions of the local rocks, the team was immediately struck by how different they were from what we had seen before," study co-author Michael Tice, a geobiologist and astrobiologist at Texas A&M University, said in a statement. "They showed evidence of chemical cycling that organisms on Earth can take advantage of to produce energy. And when we looked even closer, we saw things that are easy to explain with early Martian life but very difficult to explain with only geological processes."

The additional discoveries announced by NASA today relate to clay-rich rock samples found at two sites, named Sapphire Canyon and Masonic Temple, containing vivianite, an iron-phosphate mineral, and greigite, a mineral containing iron sulfide.

These minerals may have formed from reactions between the mud and organic matter, according to the scientists. The minerals' distribution across the rocks appears to support this hypothesis.

"It's not just the minerals, it's how they are arranged in these structures that suggests that they formed through the redox cycling [in which bacteria are key players on Earth] of iron and sulfur," Tice said. "On Earth, things like these sometimes form in sediments where microbes are eating organic matter and 'breathing' rust and sulfate. Their presence on Mars raises the question: could similar processes have occurred there?"

Nonetheless, a definitive ruling over the biological or non-biological processes that created the patterns can only be made in labs on Earth, and whether Perseverence's precious cargo will be fetched for that analysis remains a contentious political question.

The European Space Agency (ESA) and NASA originally proposed the use of NASA’s Sample Retrieval Lander — a spacecraft carrying a small rocket — to collect the rover's samples by 2033 as a part of their Mars Sample Return mission. The rocket would then launch back into orbit with the samples.

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But the mission, now significantly over budget and delayed, is facing cancellation from the Trump administration's planned budget cuts to NASA. Meanwhile, China has revealed its own plans for a Mars sample-return mission that could launch by 2028.

When pressed by reporters during a Q&A session following the announcement, Duffy was unable to confirm if or when the sample-return mission would happen, but he remained optimistic.

"The president loves space — he asked me about it," Duffy said. "I give him updates, how it's going, what we're doing, and he doesn't brush me off."

"If there was an issue with resources, I would go to him and I'm sure he would support us," he added.

{ https://www.livescience.com/space }

10-09-2025 om 21:54 geschreven door peter  

NASA vindt aanwijzingen dat er vroeger misschien leven was op Mars

In een rots op Mars zijn aanwijzingen gevonden dat er vroeger misschien leven op de planeet mogelijk was. De steen heeft "potentiële tekenen voor oud leven van microbes". De Amerikaanse ruimtevaartorganisatie NASA zegt "niet eerder zo dicht bij het ontdekken van leven op Mars te zijn geweest". De organisatie houdt nog wel een slag om de arm en zegt dat er ook andere verklaringen mogelijk zijn.

De onbemande robotjeep Perseverance ontdekte in juli vorig jaar een rots met luipaardvlekken. Het gaat mogelijk om "overgebleven fossielen, uitgescheiden door microbes", aldus de NASA. De ruimtevaartorganisatie zegt de vondst te hebben voorgelegd aan wetenschappers. Zij zouden hebben geconcludeerd dat oud leven de meest logische verklaring is, blijkt uit een artikel in het wetenschappelijk tijdschrift Nature.

Al kunnen de onderzoekers ook andere verklaringen, waarbij geen biologisch leven betrokken is, niet uitsluiten. Daarom is het belangrijk om een monster van het materiaal te onderzoeken in een labo op aarde, klinkt het.

De Perseverance landde in 2021 op Mars. De verkenner met zes wielen heeft twintig camera's en een boor aan boord om de planeet te onderzoeken. Het werkgebied van de rover is de krater Jezero. Miljarden jaren geleden, toen op Mars mogelijk water stroomde, mondde daar mogelijk een rivier uit in een meer.

De robotjeep onderzoekt stalen, maar transporteert die niet. Daarvoor zijn andere robotten nodig. Vraag is wel of de NASA daar nog geld voor zal vinden, nadat de Amerikaanse president Donald Trump vraagtekens plaatste bij de plannen om materiaal vanop Mars naar de aarde te brengen.

