ALH84001 Archives

Cuts of the 3D magnetic volume of the fossil in three different heights: The blue/red colour indicates the in-plane component of the magnetisation, with magnetic moments swirling around a central line, forming a vortex pattern much like a tornado (see projections at the bottom). The 3D reconstruction has been obtained based on 140 individual images at different angles. CREDIT Jeffrey Neethirajan/ MPI CPfs and Sergio Valencia / HZB

Did Marine Life In The Paleocene Navigate Using Earth’s Magnetic Field?

by Keith CowingOctober 24, 2025October 22, 2025

Some ancient marine organisms produced mysterious magnetic particles of unusually large size, which can now be found as fossils in marine sediments. An international team has succeeded in mapping the […]

This image shows lava crumpled against the upstream side of an impact crater in in Elysium Planitia. (NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona)

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Impact events, Mapping, Geodesy, Cartography, Bathymetry, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Panspermia, Planetary Protection & Biosafety, Press Release, Sample Return

Researchers Have Identified The Craters Where The Majority Of Martian Meteorites Most Likely Originate

by Keith CowingAugust 19, 2024August 20, 2024

An international research team has identified the specific origins of most of the Martian meteorites that are now on Earth. They’ve traced the meteorites to five craters where they were […]

Daybreak at the Gale Crater on Mars where organic material was found Photo: NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS CREDIT NASA/JPL-Caltech/MSSS

Astrogeology, Atmospheres, Climate, Weather, Biochemistry & Organic Chemistry, Biogeochemical Cycles & Geobiology, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Habitable Zones, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

Organic Material From Mars Reveals The Likely Origin Of Life’s Building Blocks

by Keith CowingJuly 2, 2024July 1, 2024

Two samples from Mars together deliver the “smoking gun” in a new study showing the origin of Martian organic material. The study presents solid evidence for a prediction made over […]

A The scanning electron micrograph and (B, C) transmission electron micrographs of MTB. White arrows indicate magnetosome chains, and white triangles indicate granules. D Terrestrial extremotolerant MTB and implications for ancient Mars. MTB are found to be able to resist various hostile settings, such as irradiation, hypomagnetic exposure, microgravity, metal stress, hypersalinity, acidic/hyperalkaline pH, and freezing/moderately hyperthermal temperatures. MTB emerged early in Earth’s history. Since ancient Mars was also characterized by many MTB-favorable aquatic/sediment oxic-anoxic conditions and a global magnetic field, it is proposed that Mars may have harbored MTB-like life in the past. -- The ISME Journal

Astrochemistry, Astrogeology, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Status Report

Renaissance For Magnetotactic Bacteria In Astrobiology

by Keith CowingFebruary 8, 2024February 8, 2024

Capable of forming magnetofossils similar to some magnetite nanocrystals observed in the Martian meteorite ALH84001, magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) once occupied a special position in the field of astrobiology during the […]

Illustrations of magnetotactic bacteria (MTB) under electron microscopes, and MTB from extreme environments on Earth and putatively ancient Mars. A The scanning electron micrograph and (B, C) transmission electron micrographs of MTB. White arrows indicate magnetosome chains, and white triangles indicate granules. D Terrestrial extremotolerant MTB and implications for ancient Mars. MTB are found to be able to resist various hostile settings, such as irradiation, hypomagnetic exposure, microgravity, metal stress, hypersalinity, acidic/hyperalkaline pH, and freezing/moderately hyperthermal temperatures. MTB emerged early in Earth’s history. Since ancient Mars was also characterized by many MTB-favorable aquatic/sediment oxic-anoxic conditions and a global magnetic field, it is proposed that Mars may have harbored MTB-like life in the past. -- ISME

Biophysics, Biosignatures & Paleobiology, Fossils & Paleontology, Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Microbiology & Virology, Status Report

Renaissance For Magnetotactic Bacteria In Astrobiology

by Keith CowingNovember 29, 2023November 29, 2023

Mars, Press Release

Meteorites Suggest Two Hydrogen Reservoirs Under Martian Surface

by Keith CowingOctober 5, 2020December 1, 2025

Data from Martian meteorites suggest the planet may have two hydrogen reservoirs beneath its surface, according to a recent study by NASA’s Astromaterials Exploration Research and Science (ARES) Division and […]

Mars, Press Release

4-billion-year-old Nitrogen-containing Organic Molecules Discovered In Martian Meteorites

by Keith CowingApril 30, 2020December 1, 2025

A research team including research scientist Atsuko Kobayashi from the Earth-Life Science Institute (ELSI) at Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan and research scientist Mizuho Koike from the Institute of Space […]

Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids, Press Release

Tales from a Martian Rock

by Keith CowingDecember 24, 2014December 1, 2025

A new analysis of a Martian rock that meteorite hunters plucked from an Antarctic ice field 30 years ago this month reveals a record of the planet’s climate billions of […]

Moment 0 map of the CH3OH 23(4,20)−22(5,18), E vt=0 line in four epochs. Each moment 0 map uses only emission above 3σ (1σ = 8.6 mJy beam−1 in Epoch 1 was adopted). The red circles in the moment map have the same diameter of 0.8′′. The synthesized beam for each data set is located in a gray oval in the lower left corner. -- astro-ph.SR

Mars, Meteorites & Asteroids

Evidence of Water in a Martian Meteorite

by Keith CowingMarch 10, 2014December 1, 2025

A team of scientists at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif., has found evidence of past water movement throughout a Martian meteorite, […]