To Bruce Jakosky, life’s demonstrated ability to weather almost anything Earth can dish out makes a strong argument that life probably does exist elsewhere in the universe. One likely spot, […]
Mars
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report
Commentary by NASA ARC’s Chris McKay on Magnetotactic Bacteria on Mars
The recent paper by Imre Friedmann and co-authors in PNAS (PNAS vol 98 page 2176, 2001) reports finding chains of magnetite that are consistent with a biological origin.
Posted inAstrogeology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids
NASA Announces New Evidence Regarding Past Life on Mars
Today, a team of NASA scientists is announcing that they have determined that small magnetite crystals in the now-famous ALH84001 Martian meteorite were almost certainly produced by living organisms – […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report
NASA JSC Background Information on PNAS Mars Meteorite ALH84001 Magnetite Paper
Researchers have found small particles of a magnetic mineral called magnetite in a Martian meteorite that could only have been produced by bacteria.
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release
New Evidence Strengthens Claims of Ancient Life on Mars – Study of Martian Meteorite Reveals Magentic Fossils
Researchers have found magnetic material in a 4.5-billion-year-old Martian meteorite that could only have been produced by bacteria. This new data strongly supports the primitive life on Mars hypothesis of […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Press Release
Discoveries about life on Earth inspire Beagle 2
The nineteenth century spirit of discovery is inspiring the effort to land the first probe on Mars in the twenty first century. Last week, as if to give the inspiration […]
Posted inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Press Release
New Report Offers Evidence of Primitive Life on Mars
A new scientific report offers compelling evidence that primitive life existed on Mars. Tiny magnetite crystals, identical to those used by aqueous bacteria on Earth as compasses to find food […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Mars, NASA Astrobiology Program, People Of Astrobiology, Press Release
NASA Astrobiology Architect, Dr. Gerald Soffen, Dies
NASA Scientist Dr. Gerald Soffen, who led the Viking science team that performed the first experiments on the surface of the planet Mars and a guiding force in NASA’s effort […]
Posted inAstrobiology (general), Astrogeology, Mars, Missions & Hardware, Sample Return
A Year of Mars News: It was the worst of times; it was the best of times.
Mars Disappoints A little over a year ago NASA was poised on the cusp of a new phase in its exploration of Mars. A new sophisticated orbiter was ready to […]
Posted inAnalog Studies, Astrogeology, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Mars
Arctic and Antarctic Analogs for Liquid Water on Mars
In June 2000 the world got another dose of Mars hysteria similar, but more limited in amplitude, to the attention that accompanied the ALH84001 Mars meteorite announcement in 1996. The […]