{ Belga.press }

10-09-2025 om 20:35 geschreven door peter  

The Gemini South Telescope Takes A Turn Imaging The Interstellar Comet 3I/ATLAS

By Evan Gough 

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{ https://www.universetoday.com/ }

10-09-2025 om 18:43 geschreven door peter  

Deep exposures on 7 September 2025 show 3I/ATLAS wrapped in a green coma.

(Credit: M. Jäger and Gerald Rhemann)

I have been staring at 3I/ATLAS for weeks, not through an eyepiece, but through the stack of reports and images that keep arriving. At first the object looked reddish. Now its glow reads as green. The gas around it is heavy on carbon dioxide and thin on water, which is not how a regular comet behaves near the Sun. In some images the light seems to extend toward the Sun rather than away from it. That is the kind of detail that makes you sit up, because it refuses to fit neatly into the usual picture.

One anomaly can be a measurement quirk. A handful of them begins to sound like a pattern. With 3I/ATLAS we have color change, unusual chemistry, odd scattering of light, and a path that hugs the plane of the planets more closely than chance would suggest. When you place those facts side by side, you get a portrait that does not match the familiar family of icy bodies in the solar system where we are from.

This is where the culture of science matters. Many researchers are careful, honest, and conservative in how they talk about data. That caution serves the field well. It also means that oddities sometimes get smoothed out by language before they are faced head on. PRofessor Avi Loeb takes a different tack. He keeps pointing at the data and asking simple questions in public. He does not chase applause and he does not hide behind comfortable phrasing. I respect that. Science is not a popularity contest. It is a process for finding out what is true in the world, and that process only works if people are willing to ask the questions that feel awkward.

Let me be direct about one thing. I do not think 3I/ATLAS is an alien spacecraft. I would love it to be, sure. Natural explanations should be worked through first, with patience and rigor. The chemistry could reflect a crust rich in carbon dioxide ice. The color shift could track changes in sunlight and temperature that wake up different molecules at different distances. The odd light pattern could be geometry and timing. I mean, remember the face on Mars? There is work to do before anyone should claim anything extraordinary.

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Still, I will take the other path because it is worth thinking clearly about it. If 3I/ATLAS were artificial, it would almost certainly not carry living organisms. Biology does not like deep space. It breaks down under radiation and time. A machine can wait and repair itself. An autonomous probe guided by artificial intelligence makes more engineering sense for an interstellar mission than a cabin full of breath and bone. That is not a romantic picture, but it is a practical one.

I keep returning to ʻOumuamua. (I also loved Loeb’s book on ʻOumuamua) It was small, fast, and behaviorally odd. It showed no clear signs of venting, yet its motion suggested a small push that gravity alone did not account for. It looked nothing like the textbook comets we teach. It passed. Many argued. It kept its secrets. If you allow a speculative frame for one paragraph, you can imagine ʻOumuamua as a scout, a light vehicle meant to sense, sample, and move on. You can then imagine 3I/ATLAS as a larger platform with a different set of capabilities. If that picture were true, it would point to a civilization far beyond us in age and capacity, one that builds in classes of craft and sends them across star systems as calmly as we send weather satellites across the Atlantic.

I am not claiming that is the case. I am laying out a clean line of reasoning so that readers understand what is at stake when we talk about anomalies. The right response is not to fall in love with the extraordinary answer. The right response is to gather the kind of data that lets the ordinary answer win on evidence, not on habit.

Here is what the data say in plain terms. When 3I/ATLAS was far from the Sun, the light it threw around itself increased very quickly as it moved inward. Once it crossed a certain distance, that increase slowed. That pattern suggests that the material around it changed character. At first the light likely bounced off dust lifted from a dark surface layer. Closer in, fresh, small ice grains likely took over and brightened the glow in a different way. Independent observations show a gas plume dominated by carbon dioxide, with smaller amounts of carbon monoxide and only traces of water. That is unusual when set next to the comets that spend their lives in our system. But thenagain, space is weird, and the universe has so many secrets we are just starting to explore.

You do not need to be a specialist to grasp the next step. If an object from another star looks different from most of our comets, we should not force it into the old mold. We should describe it as it is and ask what that tells us about where it came from, how it formed, and how it is changing now. That is the heart of science. Describe the thing. Test the description. Change your mind when the facts warrant it.

