The editors of Precambrian Research and the team that startled the scientific world in August 1996 with evidence they had found in a Martian meteorite indicating that life once existed […]
Biosignatures & Paleobiology
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 inBiosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Origin & Evolution of Life, Press Release
Earth Life Appeared on Land 1.5 billion Years Earlier Than Previously Thought
Evidence of life on Earth has been found as far back as 3.8 billion years. Given that the intense bombardment that accompanied the birth of the solar system only subsided […]
Posted inBiogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Europa, Habitable Zones, Icy Worlds, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
More Evidence of an Ice Covered Ocean on Europa
NASA researchers have the strongest evidence yet that one of Jupiter’s most mysterious moons hides a fermenting ocean of water underneath its icy coat. This evidence comes from magnetic readings […]
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 […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Panspermia
British Researchers Try to Challenge Evidence of Mars Meteorite Fossils – But Don’t Make Their Case
In 1996 the world held its breath for a moment as David McKay and Everett Gibson from NASA’s Johnson Space Center revealed evidence which they felt pointed to the distinct […]
Posted inAstrochemistry, Astrogeology, Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Imaging & Spectroscopy, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Panspermia, Press Release
Doubt cast on life on Mars – University of Greenwich Reproduces Chemical Structures Found In Meteorites
The complex chemical structures found in a meteorite from Mars, which scientists in 1996 hailed as possible evidence of past life on the planet, can be reproduced quite simply in […]
Posted inAtmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Habitable Zones, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release, Water/Hycean Worlds & Oceanography
Mars Once Had Salty Oceans – Just Like Earth
On the same day that NASA was announcing the apparent presence of liquid water near the surface of Mars, another research team announced that Mars once had salty oceans like […]