Martian Micro-Tunnels And Carbon Spherules Revive Debate Over Martian Life

[Oxytropidoceras]

Tiny Blobs and Tunnels in Meteorite Revive Debate

Over Life on Mars By Alan Boyle, NBC News, Feb. 2014,

http://www.nbcnews.com/science/space/tiny-blobs-tunnels-meteorite-revive-debate-over-life-mars-n38431

Meteorite May Harbor Evidence of Mars Life.

by Mike White, Space.com, February 25, 2014

http://www.space.com/24816-mars-life-meteorite-debate.html

The paper is:

White L. M., E. K. Gibson, K. L. Thomas-Keprta S. J.

Clemett and D, S. McKay, 2014, Putative Indigenous

Carbon-Bearing Alteration Features in Martian Meteorite

Yamato 000593. Astrobiology. vol. 14, no. 2, pp. 170-181.

abstract: http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/ast.2011.0733

PDF file: http://online.liebertpub.com/doi/pdf/10.1089/ast.2011.0733

Yours,

Paul H.

Edited February 26, 2014 by Oxytropidoceras

[Malcolmt]

Hmm.. definitely not a smoking gun... does not seem any more conclusive than ALH84001 that had structures that were really too small to be bacteria as we know them. I suspect that there will be fossilized signs of life on early Mars that would have cooled down long before earth did and therefore might have been conducive to life.

[NZ_Fossil_Collecta]

while i believe it could be life, i have seen another paper (probably the one malcolm is talking about) similar that stirred up a bit of argument. this case is far from closed because one of the annoying but necessary things about the scientific community is for however many people say yes, it is, another lot just as big will say no, it's not. and the "yes" side has to find absolutely conclusive evidence to permanently prove it.

Edited February 26, 2014 by NZ_Fossil_Collecta

[Mediospirifer]

Oxytropidoceras, thanks for that paper! It is very interesting.

one of the annoying but necessary things about the scientific community is for however many people say yes, it is, another lot just as big will say no, it's not. and the "yes" side has to find absolutely conclusive evidence to permanently prove it.

I think the science community in general would say that this is a feature, not a bug!

It is a bit frustrating that "geological processes" will continue to be a more parsimonious explanation for extraterrestrial rock features than "life" until we either find concrete proof of life elsewhere, or manage to create it from scratch in the laboratory. Until then, we just don't know how easy it is for simple life to start cooking on its own.

But it's fun to speculate, and really cool to investigate!