This is also where public conversation can go wrong. People hear “anomaly” and think “mystery solved by a wild claim.” That habit hurts everyone. The better habit is calm curiosity. Loeb often argues for that posture, even when it upsets colleagues. He asks for open data, independent measurements, and patient analysis. He reminds us that history is full of mistakes that felt safe at the time. The Sun did not circle Earth. Diseases did not spring from bad air. Continents did not stand still. Our job is not to protect an old story. Our job is to find the right one.

So what should we do with 3I/ATLAS right now? Keep observing. Compare instruments. Cross-check photometry and spectra. Model the light scattering with more than one set of assumptions. Publish the methods in detail. Invite rival teams to replicate the results. Treat the object as a laboratory for learning about interstellar debris, not as a prop in a culture war between skeptics and believers. If the mundane explanation is correct, it will earn its place by explaining the color, the chemistry, and the geometry without hand-waving. If it fails, we will know exactly where it fails, and that will be valuable.

I will close where I began. The sky is not tidy. It is real and indifferent. It holds dust that glows green and rocks that tumble and gas that tricks the eye. We do not honor it by draping it in stories that flatter us. We honor it by looking closely, asking better questions, and letting evidence lead, even when it drags us somewhere we did not plan to go. If 3I/ATLAS turns out to be a strange but natural traveler, that will be worth knowing. If it is something else, we will need the same tools and the same temperament to face that result. Either way, curiosity and discipline carry us forward.

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{ https://curiosmos.com/category/alien-theories/ }

09-09-2025 om 21:25 geschreven door peter  

Chinese scientists have developed a comprehensive mission to study asteroids. One of its targets could be the asteroid Apophis.

The asteroid Apophis has a diameter of 375 meters. On April 13, 2029, it will make a close flyby of Earth, passing at a distance of 32,000 km from its surface (i.e., inside the orbits of geostationary satellites). At that moment, the asteroid will be visible to the naked eye across most of Europe and Africa, as well as in some parts of Asia. The encounter with Earth is expected to affect the asteroid and cause landslides and shifts on it.

According to scientists’ estimates, such large objects approach Earth on average once every 5,000 to 10,000 years. It is not surprising that Apophis’ visit has attracted increased attention, and a number of countries and space agencies are considering options for sending missions to it. Currently, ESA and JAXA are working on the Ramses spacecraft, while NASA is focusing on the OSIRIS-APEX mission, which previously studied the asteroid Bennu.

Chinese scientists do not intend to miss such a rare opportunity and are also working on their own mission. It has been named CROWN/Apophis and is part of a larger project called CROWN, which aims to launch six different probes to study near-Earth objects in heliocentric orbits similar to those of Venus. 

The main task of CROWN/Apophis will be to measure the fundamental properties of this potentially dangerous asteroid and the consequences of its approach to Earth. The goal of the project is to observe the processes that will occur on the surface of Apophis and how it interacts with Earth’s magnetosphere.

CROWN/Apophis will consist of two spacecraft. The larger one, weighing 44 kg, will use a combined chemical and ion propulsion system and will be equipped with cameras, a microwave rangefinder/Doppler system, and low-frequency radar. The 8 kg CubeSat will be equipped with some of the same systems as the main spacecraft.

The devices are proposed to be launched as accompanying cargo as part of a mission that has not yet been determined. After that, they will fly to the L1 Lagrange point of the Sun-Earth system, where they will wait for Apophis to arrive. They will make a close flyby of the asteroid shortly after it visits the vicinity of our planet. This will happen on April 13, 2029.

• According to Spacenews

• Posted in News, Tech

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{ https://universemagazine.com/en/articles-en/ }

09-09-2025 om 20:42 geschreven door peter  

NASA specialists conducted a series of key tests on components of the Dragonfly drone. These tests were successful, allowing them to move on to the next stage of mission development.

Development of the Dragonfly mission began in 2019. As part of this mission, NASA plans to send a rotary-wing aircraft with a total mass of about 450 kg to Titan. It will be equipped with four twin propellers, allowing it to travel at speeds of around 36 km/h and rise to an altitude of up to 8 km. The drone will use a radioisotope generator as its power source.

Dragonfly’s primary mission is to search for complex organic molecules and assess the overall suitability of this celestial body for past and present life. The drone will be able to collect samples from the Titanian surface and conduct chemical analysis on them. Dragonfly will also study the moon’s terrain, atmosphere, and hydrocarbon reservoirs. The spacecraft is designed to operate on Titan for at least three years.

To date, the mission has already gone far beyond computer concepts. In April, its design underwent critical review. This allowed engineers to begin manufacturing and testing the drone’s components. One of the most important tests was conducted in a wind tunnel. For a month, engineers from NASA and the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) immersed a sensor-equipped drone model in a stream of heavy gas simulating Titan’s dense atmosphere. The collected data helped to understand the kind of loads that the device, its rotary system, and blades would be subjected to. This will enable the preparation of the software necessary for drone flights.

APL engineers also completed structural and thermal testing of the foam insulation for the Dragonfly lander, confirming that it will retain its shape and protect the internal components from the environment, which reaches temperatures of approximately -185 °C on Titan. The landing module body will be covered with a 7.6 cm thick layer of solimide-based foam.

In addition, APL engineers have completed the development of onboard radio stations that will serve as receivers and transmitters during Dragonfly’s flight to Titan and its work on the surface. Employees at the Goddard Space Flight Center have completed work on the DraMS mass spectrometer in search of biosignatures. And Lockheed Martin specialists conducted the first series of tests on the aerodynamic fairing that would protect Dragonfly during its re-entry into the moon’s atmosphere.

The success of all these tests made it possible to move on to the next stage of mission development. In January, engineers will begin assembling the device components and conducting comprehensive testing. The launch of Dragonfly is scheduled for July 2028, with landing on Titan planned for 2034.

• According to NASA

• Posted in News, Tech

{ https://universemagazine.com/en/articles-en/ }

09-09-2025 om 20:32 geschreven door peter  

Scientists investigated the source of radiation Sh 2-283-1a SMM1. It is a stream of matter emitted by a newborn star located at the very edge of the Galaxy. Its chemical composition shows that it contains far fewer heavy elements than similar objects observed to date, but the general patterns of physical processes remain the same.

Jets from a newborn star

Research conducted using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) may help us better understand the processes of star formation. This giant radio telescope observed the radiation source Sh2-283-1a SMM1. It is located 26,000 light-years away from us and 51,000 light-years from the center of the Galaxy.

In fact, it consists of jets of matter emitted by a newborn star. This phenomenon is not new and has been observed more than once. A large amount of matter falls onto the newly formed star, and part of it is ejected back into space due to the large angular momentum.

What makes Sh 2-283-1a SMM1 unusual is the star’s location. Not only is it far away from us, but it is also at the very edge of the Galaxy. Scientists have not yet observed such a phenomenon so far from the center of the Galaxy, and this should be an interesting region, because even compared to the vicinity of the Sun, it is poor in metals, i.e., elements heavier than hydrogen and helium.

Research results

Observations made with ALMA have provided insight into the chemical composition of the jets. It has been confirmed that it is much poorer in heavy elements than similar structures that have been observed previously. In particular, the ratio of silicon oxide to carbon oxide was significantly lower than in jets emanating from young stars near the Sun.

At the same time, this object is a “hot core” — a hot structure rich in chemical elements. They are quite common in star-forming regions closer to the center of the galaxy, but this is only the second time such an object has been observed at its edge. 

The luminosity of the core is 6,700 times greater than that of the Sun, which suggests that the star, when fully formed, will be of average or large mass. The jets are not emitted continuously, but at intervals of 900–1400 years.

ALMA also detected increased activity in four other young stars on the outskirts of the Galaxy. This indicates that the processes of star formation here are quite intense and, in general, follow the same patterns as in the center of the Galaxy.

• According to phys.org

• Posted in News, Science

{ https://universemagazine.com/en/articles-en/ }

09-09-2025 om 20:19 geschreven door peter  

Oumuamua comet, interstellar object passing through the Solar System, unusual shaped asteroid

(3d space rendering) | Shutterstock

On October 19 2017, Robert Weryk, a Canadian astronomer working at the University of Hawaii, discovered the first-ever known interstellar object in our solar system. If that sounds a bit strange, what with all the relatively regular sightings of asteroids and comets popping up in the news, it’s important to understand the significance of the phrase ‘in our solar system’.

Unlike previous interstellar objects, ‘Oumuamua which means ‘a message from afar arriving first’ in Hawaiian) had entered the zone controlled by the sun’s gravity. What’s potentially more alarming is that ‘Oumuamua had come closer to Earth than any other known interstellar object, and we still don't know much about it.

So what do we know? 'Oumuamua, a shining object that measured approximately 400-800 metres in length, entered our Solar System travelling 57,000 miles per hour (that's 16 miles per second). It sped straight down towards the Sun but curled underneath due to the star's gravitational pull. This sent the object off on a new trajectory, which was once again altered slightly as it passed Mercury. At its closest point, 'Oumuamua was 15 million miles away from the Earth, which may seem like a lot, but can be classed as a near-miss in the grand scheme of things. The whole process lasted forty days.

But no-one knows what 'Oumuamua really was. An asteroid comprised of metal and rocks, a comet made up of rocks, dust and ice, or a spinning, intensely bright, cigar-shaped (or 'prolate ellipsoid' to give it the technical description) alien probe?

The popular conclusion that ‘Oumuamua was most probably a cosmic iceberg, a mass of frozen hydrogen, is based upon observed findings that ‘Oumuamua couldn’t have contained any water, carbon monoxide or carbon dioxide, as found in asteroids and comets, because they would have been visible phenomena.

Perhaps more contentiously, astronomers also discovered that the object was accelerating as it left the solar system, yet it had no antitail as one might expect to find on a comet. The theory was that tails on comets and asteroids (though less common) act like rocket engines, but a frozen lump of hydrogen could have rocket-engine like propulsion, while the tail remained invisible from the gaze of the telescope.

Based on this, the general conclusion is that ‘Oumuamua was a highly luminescent, half-billion old chunk of planet from outside the Solar System., However, the theory is in a perpetual case of dispute. There are also a growing number of high-profile voices, such as Harvard astrophysicist Professor Avi Loeb, that claim ‘Oumuamua might have been an alien spacecraft from the far reaches of space.

His theory that ‘Oumuamua was a fully operational probe sent intentionally to the Earth’s vicinity by an alien civilization, was based on exactly the same observations that deemed it a cosmic iceberg.

In the series finale of Craig Charles: UFO Conspiracies, Craig Charles and astrophysicist Sarah Cruddas investigate ‘Oumuamua in an attempt to get one step closer to the answer. They speak to Professor Loeb who warns that the object could be a ‘message in a bottle telling us we’re not alone’. Sarah and Craig also speak with members of the SETI Institute who offer their hypotheses about the event and ponder the existence of intelligent life outside of Earth.

Is Oumuamua an alien probe sent from another galaxy, as Professor Loeb believes or a cosmic glacier? We’ll probably never know for sure, but let's leave you with this: the Drake Formula. Formulated in 1961 by Dr Frank Drake, this provides the formula for a probabilistic argument to estimate the number of communicative extraterrestrial civilizations in our galaxy. The answer is 12,600, and that’s just in the Milky Way. The Hubble Telescope has revealed an estimated 100 billion galaxies in the universe and the James Webb Telescope will probably double that…

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{ https://www.history.co.uk/articles }

08-09-2025 om 22:09 geschreven door peter  

Humanity is advancing into space rather slowly – astronauts landed on the moon 55 years ago, and since then, we have not been able to boast of any achievements of a similar scale. But our journey through the Solar System will continue, and its next destination will obviously be Mars.

While some scientists are trying to figure out how colonists can protect themselves and adapt to Martian conditions, others are proposing to change the planet itself. Is it possible to make the Martian environment more suitable for future colonists, and is it worth doing? Let’s try to figure it out.

The greenhouse effect: enemy of Earth, friend of Mars?

The technology for creating conditions on the surface of a celestial body that are as close as possible to those on Earth is called “terraforming”. The term was first used by American science fiction writer Jack Williamson in his 1942 novel Collision Course.

In 1971, astronomer and science popularizer Carl Sagan became the first scientist to propose terraforming Mars, which currently has a thin atmosphere consisting almost entirely of carbon dioxide with small amounts of nitrogen, oxygen, and other gases. He suggested that by releasing gases from various sources on the Red Planet, it would be possible to artificially thicken its gas envelope and increase the chances of liquid water appearing on the surface due to the greenhouse effect.

NASA took an interest in the concept. Carbon dioxide and water vapor are the only greenhouse gases present in the atmosphere and ice deposits on Mars and beneath the planet’s surface. Carbon dioxide molecules are excellent at trapping the Sun’s infrared rays. So if enough of this substance is released by melting the ice caps and filling the atmosphere with it, it will create a greenhouse effect that will raise the average temperature and thus “warm” the cold planet. This is literally the same effect that is currently causing climate change on our planet.

For its part, increased pressure will contribute to the appearance of water bodies on the surface of Mars. And although it will not be possible to breathe fresh Martian air for a long time, at least it will be possible to do without airtight compression suits there.

However, in 2018, after a series of studies, NASA scientists abandoned the project. It turned out that there was not enough carbon dioxide on the Red Planet. Based on data from the MAVEN, Mars Express, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter, and Mars Odyssey missions, experts calculated that even if all Martian carbon dioxide were completely evaporated, the atmospheric pressure would only rise to 15 mbar (for comparison: the average pressure at the Earth’s surface is 987 mbar). The project was closed with the conclusion: “Terraforming Mars is impossible with current technology. Any such plans are only possible in the very distant future”.

Regional terraforming

Of course, they decided not to stop there. Researchers from Harvard University, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL NASA), and the University of Edinburgh came up with the idea that it is not necessary to change the climate of the entire planet – it is enough to influence only certain regions where the colonists will live. The scientists proposed using silica aerogel, one of the best insulating materials that mimics the greenhouse effect in the Earth’s atmosphere. These aerogels are currently used in several engineering projects, including the Mars Exploration Rovers mission probes. Through modeling and experiments, scientists have shown that a two- to three-centimeter-thick aerogel shield without any internal heat source can transmit enough visible light for photosynthesis, block dangerous ultraviolet radiation, and raise and maintain the surface temperature above the melting point of water ice. This material can be used to build dwellings or even autonomous biospheres on Mars.

Artistic illustration of the stages of terraforming Mars.

Source: Daein Ballard

Controlled heating of limited areas would not require large amounts of energy or maintenance of modular settlements to keep the area warm for a long time. The results of studies simulating the Martian surface showed that a thin layer of aerogel generally increased surface temperatures in the mid-latitudes of Mars to those found on Earth. However, further research is needed to build such “greenhouses”. In addition, this miracle material does not solve the problem of the harsh climate of the entire planet, and it is also quite fragile and requires large-scale production.

Nuclear bombing, or Musk’s method

Even the eccentric billionaire Elon Musk has become fascinated with the seductive idea of terraforming Mars, in his own style, through nuclear bombing. Musk is the most famous contemporary proponent of colonizing the fourth planet from the Sun. He has repeatedly shared his plans to populate it by 2050 with more than a million colonists who will live under the glass domes of Martian cities. However, he also has a long-term goal – to make Mars more like Earth.

Musk also proposes to use the greenhouse effect. First, it is necessary to heat the frozen carbon dioxide reserves at the Martian poles, which can be accomplished by detonating nuclear bombs above them. In response to comments about the insufficient amount of carbon dioxide in frozen deposits, the billionaire emphasized that Martian soil may also contain a “huge amount” of this substance. Its release will help warm the planet, melt frozen glaciers, and further thicken the atmosphere, causing warming.

Therefore, scientists point out the shortcomings of this method of transforming Mars into a blooming oasis. Even if there were enough frozen CO₂, such a strategy would require the use of an almost unattainable amount of nuclear weapons. According to some estimates, 3,500 half-megaton nuclear warheads would need to be detonated every day for seven weeks straight. And even at that rate, the subsequent terraforming process would take several millennia.

Giant orbital mirrors

Another popular method of terraforming Mars is to build giant mirrors in orbit around the planet, which will reflect and direct more sunlight and heat its surface. Among the most prominent proponents of this method are Christopher McCain, a planetary scientist and researcher at NASA, and Robert Zubrin, an American aerospace engineer, writer, and founder of the Mars Society.

The idea is to build orbital mirrors with a radius of about 100 km from thin aluminized thermoplastic film (a similar material is used to make solar sails). Such mirrors would weigh about 200,000 tons! If they were manufactured in space using resources from the Moon or asteroids, the production of the necessary aluminum would require a huge amount of energy, not to mention time.

According to Zubrin, we do not have enough data to claim that there are insufficient carbon dioxide deposits on Mars. Until now, experts have relied on data from the MAVEN satellite and several Mars rovers, which have only penetrated a few centimeters into the Martian soil. There may be more deposits of volatile substances deeper underground. Further research involves drilling several hundred meters deep in various locations on the planet.

Asteroid bombardments

Another way to raise the temperature is to direct small asteroids or comets toward the surface of Mars. For decades, humanity has been developing programs to track potentially hazardous objects and creating systems to protect Earth from collisions. Therefore, one or more of these methods could be used to arrange for such objects to collide with Mars. The energy from the crash would then serve as a source of heat.

Asteroids can be selected based on their “usefulness” – for example, based on their ammonia content, which, when released into the Martian atmosphere, will further enhance the greenhouse effect, or based on the presence of water, which will turn into water vapor.

However, NASA believes that thousands of such asteroids will be needed, and there is currently no ready-made technology for their targeted transportation to Mars.

The hardest part is still ahead

There are other methods of bringing conditions on Mars closer to those on Earth by importing ammonia, hydrogen, or bacteria capable of living and serving as a nutrient substrate for plants in Martian regolith. However, scientists believe that instead of fighting the consequences, we should look at the root of the problem. More precisely, at the core. After all, any attempts to create an atmosphere on the Red Planet will be futile without a magnetosphere to hold it in place. A terraformed Mars will need a reinforced magnetosphere, similar to the one that protects Earth from the flow of charged particles from the Sun.

It is believed that about 4 billion years ago, Mars lost its magnetic field due to the cessation of core rotation. Without a magnetosphere to serve as a shield, solar winds began to bombard and destroy the atmosphere. Leading NASA scientist James Green, who has worked at the agency for 40 years, proposes creating a huge magnetic shield to prevent our star from destroying the future Martian atmosphere. As a result, the planet will be able to retain heat near the surface, pressure will increase, and the climate will improve and become suitable for life. According to the scientist, this method will entail the least amount of interference and destruction, and then Mars will begin to terraform on its own. However, he does not provide estimates of the cost of the project, the necessary technological capabilities, or the time required for such long-term processes.

Ethical issues and the benefits of concepts and research for the Earth

Although humanity is still quite far from realizing its plans to terraform Mars, we must nevertheless consider the ethical and appropriateness of such projects. Similar to protected wilderness areas on Earth, Mars has extreme, historically important, and aesthetically valuable regions. Any interference with the planet’s natural development will lead to irreversible changes. Mars will forever lose its unique historical and research value for future generations.

Another problem with terraforming Mars is the high cost of such missions. And if, say, humanity had such resources, wouldn’t it be more expedient to use them for the benefit of Earth? Scientists around the world are already sounding the alarm about climate change, the destruction of fertile land, the depletion of fresh water and mineral resources, and the lack of preparedness for possible epidemics.

We should not forget the history of colonization, which has always been accompanied by tragedy. Even today, destructive wars continue over territory, resources, religious beliefs, and so on. So, have we reached the point of moral development where we can become wise guests in the Universe, rather than destructive invaders?

We will have to find answers to these and other questions in the future. However, similar research, such as improving soil quality or developing protection against asteroids, can also be used on our planet. Like many other technologies that are part of our everyday life, thanks to space developments. And in the event of an inevitable catastrophe, Mars would become “plan B” for the salvation of the human race.

• Author: Anastasiia Bernatska, journalist
• This article was published in issue No. 1 (190) of Universe Space Tech magazine in 2024. You can purchase this issue in print or electronic format from our store.

• Posted in Articles, Questions

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{ https://universemagazine.com/en/articles-en/ }

08-09-2025 om 20:53 geschreven door peter